Rail from a different perspective
August 20th, 2011
LOOKING AT RAIL FROM THE ROAD
Maine has fought hard to keep a 233-mile stretch of rail line that cuts through the northern reaches of the state. It is seen as an economic lifeline for several industries fighting to stay competitive and open during the recent recession.
In the September issue of Maine Motor Transport News, we write about the rail line’s new operator, Maine Northern Railway (a division of Irving Transportation), and its plans to attract new customers to the line through transloading – connections to the rail line through shorthaul trucking.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Buxton Communications wraps Destination Tomorrow video
August 7th, 2011
MAINTAINING AND TRANSFORMING THE SYSTEM
PACTS video explores challenges facing region’s transportation system
How do you maintain aging transportation infrastructure when funding is on the decline? How do you prepare a region for shifting transportation demands? How do you encourage good transportation planning and cooperation among communities?
The Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System, the metropolitan planning organization for 15 communities in southern Maine, this month released its 25-year long-range transportation plan: Destination Tomorrow. Buxton Communications worked with Plymale Productions to produce the plan’s informational video. We interviewed transportation leaders and local citizens to find out what is on their minds and how they hope to see their transportation system evolve.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
MBTA in the news
August 4th, 2011
MAINE BETTER TRANSPORTATION IN THE NEWS
Maine Better Transportation Association wrapped up the 2011 legislative session with an analysis of how the divided priorities in the Maine State House – along with declining gas tax revenues – have created a major decline in spending transportation spending.
Buxton Communications worked with the organization to raise awareness of the implications of the cuts, helping develop the legislative analysis, a backgrounder and press release, titled The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Transportation braces for $230 million drop in capital investments. The report has sparked conversations across the field, beginning with a story in the Portland Press Herald. Read the analysis and press release on the MBTA web site.
Buxton Communications also helps publicize the organization’s regional issues meetings. The latest of those meeting in Presque Isle was featured in the Bangor Daily News. Read the press release on the MBTA web site.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
High energy education
August 4th, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Maria Fuentes, 207-592-0227
HIGH ENERGY EDUCATION
Aroostook energy initiatives to be topic at Maine Better Transportation meeting
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
The good, bad and ugly of legislative session
July 6th, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Maria Fuentes, 207-592-0227
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Transportation braces for $230 million drop in capital investments
AUGUSTA – Changes to the Highway Fund budget by the recently completed session of the Maine Legislature will result in a net decrease of $230 million on capital transportation spending slated for the current 2012-2013 biennium. That is according to an analysis by Maine Better Transportation Association, based on figures from the legislature’s non-partisan Office of Fiscal and Program Review.
“This biennium could very well go down in history as having the worst capital investment forecast in the history of the Highway Fund,” said Maria Fuentes, executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association, a 700-member organization that advocates for investments in a safer, more efficient transportation system. Fuentes said that several actions by the administration and legislature conspired to create a $230 million decrease in capital investments over the 2010-2011 MaineDOT work plan. Those factors included the repeal of fuel tax indexing, a decision to forego bonding for transportation infrastructure improvements and a failure to take key steps to create adequate new revenue streams to fill that funding gap.
“To borrow from a Clint Eastwood classic, this legislative session is a case of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ of transportation funding,” said Fuentes. She added that, while not all the transportation news coming out of the state capital was bad news, “the negative forces on the state’s Highway Fund far outweigh the modest gains made.“
To view MBTA’s analysis of transportation investment resulting from the recently ended legislative session, please read the Maine Transportation Backgrounder accompanying this release. For more information about MBTA, visit www.mbtaonline.org.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Maine Marathon celebrates 20
June 27th, 2011
MAINE MARATHON CELEBRATES 20
The Maine Marathon is a USATF certified event held each October in Portland, Maine. The event includes a full marathon, a half marathon, as well as a marathon relay and is run entirely by volunteers. That gives the race a friendly feel that runners really enjoy.
With three marathons in Maine and hundreds more to choose from around the country, attracting new runners can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have the brand power of Boston or New York. So we always try find ways to separate this marathon from the pack. This year, for the race’s 20th running, we decided to have a little fun. We created this ad for our client, the Gorham Savings Bank Maine Marathon, to run in New England Runner, an award winning publication covering the six New England states, New York and beyond.
The truth is, if you love running, your running shoes are your party shoes. By the way, women are the fastest growing segment of the marathon-half marathon market, and women love shoes. No coincidence there.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
2nd Annual Worst Road in Maine Contest
June 13th, 2011
WHAT’S THE WORST ROAD IN MAINE?
Sometimes, a contest is just what you need to raise awareness of a persistent problem that has a devastating impact on quality of life, connectivity and commerce.That is just the case of deteriorating roads and the effect they have on daily life in Maine.
The second “Worst Road in Maine” contest is coming to a close. Buxton Communications, which launched the original contest for the Maine Better Transportation Association in 2010, expanded the contest reach. This year we had more than 1,200 followers on Facebook, were able to nearly triple the number of entries, and garnered even more notice in the press for the contest than in its first year. News stories on the Worst Road in Maine Contest appeared in the Bangor Daily News, the Free Press, Village Soup, Press Herald, Waterville Sentinel, on MPBN, WMTW, NECN and an editorial in the Brunswick Times Record. Stay tuned to the Fix Maine Roads Facebook page. We will be announcing the winners soon.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
TDM2go
June 13th, 2011
A SITE ONLY A TRANSPORTATION NERD COULD LOVE
Okay. How do you take a wonkish subject like transportation demand management and make it accessible?
Buxton Communications worked with the City of Portland, Maine, to develop this how-to site, a stand-alone resource for developers and employers working their way through the city’s planning and TDM process. Buxton Communications worked with a great team that included copywriter Rick Ackermann, developers Seth Mercier, Ben Greeley and graphic designer Chris Russell. Check out the site at TDM2go.info.
The site will be launched officially this week at a City Hall press conference and got great coverage from MPBN, the Portland Press Herald, and local TV stations.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Did you say ‘commuter benefits’?
May 20th, 2011
DID YOU SAY ‘COMMUTER BENEFITS’?
Buxton Communications, GO MAINE and Maine Medical Center* have partnered on this video that takes the complicated concept of TDM (transportation demand management) and makes it easy.
Does your business have a commuter benefit plan?
Maybe it’s time your business joined the GO MAINE Nation!
*Thanks so much to ace editor/cameraman Brett Plymale.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
There’s a law firm for that…
December 10th, 2010
THERE’S A LAW FIRM FOR THAT
Where do you go to be seen? If you are one of the region’s leading law firms, the MaineBiz annual Book of Lists. And that was the right place to reach key regional decision makers with the message that Drummond Woodsum is the kind of law firm that is handy to have around.
We worked with Curvwork to develop this fun concept and ad, another in our series that shows that this isn’t your typical stuffy group of lawyers.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »