Austin Transit Partnership
Work
Project management, brand management, art direction, internal & external communications, event promotions
Year
2022–25
Deliverables
Conference materials, annual reports, print advertisements, photography, social media graphics, illustration, swag
Main Typefaces
Project Connect – Paralucent
In November 2020, Austin voters approved of Project Connect, including funding for a new light rail system. The new organization Austin Transit Partnership was established to plan, design, construct and implement the new light rail.
I supported ATP’s ambitious large-scale project with my public transit experience at CapMetro, with my project management and brand management expertise, and my lived experience as an Austin resident of 10+ years.
The work entailed leadership in art direction for lifestyle photo shoots, as well as for vendor management which broadened my executive decision making. Read on for a case study where I ensured top quality multilingual translations and 508 compliance for ATP’s outreach materials.
I am grateful for my time with ATP to deepen my historical understanding of our city. It was a pleasure to work with the myriad of people involved with light rail, and to meet countless more at community meetings.
Public meeting advertisements from 2024 and 2025, in ATP’s latest and former brand. Shown ads are in Korean and Vietnamese. I art directed the photo shoot with a local hired photographer, CCR Studios, for ATP.
Case Study
One of ATP’s responsibilities is to build Austin Light Rail transparently, for and with the community. This means making public reports and documentation accessible for wide audiences.
I preserved accurate language translations and document accessibility of ATP’s communications to as many Austinites as possible.
Two of my main tasks for ATP were:
Making documents available in English and Spanish, and sometimes in additional languages as defined by CapMetro’s Language Assistance Plan.
Completing checks and processes to ensure digital documents are viewable and legible to readers with disabilities, called 508 compliance.
ATP started work with a translation company for Project Connect communications since 2022. This was the same vendor used by CapMetro. Over the course of two years, we compiled a database of terminology shared which reflected the most accurate language usage specific to public transit. This helped maintain accuracy and consistency in Spanish and other language translations across agency communications. This came to be known as the language library.
Here’s an example of the translations in action. The main outreach events of ATP are their annual open houses, where community members can see the progress of Austin Light Rail and provide direct feedback. In Spanish, the phrase “open house” can be translated a number of ways: “casa abierta” or “jornada de puertas abiertas” are two options.
Aside from being too literal of translations, the connotation of those phrases is generally associated with schools or real estate sales. Therefore, “junta pública” or “reunión pública” (translated directly as public meeting) are more suitable Spanish synonyms to indicate a public opportunity to express opinions about a community plan.
In any instance where we had “open house” written in a document and submitted for Spanish translation, the translator utilized our language library to ensure “junta pública” or “reunión pública” was used, and not another phrase that may be misleading or inconsistent. The language library ensured the same contextual consistency in other language translations as well.
Furthermore, the same vendor could also translate documents with 508 compliance. This helped ATP fulfill their legal mandate to provide fully equitable public access to documents.
I worked with ATP’s Procurement team to ensure sole source justification with this vendor. I recognized if the contract ended it could require two new vendors to complete both translations and 508 compliance, and would risk the continuity of our established language approach.
Finally, I completed trainings in 508 compliance from GSA and MicroAssist so I could personally remediate and verify document accessibility. I provided a standard operating procedure to advise the organization in document accessibility practices.
Internal communications pieces I designed and illustrated for National Hispanic Heritage Month and for ATP’s annual holiday party.
Early light rail promotional items I designed in the Project Connect brand. The cards were internal communications pieces when the ATP office moved to a new location.