The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has won four top communication awards from an organization representing state transportation agencies nationwide.
ALDOT took home the honors during the recent annual meeting of TransComm, the communications committee for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). AASHTO is a national nonprofit group that represents and supports state departments of transportation.
“We’re honored that ALDOT’s communications team has been recognized nationally,” said Tony Harris, ALDOT’s chief of communications and government relations. “These awards highlight our team’s hard work and creativity in keeping Alabamians informed, engaged and safe on our roadways.”
ALDOT’s award-winning entries showcase the department’s commitment to innovative and effective communication strategies.
And the winner is…
Internal Publications:
Inside Lane, ALDOT’s employee newsletter, was originally distributed as a printed publication to employees’ home addresses. It aimed to keep employees informed about departmental news, employee highlights, safety messaging and organizational updates. However, challenges with timeliness, limited accessibility, and the static nature of print began to affect its impact. Distribution delays often made stories outdated by the time they reached readers, and digital alternatives were only inconsistently used. In late 2023, ALDOT initiated a thorough review of Inside Lane to determine how it could better support internal communication in a modern, mobile-first work environment.
ALDOT overhauled Inside Lane into a biweekly, email-based newsletter that launched in November 2024. The new format is:
- Mobile-friendly and accessible on any device
- Delivered directly to inboxes, eliminating the lag time of mail distribution
- Visually streamlined, with consistent branding, easy navigation and engaging visuals
- Content-focused, with short, timely stories on ALDOT news, employee recognition, benefits and regional updates
Video Production: Series, with a consultant:
The ALDOT Zero to 60 series was created to make Alabama roadwork more understandable. It did this by featuring real ALDOT employees, from engineers to the spokesperson. This underscores that these are the same people designing, explaining, and delivering the work. No actors. Just the real people behind the projects telling the stories themselves.
With a streamlined format, trusted internal partnerships, and growing engagement, ALDOT Zero to 60 has exceeded expectations as a strategic video communications tool.
Logo, with consultant:
ALDOT’s Drive Safe Alabama logo got a refresh. The original Drive Safe Alabama logo had become outdated, difficult to read, and lacked a strong visual connection to ALDOT. The goal was to modernize the logo while maintaining brand recognition and expanding its usability across various platforms. ALDOT also wanted to address confusion between the department itself and Drive Safe Alabama in the media and general public.
Key goals included:
- making the logo more readable
- making it adaptable to sponsorship and co-branding needs
- aligning it with ALDOT’s tone, which is authoritative yet friendly, engaging and trustworthy.
Website, with consultant:
ALDOT’s Drive Safe Alabama website got a lot more user-friendly and took home the top prize. With the launch of Drive Safe Alabama’s new logo and refreshed brand identity in early 2024, it became clear that the website also needed a significant update to match. The previous site, while functional, no longer reflected the energy or clarity of the new branding direction. Just like the brand itself, the new website needed to strike a balance between being authoritative and approachable, delivering serious safety information in a way that felt trustworthy, youthful and engaging.
