People who pledged to dump the pump also awarded
ORANGE – Three Orange County residents decided to dump the gas pump for transit, and in turn, will win an iPhone 3G and iPods for sharing their experience on YouTube.com.
Jian Anthony Huang, Lee Ann Leung and Monica Garcia were tired of high gas prices and decided to document their experiences online riding the bus and became winners in the “Orange County Dump the Pump” YouTube video contest. OCTA’s Web site is featuring the top three videos, which is expected to have 1 million viewers in one month.
The winning video was submitted by Jian Anthony Huang of Garden Grove, who garnered the grand prize, an iPhone 3G. Huang, the father of two, decided to “dump the pump” and take the bus to work during Dump the Pump week in June. In his YouTube video post, Huang shares his experience as a first time bus rider in Orange County.
The video features beautiful images of Orange County juxtaposed with traffic congestion and high fuel prices. Using a simple and honest narrative, Huang walks the viewer through his experience of downloading a free Dump the Pump bus pass, finding bus routes on Google and taking the OCTA bus to his office.
Huang says Dump the Pump week sparked his desire to find an alternative to the skyrocketing cost of gas for his car. Since his first bus ride, Huang has recently signed up for OCTA’s vanpool program to commute to work. “There are so many other alternatives other than driving alone in your car, its good to explore your options,” Huang said after his transit experience.
The second place video was submitted by Lee Ann Leung of Irvine who won an iPod. Leung, a recent college graduate, has been a bus rider for the past two years. She started taking the bus to work, but found it so convenient and cost-effective that she utilizes OCTA buses to run errands and do other daily activities.
Leung chooses not to own a car because she relies on OCTA buses. “The buses are clean, and the drivers are friendly,” Leung said. She also finds the system easy to use and is impressed with the quality service.
Monica Garcia, a working mother of two children from Placentia, submitted the third-place
video and won an iPod. She downloaded a free bus pass during Dump the Pump week and found that by continuing to use the bus, she only needed to fill up with gas half as much.
She also said she experienced a health boost by walking to bus stops.
The “Orange County Dump the Pump” video contest is a part of Orange County’s Dump the Pump week that encourages people to try transit to be healthy, save money and help the environment instead of fueling up at a gas station.
During the week of June 16 to June 20, OCTA offered free bus passes online and created the YouTube contest. The program resulted in 921 people pledging on OCTA’s Web site to take transit. Those who pledged were entered into a drawing to win prizes.
Michael Raney from the City of Anaheim won a $100 gift certificate
Michael Thome from State Compensation Insurance Fund won a $50 gift certificate
Jennifer Frehn from the Huntington Beach Independent won a Pair of movie tickets
Alan Stanley from the City of Santa Ana won a Pair of movie tickets
Frank J. Meza from AT&T won a Pair of movie tickets
Elaine Gumanmit from Multi Mechanical Inc. won a Pair of movie tickets
Elisabeth Dhillon from Oak Hill won a Pair of movie tickets
More than 14,790 people downloaded free bus passes and 15 people submitted video postings and comments to the YouTube contest. More than 45,245 people boarded Orange County buses during Dump the Pump week.
First Prize
Jian Anthony Huang
Garden Grove
Second Prize
Lee Ann Leung
Irvine
Third Prize
Monica Garcia
Placentia
