City Wins Awards for GoMonrovia and Monrovia Renewal

The City of Monrovia received two Local Government ExcellenceAwards from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Theseawards recognize city governments for their contribution to local governmentleadership and outstanding local government programs.

The City of Monrovia won two awards this year including theCommunity Partnership Award for the GoMonrovia program and the StrategicLeadership & Governance Award for the Monrovia Renewal project.

“Enhancing the quality of life through programs and projects isone of our highest priorities in Monrovia and GoMonrovia and Monrovia Renewalhave done exactly that,” said Monrovia Mayor Tom Adams. “Whether it’s taking adiscounted Lyft ride anywhere in the city or walking on a newly paved sidewalk,we are thrilled that our community is proud of and continues to support theseaward-winning programs and projects.”       

Seeking a more thoughtful, affordable and efficient way ofproviding transit services to the community, the city launched GoMonrovia, amulti-modal transportation program that leverages the strengths of ride-shareprograms offered by Lyft. In a completely revamped transportation model, Lyftserves as the city’s primary public transit provider for all non-ADA-relatedservices, collaborates with the city’s existing dial-a-ride operator to servepassengers with ADA needs and helps transition dial-a-ride shuttles onto theLyft platform. The city chose to partner with Lyft due to the company’s desireto play a role in the larger mobility ecosystem in a way that does not replacebut rather complements public transit.

This program has truly changed individuals’ behavior on a grandscale, with many reports of GoMonrovia changing lives for the better.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the innovative team at theCity of Monrovia to develop the award winning GoMonrovia partnership,” said PaulDavis, Transit Partnerships manager at Lyft. “By simultaneously filling atransportation gap in first-last mile access to the local L Line station whileexpanding access for all residents around town, the GoMonrovia program hasprovided a new model for delivering suburban community mobility programs.”

Monrovia Renewal is a multi-year initiative to prioritize repairsand restore the city’s aging infrastructure that was plagued by a backlog ofdeferred maintenance. Since implementation, the city has completedapproximately $41.7 million in improvements and repairs. Additionally, the cityhas made over 8 million square feet of street improvements, 154,000 square feetof sidewalk replacements, 114,000 linear feet of new curbs and gutters, over2.5 miles of new water pipelines, nearly 5 miles of sewer improvements, 197point repairs to sewer lines and 800 new water service lines installed.

Monrovia Renewal demonstrates that a city can work in partnershipwith residents, businesses, utility services providers and other stakeholdersto ensure that local streets, sidewalks, water, sewer systems and otherinfrastructure can operate reliably and cost-effectively for decades to come.

ICMA is the world’s leading association of professional city andcounty managers and other employees who serve local governments. This year,ICMA awarded five talented individuals and 13 innovative programs. For moreinformation on ICMA, visiticma.org.

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