Pictured (from left) are Trisha Murakawa, principal of Murakawa Communications, with Metro executive team members Patrick Chandler, Lilian De Loza-Gutierrez and Heidi Jackson.
Murakawa Communications, a leading public outreach and engagement firm in Los Angeles, received the Advancing Diversity and Social Change Award of Excellence from the American Planning Association Los Angeles Section recently.
The honor was presented at the APA Los Angeles Section 2025 Awards Gala on June 26 for the firm’s work on Los Angeles County Metro’s Vermont Transit Corridor Project Community Engagement Program.
The APA Los Angeles Awards recognize outstanding planning work throughout the region, celebrating projects and programs that demonstrate vision, innovation and meaningful community impact. The Advancing Diversity and Social Change Award of Excellence honors planning efforts that elevate equity, inclusion and authentic engagement.
Murakawa Communications partnered with Metro to deliver a robust community engagement program for the Vermont Transit Corridor Project, which will bring bus rapid transit service to the county’s busiest bus corridor with more than 36,000 daily boardings. The program prioritized meaningful dialogue with historically underrepresented communities along the corridor, ensuring the project reflects local needs and values while advancing access, mobility and equity.
“We’re truly honored by this recognition,” said Trisha Murakawa, the firm’s principal. “Our goal is to help public agencies listen deeply to their communities and design projects that advance social equity. Working with Metro and the communities along Vermont Avenue has been an inspiring opportunity to help shape a more connected and inclusive future for Los Angeles.”
Murakawa Communications helped Metro create partnerships with 40 local community-based, faith-based and community development-based organizations to reach stakeholders who have been historically underrepresented in transportation planning. MC and its partners helped host workshops, canvass businesses, gather feedback at bus stops and ensured thousands of residents could weigh in on how the project could serve their needs.
The Vermont Transit Corridor Project is a 12.4-mile BRT line that will bring faster, more reliable and more equitable bus service along Vermont Avenue from Sunset Boulevard to 120th Street.
The BRT will feature elevated stations with platforms, shelters, seating, lighting and real-time arrival information. Following near-term bus lane and service improvements, the full BRT is scheduled to begin operation in 2028, in time for the Summer Olympics.
