The TTC won an award, and it’s spending tens of thousands of dollars to ensure riders know about it.

Sharp-eyed passengers will have noticed that most of the transit agency’s vehicles are now adorned with decals trumpeting its recent capture of the American Public Transit Association’s award for Transit System of the Year.

The 5,000 decals, which the TTC is applying to every bus, streetcar, and subway carriage, cost the agency $50,000. According to TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, they’re worth every penny.

“Winning this prestigious award is a point of pride for the TTC and the city. Letting our customers know that their TTC has been recognized for its achievements and for the hard work of the 14,000 women and men who work for the TTC is important,” he said in an email.

The TTC started to apply the logos in August, and they will stay on transit vehicles indefinitely.

The agency announced in June that it had won the APTA award. The TTC attributed the recognition to the five-year modernization plan it put in place in 2013.

Recent achievements it cited included creating a “cleaner, more punctual” service, “unprecedented” investment in new transit infrastructure, and delivery of a “world-class” transit plan to support the 2015 Pan Am Games.

“Awards like these are not bestowed on transit systems for their perfection, rather they are recognition of the diligence to improve,” Green said.

The award announcement was met with bemusement by many transit riders, who complained that the prize didn’t fit with their daily experience of overcrowded vehicles and regular service disruptions.

In an interview, Jessica Bell, executive director of the TTCriders advocacy group, said “the TTC really wants to instill pride in public transit, so I can see why they would want to promote that award.”

But she argued that while the agency “does a huge amount on a very stretched budget” it is among the least funded in North America.

Last year the TTC, whose finances are controlled by politicians at city hall, subsidized the system at an average of about 90 cents per ride. In recent years New York has spent $1.52 (U.S.) per ride, and Chicago $2.04 (U.S.) per trip. Vancouver’s transit subsidy in 2015 was about $1.86 per ride.

Meanwhile TTC riders have faced six successive years of fare increases in order to balance the budget.

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“I think the best thing we can do to make Torontonians proud of the TTC is to put as much funding as we can so we can get better service and lower fares,” Bell said, calling on council to increase the agency’s budget next year.

“PR campaigns are not going to make it easier for riders to get to work. This is a PR campaign.”