OAKLAND, CA, July 7, 2004– Kids from Oakland’s Lincoln Square Recreation center will receive free ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery this Thursday at the Oakland Jack London Square station, as part of Amtrak Capitol Corridor’s Kids Ride Free Everyday promotion.
The Capitol Corridor recently installed a Kids Ride Free Everyday train wrap to publicize the summer offer. Unlike other train services, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) has chosen to showcase its own promotional message rather than outside commercial interests, for this latest foray into train wrap advertising. Capitol Corridor’s Managing Director, Eugene Skoropowski supports this advertising decision: “We usually do some outdoor billboard advertising each year, but thought we could put our own train to good use as a mobile billboard. This is a test for us to see how much interest there might be for commercial advertisers or marketing partners to promote their products with a train wrap.”
Parents looking for kid-friendly summer excursions will be most pleased with the Kids Ride Free Everyday offer—with today’s high gas prices, increased bridge tolls, and ever growing highway congestion, this family-friendly promotion is a great way to get children and adults out of the car and onto the popular Capitol Corridor trains.
Attendees for this Thursday’s event will sample the new “All Aboard” ice cream flavor developed by Cold Stone Creamery while supplies last, and kids can enjoy activities like face painting and magicians. Also, the Capitol Corridor Kids Ride Free wrapped train will be at the station for viewing. The event will be held at the Oakland Jack London Square station on July 8, 2004 at 4:00pm.
Cold Stone Creamery has partnered with Capitol Corridor to create the special “All Aboard” flavor available in all participating stores. In addition, when customers show their Capitol Corridor train ticket, they’ll receive 15% off a family of four purchase, not including cakes.
Kids (ages 2-15) can now ride free on the Capitol Corridor (with one full fare adult) every day, but Fridays. Capitol Corridor trains offer up to 24 daily trains using state-of-the-art equipment, including such amenities as Wi-Fi (wireless internet), on board transit discounts, food and beverages in the Café Car and comfortable, spacious seating.
Capitol Corridor invited the children from the Lincoln Square Recreation Center in Oakland to participate in the event festivities to not only introduce train travel to the young passengers, but to also provide a fun, creative activity for the group. As city funding has been reduced, local recreation centers are constantly searching for educational and creative activities for children, while working with a limited budget.
About CCJPA
The Capitol Corridor stops at sixteen stations along the 170-mile rail corridor connecting Placer, Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, paralleling both I-80/I-680 and I-880 in segments from Sacramento to San Jose. An extensive, dedicated motorcoach network provides bus connections to the train. Together, these systems serve the second-largest urban service area in the Western United States.
Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) manages the service with the assistance of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), which provides the day-to-day management staff. Under contract to the CCJPA, Amtrak operates and supports the trains and feeder bus service. For information, visit www.capitolcorridor.org or call 1-877-9-RIDECC.