People in the News
Connie Raya
Omnitrans
Connie Raya joined Omnitrans as director of Maintenance. Raya has more than two decades of experience in public transit maintenance gained while working at the Orange County Transportation Authority. She will oversee a department of 108 employees responsible for maintaining a fleet of 188 buses and 25 support vehicles as well as multiple agency facilities. In recent years, Raya took on various special assignments including the management of the facilities group assigned to maintain five operating bases and seven transit centers.
Gregory May
Urban Engineers
Gregory May, P.E., LEED AP, has been promoted to vice president at Urban Engineers. May serves as the firm’s national practice leader for rail and transit. He is experienced in all phases of engineering design and construction on a wide variety of rail projects. He has worked on projects in almost every region in the United States and has been instrumental in cultivating new opportunities with several railroads and transit agencies the Northeast Corridor. A registered Professional Engineer, May is also a LEED Accredited Professional.
Jeffrey Parker
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously to confirm transit executive Jeffrey A. Parker as the authority’s new general manager and chief executive officer. After a months-long nationwide executive search, Parker was named the sole finalist and was confirmed after a state mandated 14-day waiting period. He was most recently vice president at HNTB Corp.’s Atlanta office. Parker is a former MARTA senior director of transportation, working at the agency from 2005 to 2008.
Ray Little
Nova Bus
Nova Bus announced Ray Little has been appointed vice president of sales for North America. In collaboration with his team, he will oversee growth efforts across North America through the use of innovative business solutions, particularly in the United States. In his 25 years of experience, Little has held several executive-level positions at the firms where he has worked. Until recently, he served as vice president of business development for MV Transportation.
Keith Parker
Grande West Transportation Group
Grande West Transportation Group announced the addition of Keith Parker to its board of directors. Parker is president and chief executive officer of Goodwill of North Georgia. Prior to transitioning into his leadership role at Goodwill, Parker served as chief executive officer and general manager of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority until September 2017. In his tenure at MARTA, he and his team balanced the budget, improved efficiencies, increased bus and rail service, enhanced the customer experience, and restored pride among MARTA employees and staff.
News Updates
JTA Receives $16.9M CIG for First Coast Flyer East Corridor Project
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority was awarded a $16.9 million Capital Investment Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration. The funds will be used for the First Coast Flyer Bus Rapid Transit East Corridor or Red Line which is the fourth segment of a five-phased First Coast Flyer system planned for the Jacksonville area.
The 18.5-mile Red Line will be the longest corridor in the network and nearly doubles the footprint of the existing First Coast Flyer system, connecting more people to jobs, education, healthcare and entertainment.
COTA & City of Columbus Celebrate Opening of CNG Station
The Central Ohio Transit Authority and the city of Columbus hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of their new compressed natural gas fueling station. The station, built as a partnership between the two entities, is used to fuel city of Columbus vehicles. It is also open to the public and companies with CNG fleets.
The COTA & City of Columbus CNG Station is open 24 hours a day and features four fueling lanes, with two lanes open to the public. The city of Columbus contributed $3.7 million to the $4.3 million construction contract with R.W. Setterlin Building Co.
Bestmile Announces Funding to Fuel Strategic Growth in Autonomous Mobility
Bestmile has announced it has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Road Ventures SA with participation from Partech Ventures, Groupe ADP, Airbus Ventures, Serena Capital and MobilityFund. This investment will power the company’s global expansion, strengthen its mobility cloud platform technology, and extend its customer relationships with service providers, strategic OEMs and technology partners.
New Flyer Unveils Advanced Electric-Bus Simulator
New Flyer of America Inc. has commissioned the Xcelsior CHARGE Bus Simulator at New Flyer of America’s Vehicle Innovation Center, North America’s innovation lab opened in October 2017 and is dedicated to advancing bus technology. Drivers of the simulator will experience a bus environment with hardware operating just as it would in a zero-emission, battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE transit bus. Drivers familiar with traditional bus systems will notice a working door and ramp, lights, mirrors, air-brake system, and adjustable driver’s seat inside a full-scale CHARGE front cabin.
TheRide Announces Record Ridership
The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority has announced a 5 percent increase in ridership for the 2016 - 2017 fiscal year. The increase demonstrates the continued demand for public transit services in the greater Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area.
Total ridership for the 2016 - 2017 fiscal year was 6,879,996, compared to the previous year’s ridership of 6,572,012. Fixed-route service had the biggest gain in ridership at 5 percent with Demand Response services for seniors and people with disabilities growing by 3 percent.
Metrom Rail Wins New York City Genius Transit Challenge
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority named Metrom Rail a winner of the Genius Transit Challenge. The MTA created the Challenge in 2017 to identify innovative solutions to modernize and improve New York City’s subway service. Metrom Rail’s submission was one of 438 from 23 countries.
Metrom Rail’s Genius Challenge submission, PTCS-2, provides an increase in train operating efficiency and safety with significant reductions in cost and deployment time compared to legacy train control systems.
News Briefs
Dallas Area Rapid Transit has selected civil engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. to manage the extension of platforms at 28 stations.
ELERTS Corp. announced it received the ‘Be The Solution’ Award for its efforts to combat Human Trafficking in transit, at the South West Transit Association’s 2018 Freedom Through Transit Conference.
Valley Metro, in partnership with Cox Communications and Mesa Public Schools, distributed close to 70 computers and Cox internet service to pre-qualified students and families at Holmes and Lincoln elementary schools.
New Flyer of America Inc. announced that Dallas Area Rapid Transit awarded New Flyer a contract for 82 Xcelsior compressed natural gas forty-foot, heavy-duty transit buses (82 equivalent units).
The Chicago Transit Authority is increasing the real-time service information that it provides to customers on its expansive network of digital advertising screens throughout the CTA rail system.
Proterra announced that the San Mateo County Transit District ordered 10 new 40-foot Proterra Catalyst E2 vehicles, which will replace 10 diesel buses.
CityBus, which provides public transportation throughout the Greater Lafayette area, recently completed a $33,400 upgrade to its dispatch center, including new computers, screens, cameras, custom-created software and ergonomically designed furniture.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has launched a new online dashboard detailing customer-focused performance metrics for bus routes as part of MTA New York City Transit’s strategy to improve service across the city’s bus network.
