On Aug. 1, Jennifer Woodall, assistant manager of Tri-State Transit Authority, was honored as the 2012 Transit Employee of the Year by the West Virginia Division Public Transit.
Woodall was recognized for her “renowned leadership, unwavering support and dedication to public transit in West Virginia.” The award was in recognition of her years of service at TTA, along with his service on local, state and national boards and commissions, as well as his many awards for the contribution she has made to the TTA mass transit system and public transit throughout the state of West Virginia.
Four excellence awards for Tri-State Transit Authority added to the excitement of the evening. TTA won an award for their annual marketing program for the ninth consecutive year. The best marketing program recognizes not only the efforts of a transit system to advertise and promote its services, but also includes its activities to support and promote the community in which it provides mass transit.
Larry Joe Collins, a TTA Driver for 27 years was named the statewide Transit Driver of the Year. According to TTA Manager, Paul Davis, Collins greets every single customer who boards his bus with a smile and some type of personal greeting with each of his regular customers. Through hard work and dedication he has earned the right to be become one of West Virginia’s best drivers.
TTA was also recognized for an increase in ridership. The award recognizes the growth in the number of boardings on TTA buses and dial-a-ride vans between calendar years 2012 and 2013. TTA boarded 906,490 customers in the year 2012, up 2.4 percent from the 893,809 boardings in the year 2011. According to Davis, “These statistics are a bit different from what we usually see, as the comparison was between calendar years instead of fiscal years. But, hey, we’re proud of the growth any way you want to look at it.”
Davis says that “All the employees at TTA share in the credit for this award. Without a team spirit and a “can do” attitude, there is no way TTA could have increased the customer boardings as we have in the last year”.
