Two Iowa transit vehicle operators are headed for national and international level competition by earning top honors in Iowa's 28th Annual Public Transit Roadeo held in Davenport on June 21.
Don Dopson, representing Clinton Municipal Transit Administration in Clinton, placed first in the small bus competition.
Paul Klimesh, representing CyRide in Ames, placed first in the large bus competition.
Klimesh will represent the state of Iowa at the American Public Transit Association’s 40th International Bus Roadeo in May 2015 to be held in Fort Worth, Texas. Dopson will represent the state of Iowa at the Community Transportation Association of America Bus Roadeo to be held in Tampa, Florida, in May 2015.
This year, Davenport Citibus and River Bend Transit organized and hosted the roadeo at the Davenport Public Works facility. The annual public transit roadeo is co-sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa Public Transit Association, with funding under a Federal Transit Administration program.
The roadeo's purpose is to promote the development and provide recognition of safe driving skills by Iowa's public transit vehicle operators. Representing 17 transit systems, 40 competitors demonstrated their skills by performing a series of maneuvers that simulate the actual situations they encounter in the performance of their daily duties. The maneuvers include pulling up to a curb at a bus stop closely flanked by parked cars, making left and right turns in narrow lanes that might be created by parked cars along a route, stopping short of an obstacle, and backing into parking stalls. Judges for the event included volunteer citizens, staff from Iowa’s public transit systems, and Iowa DOT representatives.
The full Roadeo results are:
Small bus division
- First place: Don Dopson, Clinton MTA, Clinton
- Second place: Jean Dalsing, Region 8 RTA, Dubuque
- Third place: Nathan Shimanek, Ames CyRide
Large bus division
- First place: Paul Klimesh, Ames CyRide
- Second place: Carl Nelson, Iowa City Transit, Iowa City
- Third place: Cesar Chavez, DART, Des Moines
