The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District has announced that the American Public Transportation Association awarded 3rd Place in Overall Excellence (Best of the Best) honors to its combined Bus Operator and Maintenance Team during the 2018 Bus & Paratransit Conference and International Bus Roadeo, held in Tampa, Florida, on May 6.
However, achieving top marks for AC Transit's intrepid team was no easy task. AC Transit’s ‘Fantastic Four’ vied against 87 Bus Operators, 43 Maintenance Teams, and another 41 combination teams from around North America.
Thirty-eight year veteran Bus Operator, Jesse Dela Cruz of AC Transit's Hayward Division, navigated a 40-foot bus through a narrow entry gate, followed by a serpentine cone course that ended through yet another narrow gate. Other competitive task included reversing between obstacles to master a Right-hand Reverse Turn or stopping within just six inches of a fixed object in what judge’s call a Judgment Stop.
Simultaneously, Journey Level Mechanics Miguel Lopez, Jose Oseguera-Garcia and Ricardo Vega, all from AC Transit's East Oakland Division, became the mechanical equivalent of physicians in Tampa. In addition to a timed written exam, AC Transit's Maintenance team was required to diagnosis eight bus defects — using symptoms only — and uncover a planted security hazard in just eight minutes.
Superior training, commitment to safety and teamwork have been the underpinnings of what now amounts to six APTA Overall Excellence (Best of the Best) honors for AC Transit. In fact, AC Transit's success behind the wheel and under the coach makes it a challenge to stifle beaming smiles, now that its International Roadeo leaderboard represents wins every decade spanning the past 30 years:
- 2018 – Best of the Best (team), Tampa, Florida
- 2008 – First Place Operator, Austin, Texas
- 2006 – Second Place Operator & Best of the Best (team), Anaheim, California
- 2004 – Second Place Operator, Atlanta, Georgia
- 2002 – Best of the Best (team), Las Vegas, Nevada
- 2001 – Best of the Best (team), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2000 – First Place Operator & Best of the Best (team), San Francisco, California
- 1999 – First Place Operator & Best of the Best (team), Orlando, Florida
- 1998 – Second Place Operator, New York, New York
- 1991 – Third Place Operator, Toronto, Canada
- 1986 – First Place Operator, Detroit, Michigan
