Veolia Transportation announced that Lance Atencio has been named general manager of Veolia’s Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) transportation contract based in Chico, Calif. He replaces former GM Ibrahima Toure, who was promoted to director of business development for Veolia’s western region. As general manager of the BCAG contract, Atencio will oversee fixed route and paratransit service with 110 employees and 70 vehicles.
In making the announcement, Veolia’s Vice President of the Northwest for Transit Ron Bushman said, “We welcome Lance and believe he brings to Veolia and BCAG new ideas and a fresh perspective that will help us to continue to grow in Chico as we have done for the last 25 years.”
Prior to joining Veolia, Atencio spent 15 years working in transportation with another company. His most recent assignment there was as general manager in Salinas, Calif., managing paratransit and fixed route service with an annual ridership in excess of 500,000. Prior to that he worked as general manager in Fairfield, Calif.
Among his credits was recognition by the Transportation Agency of Monterey County for improvements made to the paratransit system which resulted in increased business by over 100 percent while maintaining a consistently excellent safety record. He was also nominated for Solano County Employee of the Year, while working as general manager in Fairfield, for his effective implementation of policies and procedures resulting in improved overall transit service.
Lance Atencio received a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University in Chico.