The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) team (Oakland, Calif.), consisting of Joshua Vining, Justin Strong, Gary Crandall, Steven Dore and Erroll Luciano, won the prestigious Rail Transit Team Achievement Award at the 27th annual American Public Transportation Association (APTA) International Rail Rodeo. The Rodeo was held June 21-22 in conjunction with the 2019 APTA Rail Conference in Toronto, ON, Canada. The Rail Transit Team Achievement Award is given to the system with the highest rail operator and maintainer team combined score.
The overall second place finisher was the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation (LA Metro) team (Los Angeles, Calif.) team. Meanwhile third place was won by the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) team (Denver, Colo.).
“Every morning our operators and maintainers are up before the sun, striving to make another day as safe and convenient as possible for our riders,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “All our competitors put hard work into being the best public transportation providers they can be. The recognition they have received this weekend are the result of years of hard work and training.”
The Operators Competition measures professional skills, including train operation, knowledge of safety regulations, train equipment, and track right-of-way rules and procedures. Logan Packer and Michelle Smith, on behalf of Utah Transit Authority (Salt Lake City, Utah), won first place in the Operators Competition while Joshua Vining and Justin Strong of BART placed second. The team of Earleke Kidd and Eugene Metts of MDOT Maryland Transit Administration (Baltimore, Md.) took third-place honors.
In the Maintainers Competition, participants are evaluated on their ability to troubleshoot maintenance problems. The BART team of Gary Crandall, Steven Dore, and Erroll Luciano were named winners in this category. The LA Metro team of Marcos Martinez, Paker Rounds, and Calvin Wong placed second. The RTD maintainer team of Michael Hubbard, Randall Lovegrove, and George Sweeney won third place.
The APTA International Rail Rodeo Competition encourages excellence and professionalism in rail transit operations. This years’ competition included 19 teams of operators and 15 mechanic teams from the United States, Canada, and Japan.
