|
|
October 9, 2023 | An APTA Publication
|
APTA’s 2023 TRANSform Conference & EXPO Is Here!
Public transportation practitioners from around the world are connecting, engaging and learning in Orlando, FL, this week at APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO, the industry’s premier showcase of knowledge, technology, products and services. The event program includes cutting-edge educational sessions; world-renowned guest speakers and industry experts; Learning Zones featuring innovative solutions; the latest buses, rail cars and equipment; and much more!
|
 |  | |
| |
Nominees Confirmed to APTA Executive Committee
APTA members confirmed nominees to the association’s Executive Committee Oct. 7 during APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO in Orlando, FL.
Michele Wong Krause, chair, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, will assume the position of APTA chair for 2023-2024. MJ Maynard, CEO, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, was selected as vice chair. Current APTA Chair Dorval R. Carter, Jr., president, Chicago Transit Authority, will serve as APTA immediate past chair. Jeffrey Wharton, director, contracts and technical services, SYSTRA, will serve as secretary-treasurer for 2023-2024.
Nominated to three-year terms as members-at-large of the 25-member APTA Executive Committee are:
- Kimberly Slaughter, CEO, SYSTRA, as the Business Member-At-Large
- Gary Giovanetti, chair, San Joaquin RTD, CA, as the Transit Board Member-At-Large
- Bacarra Mauldin, deputy CEO, Memphis Area Transit Authority, as the Executive Committee Member-At-Large
The committee also approved the following individuals to fill portfolio seats on the Executive Committee:
- Sharon Fleming, CEO, Calgary Transit, AB, as the Canadian System Representative
- Erin Rogers, CEO, Omnitrans, San Bernardino, CA, as the Bus and Paratransit CEO Committee Representative
- Charles DiMaggio, CEO, Greystone Management Solutions, as the BMBG Representative
Nominations for three-year terms on the APTA Board of Directors are:
Transit system directors:
- Michael Hursh, CEO, AC Transit, Oakland, CA
- Richard Kwasneski, board chair, Pace Suburban Bus, Arlington Heights, IL
- Benjamin Limmer, bureau chief, Connecticut DOT
- Charles Reeves, deputy COO, Pittsburgh Regional Transit, PA
- Gary Rosenfeld, CEO, Memphis Area Transit Authority
- Frank White, CEO, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, MO
Business member directors:
- Chris Alfano, CEO, Jarvus Innovations
- Eric Kaled, CEO, Genfare
- Janet Gonzalez, director of advisory Services, HDR
- Eric Reese, managing director, VIX Technology
- Peter Rogoff, managing partner, Contorta Group
- Mandee Steele, vice president, business development, Transdev
| | |
| |
Passenger Transport Is Making Some Changes!
Coming soon, the news, commentaries and happenings around the industry you’ve come to expect from Passenger Transport will be available on a new, web-based digital platform. Stay tuned for more details!
| |
The Happiest City on Earth Hosts the World of Public Transportation!
 On behalf of the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) board and more than 1,100 employees, I welcome you back to Orlando for this year’s APTA TRANSform Conference & EXPO. As host agency, our team, along with our city, county and regional partners, are excited to say hello once again with a friendly smile! Get out and ride our systems for free just by showing your conference badge! While in town, you can expect temperatures to be between the high 60s to mid-80s, which makes for great weather to go exploring during your downtime. Thank you for being a reader of Passenger Transport and for your continuous support of our great industry. We are excited to host you here in Orange County and Orlando and to make this conference experience the best you have ever had. See you at the show!
BY TIFFANY HOMLER HAWKINS
Chief Executive Officer
LYNX
| | | |
| |
COMMENTARY
A Year of Investing in a Better Future
It has been an honor to serve as APTA chair during a momentous time of recovery, rebuilding and redefining the importance of public transportation. The past year gave me a once-in-a-career opportunity to share ideas, explore innovative practices and support our members across a wide range of issues and communities. Prior to the start of my chairmanship, APTA had adopted a three-year business plan focused on advocating for increased funding, modernizing infrastructure, building a skilled workforce and advancing our industry’s contributions to a cleaner, safer, more equitable and mobile society. To support that plan, I chose to emphasize public transportation’s role as an essential public good in the post-pandemic environment by adding my support to three areas: Broadening support for transit funding and policies; Continuing to tell and learn from stories about how public transportation benefits everyone; Advancing greater equity both in our industry and by our industry. I will be forever grateful for the privilege of serving APTA and our industry, and I am proud to have contributed in a small way to our ambitious future.
BY DORVAL R. CARTER, JR.
Chair, APTA
President, Chicago Transit Authority
| | | |
| |
Art Guzzetti is second from left; Nuria Fernandez is third from right; Shawn M. Donaghy is far right.
C-TRAN Opens Vine on Mill Plain
Executives from C-TRAN, Vancouver, WA; local leaders; community members and visitors, including FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez and Art Guzzetti, APTA vice president – mobility initiatives and public policy, celebrated the grand opening of The Vine on Mill Plain BRT at a recent ribbon-cutting event at the new Mill Plain Transit Center on the east end of the project corridor.
“It’s such an exciting time to see this important milestone become a reality,” said Shawn M. Donaghy, C-TRAN chief executive officer. “We’re thrilled for the new opportunities The Vine will bring to Mill Plain and the larger community. This new line builds on the success of the original Vine route, and we’re not done yet.”
The Vine on Mill Plain will serve 37 new stations along a 10-mile corridor between downtown Vancouver and the new transit center, located near Mill Plain at 184th Avenue. The service replaces C-TRAN’s Route 37.
“FTA is proud to support The Vine on Mill Plain, which will create exciting opportunities by connecting people in Clark County with jobs and higher education, while reducing pollution and congestion,” said Administrator Fernandez, whose agency provided more than $30 million in federal funds to support the line. “Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s investments in America, more and more communities are enjoying the benefits of high-quality public transportation.”
When The Vine first opened on Fourth Plain in 2017, it became the region’s first BRT system. C-TRAN will use color designations to differentiate the two Vine segments operating on Fourth Plain and Mill Plain. The Vine on Fourth Plain is known as the Green Line and Mill Plain will be served by the Red Line.
| |  | |
APTA’s Committee of Audit Professionals
 This issue of Passenger Transport features a profile of APTA’s Committee of Audit Professionals, chaired by Elizabeth Sullivan, VP, chief risk and audit officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Washington, DC.
The committee is charged with, among other duties, providing training to equip transit auditors for emerging technology, innovation and industry trends.
| | |
APTF Announces 43 Scholarship Recipients
The American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF) is presenting more than $337,000 in scholarships—the largest amount since the foundation’s inception in 1988—to 43 recipients, who represent the diverse specializations required to sustain and grow the public transit workforce. Many of the 2023 scholars are attending APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO in Orlando, FL. During the conference, APTF will hold its annual fundraiser and reception following the Oct. 8 Welcome Reception and will recognize the scholarship recipients during the Oct. 10 APTA Honors Breakfast.
| | | |
| |
APTA Announces AdWheel Grand Award Winners
APTA’s AdWheel awards recognize the strategic importance of marketing and communications initiatives that advance the organizational goals of APTA members. Public transportation systems and businesses compete for Grand Awards within their peer group, based on the number of annual passenger trips, or in the separate business member group. More than 275 entries were submitted for the 2023 AdWheel Awards and APTA is pleased to announce the 15 best entries, the 2023 AdWheel Grand Award winners.
| | | |
Leadership APTA Celebrates Class of 2023, Welcomes Class of 2024
The public transportation industry celebrates members of the Leadership APTA Class of 2023, the 25th graduating class in the program’s history, Oct. 10 at the APTA Honors Program held during APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO in Orlando, FL, where they will join a host of other industry honorees being recognized for their accomplishments.
| | | |
| | Meet the APTA Staff: Amy Thompson
 This is the latest in an ongoing Passenger Transport series of profiles highlighting members of the APTA staff. Meet Amy Thompson, who is APTA’s director–public affairs.
Thompson is the main point of contact for reporters, bloggers, producers, bookers and anyone else within the news media who wants to know APTA’s point of view on a wide variety of public transportation-related topics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
More from this Issue of Passenger Transport:
|
|
|
| Passenger Transport Thanks its Advertisers:
| | |
|
|
|  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
_2638701.jpg)
.png){kind=small}
