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Message from the Chair
By Bill Lochte, Bombardier
All politics is local
This well-known statement from former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill has never been more evidenced than with what is now occurring in America's heartland. Local transit referenda have recently scored big victories in Houston, Kansas City and Grand Rapids, Mich.
On November 4, Election Day, voters around the
country approved $1 billion in sales taxes and bond
measures that will leverage many more hundreds of millions
in state and federal investment. The Center for
Transportation Excellence, an information clearinghouse
on transportation-related issues, found that more
than 72% of transit ballot initiatives were approved
around the United States. The positive vote demonstrated
that – even during tight economic times – voters are
willing to spend additional money to improve their
transportation options, reduce congestion and enhance
economic development.
APTA’s Business Members are following through in an
affirmative way. On December 8 and 9, we are co-sponsors
of a two-day conference, titled Transit Initiatives in
Communities: Lessons Learned. The conference is
designed to equip local groups with the tools they need to
be successful in future elections.
The time is now
House and Senate leadership are indicating that a TEA 21 reauthorization bill may move forward early in the second
session of the 108th Congress. Leveraging our APTA resources, particularly mobilizing the private-sector membership,
is essential to achieving a long-term, well-funded reauthorization bill.
The time for that is NOW! Activities will take place inside the beltway and in local congressional districts; messages
will focus on jobs and the economy, illustrating that investment in public transportation is real and urgent.
Involvement by APTA’s Business Members is again a component of this strategy. It is critical that we walk in step with the Adopt-a-District
initiative launched at APTA’s Annual Meeting by Sharon Greene and the Government Affairs Committee, and the messages and action calls posted
regularly on the Transit Action Center portion of APTA's Website (www.apta.com). Please plan to attend APTA's 2004 Legislative Conference,
to be held March 7 to 9. The timing of this conference is ideal, and planning is underway to put a spotlight on the important roles that
business members play in advocacy.
Your opinion matters
Consider this your formal invitation to attend the BMBG’s Annual Business Retreat in Dana Point, Calif., January 21 to 25, 2004. This is always the pivotal
business meeting of the year, where we invite public-sector VIPs to discuss the silent issues affecting our industry.
The retreat has always been a great opportunity for APTA Business Members to network and
learn from each other. The deadline for room reservations is December 20. Call APTA at (202)
496-4876 for information. I urge you to add this meeting to your New Year's Resolution list --
you won't regret it.
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Business Member AnnualMeeting to Be Held
in Dana Point, Calif.
The annual business meeting for APTA's Business Members will take place
January 21 to 24, 2004, in Dana Point, Calif.
"I encourage all APTA Business Members who are interested in getting
involved in APTA's programs for business members to join us at this meeting,"
said Bill Lochte, chair of the BMBG. "It's a pivotal meeting for
business members, one where we focus specifically on business issues —
and, for us, reauthorization means business!"
The meeting, which takes place at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, begins
with committee meetings and a reception on Wednesday, January 21. The business
meeting takes place on January 22 and 23. The business members' annual
banquet takes place on Friday, January 23.
"At our meeting this year, a number of across the goal line," Lochte
said. "It's also a meeting that helps business members build relationships that can lead to future business opportunities —
another important reason that members should join us." Following a tradition started last year, the meeting will feature
a partnership forum with several public-sector CEOs to discuss ways to strengthen
the industry.
All business members are welcome to attend and participate in the BMBG meeting.
Optional activities for guests accompanying members to the meeting have been
scheduled, as well as a golf tournament and other activities for attendees. A block of rooms has been reserved at the
Ritz-Carlton, and reservations need to be made by December 20, 2003, to receive
the reduced rate. Airline and car rental discount rates are also available
for this meeting.
Registration forms and other information on the meeting are available on
the APTA Website at www.apta.com/about/committees/business, and from Fran
Hooper at fhooper@apta.com or (202)
496-4876.
2004 BMBG Meetings
Mark your calendars for BMBG meetings during
2004.Meetings generally coincide with other major APTA meetings during the year.
Listed below are the dates for the 2004 meeting schedule.
2004 BMBG Annual Meeting:
January 21 – 24
Dana Point, California
APTA Legislative Conference:
March 7
Washington, D.C.
APTA Bus Ops Conference:
May 2
Denver
APTA Annual Conference:
October 10
Atlanta
Business Interests Figure Prominently
in APTA's Strategic Plan Review
By Cliff Henke,
North American Bus Industries
As APTA leadership and others in the organization begin to
consider how to update the association's strategic plan, business-
related issues and interests will play a more prominent role than when the
plan was created five years ago.
First, the influence of APTA Business Members has never been
greater, both within the association as well as in the halls of Congress and
the White House. Both are controlled by a party widely perceived to be more
sensitive to "business interests" — particularly in an election
year, when jobs and the economy are expected to be campaign issues.
Second, the increasing proliferation of technology in public
transportation has prompted prudent public-sector managers to turn to private sector expertise, whether consultants or suppliers of the equipment.
Third, structural changes within the industry itself have
created natural working relationships with the supply and operating sides
of the industry. For example, operations in both rail and bus modes have increasingly
been contracted out to private companies — often run by former public-sector
managers. In fact, 13% of all operating expenditures are now for "purchased
transportation services," according to APTA statistics.
Finally, the review of the strategic plan is a priority of
APTA's current chair, George Dixon. The head of the board of directors in
Cleveland, Dixon is also a successful local businessman, sensitive to private-sector
concerns.
Business members are also well prepared to assist the strategic
plan, as the BMBG has already developed and adopted the body's firstever business
member strategic and tactical plan. The BMBG adopted this plan during the
APTA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, after months of discussion within its
ranks and the larger business membership as a whole.
As mentioned last issue, the BMBG tactical plan is designed
to serve two main goals:
Respond to the needs and goals of business members in order to enhance the benefits, involvement and satisfaction they
derive from APTA membership; and
Make a significant contribution to business members' public-sector partners, to APTA as a whole and the coming revision of its strategic plan and, ultimately,
to the strength and long-term future of public transportation in North America.
Accordingly, the process of updating
APTA's strategic plan is an important opportunity
for business members to "weigh in" and
ensure that their vision of our industry's future
and priorities are represented in the process
and in both the final document and "plan of attack" that the plan
authorizes.
Already, the BMBG's adopted "business
case for public transportation" has
been extremely well-received by the
strategic plan core advisory team.
Moreover, in her address at the APTA
Annual Meeting, FTA Administrator
Jenna Dorn encouraged the industry to
put forward such a business case, proving
that the BMBG's timing on this
point was prescient.
The opportunity to express the business perspective in APTA's strategic plan
review comes at a time when supplier members have never been more powerful
within the association. More than half of the association's 1,500 members
are business members. The membership includes companies and individuals doing
business in all sectors of the transportation industry -- including operations.
The opportunities for us to get involved could not be better. To do so, contact
the BMBG's current chair, Bill Lochte, or Fran Hooper, APTA's Business Member
staff liaison.
International Business Opportunities Are
Here
Bus stop shelters, sign posts and street furniture, passenger
information systems, CCTV, bus lighting and radio equipment and circuit breaker
refurbishment — these are a few of the international business opportunities
that APTA Business Members can find out about at www.apta.com/services/intnatl/intbusiness/fta_pages/index.cfm.
FTA's International Mass Transportation
Program (IMTP) is now offering a list of
international public transit tenders and contact
information for a large number of pending
international tenders that will be of
interest to U.S. manufacturers and suppliers.
Many of the tenders, which are listed by
date, provide detailed information on the
procurement process, in addition to contact
information. The October 31 posting on the
Website contains information on more than
100 tenders from Europe, Asia, Canada and
Australia. An updated listing is expected to
be provided on a bi-weekly basis.
But information is just the beginning. IMTP
and the U.S. Department of Commerce are
working with APTA on a series of trade missions
to help APTA Business Members who
are interested in learning more about specific
markets.
In November, a group of APTA Business
Members traveled to Moscow and St.
Petersburg to meet prospective customers
and partners in a country where 3/4 of the
population lives in urban areas and the transit
system carries in excess of 120 million passengers
each day. It is a nation where a well
functioning transit system is vital to the country's
economy, which is strong and where
one of the world's largest markets for rolling
stock holds significant potential for foreign
suppliers in the medium and long term.
A trade mission to Mexico will take place
February 8 to 13, 2004. This trade mission
will visit Monterrey, Mexico City and Leon.
APTA Director Luciano Aimar, who serves as
director general of transit for the state of
Guanajuato, got a new BRT project up and
running quickly in Leon. He is planning a
transit symposium that will attract potential
transit customers from all over that region
while the mission is in Mexico. BMBG
International Committee Chair Dave Turney,
who has visited Leon, says that there are a
lot of market opportunities there. Mexico is
modernizing its transportation infrastructure,
and long-term concessions are being awarded
for the operation of infrastructure and
urban transit systems, making this mission
one of particular interest to APTA Business
Members.
A trade mission to central Europe is being
planned for May 2004. A number of APTA
Business Member suppliers have indicated an
interest in meeting with European bus manufacturers
and OEMs, and this mission is being
planned with that in mind. Mission participants
can also expect to meet with transit
agency personnel. It is anticipated that the
mission will include a symposium session
with private-sector APTA members who will
be participating in an Eno study mission on
standards and procurement that will take
place at the same time.
The BMBG International Committee is working to help small
and mid-sized APTA Business Members who would like to access the international
market, but do not have a lot of experience to draw upon. More information
about international business opportunities is available from Fran Hooper at
fhooper@apta.com, or in the services
section
of APTA's Website, www.apta.com.
Nelson, Man of the Rails
Donald
N. Nelson, fascinated with railroads since childhood, doggedly pursued work
on the rails at the age of 18. "After three months of knocking on the
superintendent's door every Saturday morning, I was hired as a brakeman
on the Great Northern Railway in Seattle," he says.
After receiving a degree in economics from the University
of Washington in Seattle and serving in the Marines, Nelson went back to the
railroad, where he began learning the basics of its operation. It was also
during that time Nelson worked as a classical musician, playing the cello
and trombone. He entertained the idea of pursuing a career in music full time,
but his standing in the rail industry moved faster, with successive promotions
leading to the top.
A career highlight for Nelson was his tenure with the Metro-North
Railroad in New York, where he was president from 1991
to 1998. "We rebuilt one of the oldest rail systems in the country from
scratch over the course of many years," he says. "It was
very exciting professionally and organizationally." The entire operating
railroad was rebuilt and/or replaced with an investment
value of $3 billion. During that time, ridership increased by 50%, from 42
million to 63 million.
When Nelson retired from the public side of the railroad
industry, he joined Washington Group International Inc. As vice president
and program manager, Nelson's primary role is to
make high-level judgments on rail and transit projects that might be worthy
for the company to pursue. Nelson is very
active in business development and has spent a lot of time in Europe attempting
to generate more business.
Nelson joined the BMBG in 2002. As part of the board, he
has worked on the tactical five-year business plan and was part of
a task force involved in defining and promoting the business case for public
transit in the U.S.
"My involvement with the BMBG has helped me broaden
my understanding of the kinds of services and products that we can
use in our business," Nelson says. He also says that it helps him get
to know companies that would make good teaming members for proposals on transit
and rail projects.
An avid reader and history buff, Nelson spends a lot of time
going to concerts, operas and "paying attention to what's going on in
the classical music world." He and his wife live in lower Manhattan.
Malone, Ready for a Challenge
Reba
Malone, always up for a challenge, is ready to tackle her workload after returning
from Russia, where she took part in an international trade mission hosted
by the FTA and APTA. "It was a real eye opener," Malone says.
Although the situation in Russia was better than she had
anticipated, Malone saw a need for updated buses and more
vehicles to alleviate overcrowding problems. "It was a very interesting
[trip] and I'm glad we had the opportunity," she says. While in
St. Petersburg, one of two stops on the trip, Malone got a chance to visit
the palace of Catherine the Great. "There is just no way to describe
[its] beauty," she says.
Malone's first foray into the transportation industry
was as a board member for San Antonio Transit and VIA Metropolitan
Transit, where she served for 11 combined years. It was also during that time
she became the first woman elected chair of APTA. "At the time, I was
basically told that the transportation industry was not ready for a female
chair, but I said ‘Fine, I'm going to run anyway,' and I won."
It is this tenacity that has allowed Malone to make a name for herself in
a male-dominated industry and pave the way for other women.
Malone is involved in various APTA committees, including
the legislative, reauthorization task force, and expo committee. She is also
chair of the APTA Foundation, for which she is an ardent raiser of funds.
Malone became a member of the BMBG by taking the seat held
by Chance Coach Inc., now Optima Bus. She says she has been very active in
making sure business members do their part in contacting members of Congress
regarding funding authorization.
Wanting to stay involved in the industry she knows so well,
Malone recently formed her own consulting firm, Reba Malone & Associates.
"I enjoy the people in the industry," she says. "I find it
rewarding knowing that we as an industry are helping some less fortunate people
by providing them with transportation."
Malone, who lives in San Antonio with her husband, cites
bowling as one of her favorite hobbies, and she has participated in many national
and state bowling tournaments. Shopping is another a favorite pastime, as
is spending time with family. "I have some wonderful nieces and nephews,
and I enjoy doing things with them," she says.
The official newsletter of the
American Public
Transportation Association's
Business Members Chair
William Lochte,
Bombardier
Chair,
Outreach
Committee/Publisher
Kim Green, GFI Genfare
Associate Publisher
Frank Di Giacomo,
METRO Magazine
Editors
Leslie Davis,
METRO Magazine;
Cliff Henke,
NABI
Graphic Designer
Staff Writer
Janna Starcic,
METRO Magazine
Graphic Designer
Joni Hutton, Bobit Publishing
APTA Staff Advisor
Fran Hooper
The official newsletter of the
American Public
Transportation Association's
Business Members
Ensure a
positive R.O.I. …
Get active in APTA. |
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