The State of Florida (Broward County & LYNX) won the Grand Champion Award at the 35th International Bus Roadeo held in conjunction with the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Bus and Paratransit Conference in Cleveland, OH this week. The Grand Champion award recognizes the bus operator and maintenance team that has the highest combined score.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston, TX) garnered second place, and third place went to the team from King County Metro Transit (Seattle, WA).
“The International Bus Roadeo champions showcase professionalism and top-notch skills,” said APTA President William Millar. “They not only exemplify excellence to the entire industry; they also set the standard for their peers in providing first-class services to the millions of public transit riders throughout North America.”
Frank Gonzales of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston, TX) was named best driver in North America, beating out 38 other competitors to win first place in the 40-foot bus competition. This is the ultimate test of bus operators’ driving skills. Second place was awarded to Rendol Whidden from The State of Florida (Broward County). Zenon John Rinylo of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia, PA) received third place honors.
Abdel Kadar Tenouri of Star Tran/Capital Metro (Austin, TX) won first place as the best bus operator in North America in the 30-foot category. Howard Yoder of Central Ohio Transit Authority (Columbus, OH) received second place honors, and Julian Carranza, Jr. of Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority (Corpus Christi, TX) earned third place. Fifteen bus operators competed in the Operator Competition for 30-foot buses.
Twenty-five teams competed in the Maintenance Competition, which tests mechanics’ abilities to troubleshoot mechanical problems and fix them quickly. The State of Florida (LYNX, Orlando, FL) won first place in the maintenance competition. The team from VIA Metropolitan Transit (San Antonio, TX) earned a second place finish and the team from Community Transit (Everett, WA) received third place honors.
The fifth annual Customer Service Challenge Awards, which judges professionalism, customer service skills, and problem-solving creativity, were also held at the conference. Frank Gonzales of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston, TX), winner of the 40-foot bus competition, was also the first place winner in this competition. Raymond Robertson III, of Fort Worth Transportation Authority (Fort Worth, TX) earned a second place finish.
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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of nearly 1,500 public and private member organizations, engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne passenger services, and high-speed rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA member systems.