AC Transit Earns Top Honor at 2004 Bus 'Roadeo' Best Transit Bus Operator, Maintenance Crew and Grand Champion Named

Contacts: Virginia Miller (202) 496-4816 vmiller@apta.com
or Donna Aggazio (202) 496-4884 daggazio@apta.com.

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Who are the best transit bus operator and best skilled bus mechanic team in North America? Bus Operator Edwin Negron of New Jersey Transit and the mechanic team of Leonard Emry, Larry Fitzpatrick and Ryan Stringfellow from King Country Metro (Seattle) can claim these titles by winning the prestigious 29th International "Bus Roadeo" held in conjunction with the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The winners were announced at an awards dinner on Sunday.

AC Transit, serving Oakland, CA, won the Grand Champion Prize by earning second place in the Operator Competition and placing fifth in the Maintenance Competition. This honor, recognizing the men and women who keep North America's bus systems safe, is given to the operator and maintenance team that has the highest score of all bus transit systems in this year's competition.

MTA Long Island Bus (Joseph Piegari) won third place in the Operators' Competition, which measured professional skills including driving ability as measured on an obstacle course; knowledge of safety regulations; bus equipment; and personal appearance. Top honors in the 35-foot class bus Operator Competition went to Jimmy Gibbs of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).

In the Maintenance Competition, the Orange County Transportation Authority (CA) earned a second-place finish. Third place went to the Coast Mountain Bus Company of Vancouver, BC. Maintainers are judged on their ability to trouble-shoot maintenance problems.

The International Roadeo is designed to encourage excellence and professionalism in bus transit operations. A total of 114 teams comprised of more than 260 competitors from North America's finest bus transit systems participated. The competition was held October 9 at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Lakewood-Ft. McPherson Station parking lot.

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APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions, and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. Over ninety percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA members.