Innovation, maintenance excellence and clean fleets honored at BusCon

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

Innovators, clean fleets, and maintenance directors were honored at BusCon on Wednesday during METRO Magazine‘s annual Innovative Solutions Awards, which took place in Indianapolis.

In all, METRO honored seven bus operations and their supplier partners for implementing a new initiative that helped them improve training, save money, run more efficiently, streamline operations, or improve safety.

This year’s winners include:

METRO also handed out the inaugural Transit Maintenance Director of the Year awards to two people who have gone above and beyond to create a well-run maintenance shop.

This year’s winner in the under 500 vehicle category is Getty Modica of Santa Monica, Calif.’s Big Blue Bus (BBB). Modica manages a fleet of 200 alternatively-fueled buses with an average age of 6.1 years, which is well below the national average. Working his way from mechanic to maintenance manager, Modica is well-respected by industry peers and BBB’s staff.

In the over 501 vehicle category, our winner is Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) Michael Hubbell. Although he recently retired from DART, Hubbell managed a fleet of approximately 650 buses, as well as 163 light rail vehicles. During his tenure, Hubbell helped transition the agency’s bus fleet from diesel to natural gas and implemented a training and succession program that has been a huge success at the agency.

In addition, the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) honored three fleets for their use of propane autogas. The award recognizes public transportation fleets for their commitment to improving the environment and health of their communities by adopting the nation’s leading alternative fuel, propane autogas.

This year’s PERC award winners include:

Jimmy Riley and Eddie Leonard from S.C.’s Spartanburg Regional Healthcare
Randy Cantor from Carteret County N.C. Paratransit
Ronald Gitelman from Yale University

Keywords

Big Blue Bus BusCon 2018 Getty Modica Innovative Solutions Awards Michael Hubbell Sacramento Regional Transit Transit Maintenance Director of the Year Award TransLoc

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