Foothill Transit chief tapped for L.A. Access Services board

The Access Services board of directors, which oversees the agency that provides Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit in Los Angeles County, recently elected Doran Barnes as its chairman for the next fiscal year.

Barnes, who is also the executive director of Foothill Transit in West Covina, Calif., has served on the Access Services Board since 2005. This is the second time he has served as Chair.

“I am grateful that the board elected me to another term as chair and would like to thank outgoing Chair Dolores Nason for her leadership over the past year,” Barnes said. “While paratransit service in Los Angeles County has never been better, I look forward to working with the board and Executive Director Shelly Verrinder to meet the additional challenges that will surely come our way as we strive to provide quality, efficient ADA paratransit service to people with disabilities in Los Angeles County.”

The board also elected Jano Baghdanian, transportation administrator for the City of Glendale, as vice chair; Joseph Stitcher, assistant director, transit operations for Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, as treasurer; and Theresa DeVera, who is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointee, as secretary.

Access Services is the second largest ADA paratransit system in the country. The service area is divided into regions and extends into portions of the surrounding counties of San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura that are served by Los Angeles County fixed-route bus lines.