Much like the city of New Orleans, APTA's 2011 EXPO showcased its own revitalization, be it the ever-present examples of transit systems working harder and smarter despite economic hardships, or the bountiful product offerings on the show floor, to the leadership changes, most notably, the introduction of incoming APTA President, Michael Melaniphy.

APTA's triennial event, which took place at New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, was bigger than ever, boasting 772 exhibitors, including 300 newcomers and spanning 60 countries, on a 300,000-square-foot show floor that featured 54 buses and vans and five offerings from railcar manufacturers. APTA was also expecting more than 15,000 attendees to visit the show floor, which is a far cry from 30 years ago in Chicago, where there were 5,500 attendees and 265 exhibitors.

Rebirth, leadership changes
During the Opening General Session, speakers delivered a shared message: this is a trying time for our country, and specifically the public transportation industry, but everyone must take their seat at the table to make their voice heard.

Although the situation may look dire to some, there appears to be no better place to call for the industry to stay the course than New Orleans, as was demonstrated by a host of speakers from the area, including Mayor Mitchell Landrieu who cited the city's work since the hurricanes six years ago "one of the great stories of resurrection and redemption."

Mayor Landrieu spoke about the difficult times public transportation is facing as well as the difficult decade New Orleans faced following the shriveling of tourism post 9/11, the hurricanes, the BP oil spill and the nation's economic recession and joked that now the city is just "waiting for the locusts."

Despite the numerous hurdles, Mayor Landrieu commended the city itself as well as the nation for their work in rebuilding New Orleans, including the work of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and its private industry partner Veolia Transportation for working to fill the gap in transportation in the areas that have repopulated.

Mayor Landrieu urged the audience to continue to fight to save public transportation as well as the larger issues the nation is facing by calling for more investment and creating more jobs.

"When you invest...the country grows strong," he said before adding a note of optimism. "Like your mama told you, where there's a will, there is a way."
Bittersweet and emotional would be the best way to describe outgoing APTA President William Millar's final Opening Session speech.

Greeted by a rousing standing ovation, Millar delivered his patented "Gooooooood morning!" greeting before telling the crowd that ridership is up 1.7% over the first six months of 2011, compared to last year, and that there are discussions going on in Washington, D.C., to get a long-term authorization bill done before the current extension lapses.

Millar also spent time thanking everybody he has worked with, inside and outside of APTA, and his wife Barbara, as well as offering Melaniphy his ringing endorsement. He also reminisced on all his accomplishments over the years, while remaining true to his nature that has endeared him throughout the industry to remain humble.

"You should be tired, you've been busy," he told the crowd. "We did all these things together."

Meanwhile, Melaniphy addressed his first EXPO Opening Session, saying that he was excited to take part in the goings-on of the week and "proud, honored and challenged" by his new position.

"This is the only industry I've ever known; it's the only thing I know how to do," said Melaniphy. "I sincerely appreciate what is truly a golden opportunity...Bill, a very special thank you. I'm absolutely keeping your number on my speed dial."

Other speakers addressing the crowd included Justin Augustine, CEO at RTA; incoming APTA Chair Gary C. Thomas; and outgoing Chair Michael J. Scanlon.

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Industry awards
Public transportation systems based in Ithaca, N.Y., El Paso, Texas and Santa Monica, Calif. were among those receiving honors at the 2011 APTA Awards ceremony, which was sponsored by GFI Genfare.

New Orleans native Margaret Dubuisson introduced the presenters and announced the winners.

"Public transportation supports 1.9 million jobs in the public and private sector," she said. "Your work vitalizes the nation's economy and improves its quality of life."

Melaniphy thanked the winners for their hard work.

"It's an honor to be here, among the best in the industry," he said. "You are stellar examples of public excellence."

After each award winner was announced, a video highlighting their accomplishments was shown.

Winning the Innovation award for "demonstrating innovative concepts in the provision of public transportation services" was Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), for its Open Data Initiative. The agency opened its real-time schedules and alert information to third parties in November, 2009. Since then, more than 30 apps have been launched at no cost to MBTA, allowing it to focus on releasing new data.

Taking the honors for Outstanding Public Transportation Systems were the following:

  • Providing 4 million or fewer annual passenger trips: Ithaca, N.Y.-based Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit. The agency accommodated a 7.8% ridership spike from 2008 to 2010 by streamlining its system and seeking public feedback online.
  • Providing more than 4 million but fewer than 20 million annual passenger trips: El Paso, Texas' Sun Metro, which constructed four new transit centers and partnered with Google Transit.
  • Providing 20 million or more annual passenger trips: Santa Monica, Calif.'s Big Blue Bus, which significantly reduced preventable accidents.

APTA introduced a new award this year, "Special Recognition for Extraordinary Recovery." The Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans (RTA) was recognized for its "tremendous comeback after Hurricane Katrina." Despite losing most of its vehicles, facilities, and technology systems after the natural disaster, the agency managed to implement partial bus service within 60 days of the hurricane and partial streetcar service six months later. The RTA now has completely new fleets for both its bus and paratransit operations and  managed to hold its operations costs flat for the past three years.

In the "Local Distinguished Service" category, Cameron (Cam) Beach was honored posthumously for his "significant contributions at the local level to public transportation through policy, legislative initiative and leadership." Beach's wife, Carmen Clark, and son, Timothy Beach, accepted the award.
The "Outstanding Public Transportation Board Member" award went to Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Board member Crystal Fortune Lyons, who was recognized for the "extraordinary amount of volunteer time" she dedicated to riders' environmental and transportation needs and educating community leaders and transit professionals about Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Sharon Greene, president of Laguna Beach, Calif.-based Sharon Greene + Associates, received the "Outstanding Public Transportation Business Member" award for her expertise in financial analysis and transportation capital investments, as well as service on the APTA Executive Committee.
Stephanie Negriff, director of Santa Monica, Calif.'s Big Blue Bus, was recognized with the "Outstanding Public Transportation Manager" award for her successful oversight of a transit system that serves more than 22 million customers a year and has reached new and diverse markets to achieve greater community involvement.

Roger Snoble was inducted into the APTA Hall of Fame for his numerous contributions to the industry over the past four-and-a-half decades, including leading three large transit agencies and opening the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Gold Line to Pasadena in 2003.

Social media benefits, obstacles
Social media's benefits and pitfalls as tools for transit operations to connect with the public were discussed in the "From Town Hall to Twitter: A New Era in Customer Communications" session.

Linda Watson, president/CEO of Austin, Texas' Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, moderated the session, sharing her agency's experience with using Twitter to make CEO interviews available to the community online and received an overwhelming response.

"As the new CEO, I understood immediately that I needed to engage in traditional and non-traditional ways to engage the community," Watson said.
Panelists weighed in on ways they have successfully employed social media and the challenges they encountered. Richard Davey, Secretary/CEO MassDOT, discussed the agency's "GM for a Day" program on Twitter, which invited tweeters to shadow MassDOT staff for one day, and turned some chronically complaining posters around with a new understanding of the complications of a transit system.

Davey added that Twitter "saved the MBTA" last winter, when a severe snow storm crashed the agency website. The staff was able to tweet updates on service changes to riders.

Bill Velasco, board member Dallas Area Rapid Transit, holding up his smart phone, underscored the point that, with social media, "All the stuff you can do is right here." Jacqueline Lewis Halldow, chief of staff, NJ Transit, agreed, adding that the results of the agency's most recent customer survey showed that out of the 19,000 customers surveyed, 87% use the mobile devices.

Reaching out and getting feedback from Twitter and other social media works best when used along with face-to-face interaction with the community, Lee Kemp, board member Denver Regional Transportation District, said.

A Twitter audience can be particularly helpful to a transit operation, Davey said, by providing another set of eyes and ears on the system. MassDOT, he explained, encourages riders to tweet photos on the trains and buses to help draw attention to maintenance issues.

Joe Calabrese, CEO/GM Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, said that the downside to connecting with the public through social media is the expectation that communication will be "24/7," which can be a challenge for staff. Additionally, panelists agreed that Twitter and Facebook have not reduced print communication or phone calls.

[PAGEBREAK]Key economic driver
Twenty million jobs in the "creative sector" have been formed in the last three decades, — totaling 40 million overall — while millions of jobs are stripped from the manufacturing industry, said Richard Florida, guest speaker at the APTA Expo and founder of Creative Glass Group. Florida, who has studied factories for 20 years, is considered an international expert on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation.

Florida called the current era the "creative age" because jobs in this sector evolve around emerging industries outside of hard labor — others call this era the "information age" or the "service age." But whatever it's called, it's the only thing really driving the economy, he said, and public transportation is a major factor.

In studies done by Florida and Creative Glass Group, which looks at migration patterns by studying satellite images of Earth at night, among other demographic studies, what used to be nation states around the globe are now more like "mega regions," as he called them. These 40 mega regions account for less than 18 percent of the world's population, but produce more than two-thirds of the nation's economic output and nine out of 10 innovations.

The mega regions have something else in common: the "creative sector" lives here. Interestingly, this newer type of industry is more dependent on public transportation, walking and biking than others.

For example, suburbanization and investment in transportation, particularly on cars and highways, is what brought America out of the Great Depression, and a similar type of shift is what's needed today, Florida said. "We have to build a new system now, a system that is no longer of the old industrial age — a system that is set apart from the car and home," he said.

So, why does relying on public transportation, biking and walking allow these "creative economies" to be successful? "You can't be creative when you're behind the wheel," Florida said, citing the substantial amount of time lost in productivity because so many Americans are car commuters. As well, this lifestyle stimulates innovation, because, as Florida's studies show, people are more likely to be happy compared to those who commute alone in their cars.
And with 60% of Americans wanting more walkable cities, Florida said, by investing in public transportation, you're also investing in "the human, the social, the cultural."

Industry funding challenges
Even though they come from different sides of the public transportation sphere, the future and current presidents of APTA both share similar ideas on where the organization is heading and what challenges the industry faces and why.

Future and current Presidents Melaniphy and Millar joined Gary Thomas, the 2011-2012 APTA chair and president of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), for a media luncheon, where they gave insights on why a long-term funding bill has yet to surface for transit even while demand and ridership increase.

"You'll hear a lot of consistent messages that they (legislators) want to do the right thing," Melaniphy said, adding that local initiatives aren't enough to educate people on what's needed for a long-term solution to keep public transportation afloat. "We've got to find a way to get the message out in a way that is easier to digest in smaller sound bites."

Millar said one of the largest challenges at this point in getting the U.S. Congress to pass a long-term bill lies in the pushback from conservative lawmakers.
"To be a great city, you have to have great public transit — and we ought to accept that," Millar said, citing the current political climate in Washington, D.C. and the lack of agreement on a funding source.

"If you start by saying, 'we can't talk about revenue,' well that's a very difficult starting point," he added.

Millar acknowledged, though, that funding can't only come from the federal or state levels, but that the industry must find a way to garner venture capital from the private sector as well.

And APTA's new president, who comes from the private sector, and the new chair agree.

"What we don't always know how to do is take advantage of the assets that we do have," said Thomas, who's undergoing a challenge at DART that many younger agencies face - they aren't that new anymore and will need infrastructure investments over the next few years.

"We have to continue to plan for what's ahead of us otherwise we're going to find ourselves in a situation where we can't move people and goods in a metropolitan area," he said.

The reality, all three say, is that more and more Americans are looking to public transportation to fulfill their transit needs as more families purchase smaller cars for the better fuel economy. With new technology, though, such as having Wi-Fi available onboard, more comfortable seating and no-hassle fare systems, Melaniphy said that not only are families looking to public transportation for the low price tag, but for the convenience.

[PAGEBREAK]Buy America, New Starts
At the General Forum: "Federal Transit Administration Priorities & Update," Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff, Deputy Administrator Therese W. McMillan and FTA Chief Counsel Dorval Carter discussed several topics of interest including Buy America requirements, civil rights initiatives, and the most recent work at the FTA in regards to funding projects and programs.
"We're working under a President of the United States that really cares about what we do," said Rogoff. "It's the kind of stress you want to have."

Rogoff then touched on the success of programs including TIGGER and the public transportation projects moving forward after receiving ARRA funding, as well as the proposed $9 billion for public transportation in Obama's American Jobs Act.
He also spoke about the availability of funds to keep systems in a state of good repair, 5307/5311 formula grants and reauthorization proposals that have been worked on at FTA.

Rogoff's big announcement of the session was that a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking is being released to streamline the New Starts process.
During her time, McMillan announced the FTA is sponsoring a series of information sessions regarding FTA's proposed revisions to the Title VI Circular and proposed Environmental Justice Circular.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Specifically, Title VI says "no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Prior to opening up to the audience to hear their questions and concerns, Carter spoke about FTA's new approach to more properly ensure that Buy America requirements are being properly complied with. He and Rogoff also urged those in attendance that failing to comply with the requirements would cause the FTA to postpone the procurement, thus, adding more time to the process.

"If you are not sure or have a question, call us quickly," urged Carter.

Also discussed was a proposal to up the Buy America content requirement for rolling stock from 60% to 100% in a phased approach.

Capitol Hill funding views
While nobody refuted the fact that a long-term authorization bill is the best possible solution to keep public transportation moving, there were still no innovative solutions discussed for how to fund such a bill, during "The View from Capitol Hill" session.

Moderated by J. Barry Barker Jr., executive director of the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, Ky., the session featured insights from key bipartisan congressional staff members.

"A short-term bill is not perfect, but it is much better than cutting funding," said Homer Carlisle, Banking Committee majority professional staff member, in reference to the proposed slashing of public transportation funds by the House.

Carlisle added that if the proposed cuts were to go through, approximately 600,000 jobs could be "gone in a heartbeat."

While Shannon Hines, minority senior professional staff member for the Banking Committee, reported no significant progress has been made since last year, Jim Tymon, Republican representative for the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, reported that his boss, T&I Chairman John L. Mica, proposed a six-year, $230 billion bill and has his staff working on a bill that would more closely resemble current funding levels.

Tymon and Hines both agreed that the problem of rushing a two-year bill, as has been suggested by some members of Congress, is that it would completely deplete the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) by the third year. Both suggested that it is, therefore, extremely important to find a way to maintain current HTF levels, as well as find a new way to fund the authorization bill.

"We're really at a crucial decision point," said Tymon, who added that "breaking the bank" by funding a short-term bill without keeping the HTF solvent would result in public transportation cuts closer to 50% or 60%, instead of the 30% cut proposed in Chairman Mica's bill.

 

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