19th BusCon Moves to Indianapolis, Touts Education and More

The 19^th installment of BusCon moves to Indianapolis’ Indiana Convention Center, Halls F & G, following several years in Chicago Sept. 15 to 17, bringing focused education and plenty of buses and technology. Registration at the event begins Monday, Sept. 15 from Noon to 5 p.m. at the convention center.

This year, the Welcome Reception will be held at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station’s Grand Hall, where attendees can network in the historic Romanesque-revival designed building, at 5:30 p.m. The reception follows two key sessions that will kick off BusCon: “Understanding the FMCSA Safety Management Cycle,” presented by the United Motorcoach Association and the Bus & Motorcoach Academy, and “Transit Bus Procurement — Best Practices for A Successful RFP or IFB Process,” with USSC Group’s Ray Melleady.

At the show

BusCon will again offer the largest quantity and widest variety of vehicle and products on show floor, giving attendees the chance to see nearly 70 buses of all sizes and types, including alternative-fueled vehicles, up-close and personal. The show floor will be open Tuesday, Sept. 16 from Noon to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

While bus, cutaway and chassis displays from a large array of manufacturers again take center stage, many other suppliers with cutting-edge products will also be featured on the show floor. Manufacturers scheduled to display vehicles include Ameritrans Bus Co., ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, BYD Motors Inc., Champion Bus, Complete Coach Works, Dur-A-Bus Coach, ElDorado National, Federal Coach, Fenton Mobility, Ford Commercial Truck, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., Glaval Bus, GM Fleet & Commercial, Goshen Coach, Krystal, Meridian Specialty Vehicles, Micro Bird Inc., Mobility Ventures LLC, MobilityWorks Commercial, Newport Coachworks Inc., Sprinter Vans, Temsa/CH Bus Sales, Thomas Built Buses, Turtle Top, Winnebago Industries Inc. and more.

The Keynote Address on Tuesday at 11 a.m., entitled “The Mental Edge,” will feature Olympic Performance Psychology Consultant Dr. Craig Manning, who will discuss how high performance is really not difficult to achieve if you just understand critical laws of the mind and how to adhere to them, meaning the key to success in life is in the acquisition of skills; not just physical skills, but mental, emotional and even spiritual skills.

Meanwhile, a wild time is in store on Tuesday at BusCon’s Night on the Town, which will be held at Dick’s Last Resort and is just a short walk from the convention center and the BusCon headquarters hotel. Be sure to wear your favorite Hawaiian shirt and join in on the fun.

Attendees will also not want to miss the BusCon Breakfast Awards Ceremony, featuring the Mid-Size Bus Manufacturers Association’s President Scott Reston, who will honor fleets with the most medium-size vehicles in their fleets, and the Propane Education & Research Council, who will honor operators out in front in the use of propane-fueled vehicles, on Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Sessions

This year’s BusCon features more than 14 hours of educational sessions, which will help attendees learn to increase efficiencies, save money and prepare for key changes that will impact their operations, kicking off on Monday afternoon and carrying all the way through to Wednesday morning.

During his session, “Guiding Drivers to ‘Do it Right, the First Time, Every Time,’” Transit & Paratransit Co.’s Jeffrey Cassell will discuss how you can influence behaviors so a drivers’ normal way of performing their job keeps safety in mind at all times, enabling your operation to reach a whole new, safer level. Keeping up with the safety theme, L-3 D.P. Associates’ Louie Maiello and Steve Mentzer will talk about how to properly blend all available resources to create a training program that could be easily and effectively integrated into your operation, during their session “Creating a Driver Training Program from Start to Finish,” which will also discuss the importance of reinforcing initial training as well as continuing the process throughout the year.   

If you work with people with disabilities, be sure catch BusCon’s “How Developing Partnerships Can Help Cut Paratransit Costs” session, featuring two top officials Veolia GM Erik Zandhuis and IndyGo President/CEO Michael Terry, who will discuss how they teamed up with local cab companies to provide some of their agencies’ ADA-friendly services at a fraction of the price. Meanwhile, Q’Straint/Sure Lok’s Darren Reaume will talk about important changes to wheelchair securement safety regulations and how these new standards will impact wheelchair tie-down manufacturers, transportation providers and other key stakeholders.

Those in the public transportation industry will want to be sure not to miss two key sessions: “What You Need to Know about Altoona Testing Updates” and “How the FTA’s Restructured Triennial Review Process Works.” The former will feature David Klinikowski, director of the FTA’s bus testing program, who will discuss several changes to the program mandated in 2012’s MAP-21 surface transportation bill, including a requirement that a bus must pass testing to be eligible for federal funding, while the latter will feature Transportation Consultant Dave Norstrom discussing how changes to the FTA’s reviews will impact public transportation systems and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the process.

Finally, If you are looking to add or possibly completely switch to alternatively-propelled vehicles at your operation, BusCon will feature the “Implementing Propane Autogas Vehicles” session, while attendees looking to either save or create money at their operations will want to be sure not to miss “Saving Money with Efficient Tire Usage” and “Finding the Money: How to Get Grant Funding” sessions.

Sponsors

Sponsors for the 19^th annual BusCon event include GM Fleet & Commercial and the United States Warranty Corp., as well as Official Host Dealer Midwest Transit Equipment and Official Host Operator IndyGo. For more info, visit www.BusConExpo.com or call (800) 576-8788.