The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) will recognize nine public transportation systems and businesses for their outstanding sustainability achievements.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be the first public transportation system in North America to receive Platinum recognition level in the APTA Sustainability Commitment program. Three public transit systems attaining Gold recognition level are Va.-based Hampton Roads Transit, Seattle’s King County Metro Transit and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Earlier this year, Visual Marking Systems (Twinsburg, Ohio) reached Gold recognition — the first public transportation business in North America to do so.

These organizations, along with Silver and Bronze recipients, will be honored on July 29 at the Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop, which is being held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. CDM Smith will receive Silver level recognition at its headquarters. The three Bronze level recipients are Amtrak, Interurban Transit Partnership (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

“The public transportation industry is an industry committed to sustainability,” said APTA President/CEO Michael Melaniphy. “All the organizations that will be recognized are models for other public transportation organizations with reductions in energy, water, and waste. I look forward to presenting their certificates at the APTA Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop on July 29 in San Francisco.”

Started in 2009, 105 public transit agencies and businesses have participated in the APTA Sustainability Commitment program by implementing processes and actions that will lead to continuous improvement on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

There are different levels of recognition — Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum — that are determined by specific measured achievements.Only four other organizations have received Gold level recognition: Olympia, Wash.-based Intercity Transit; Sound Transit, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority; and Vancouver, B.C.-based Translink.

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