L.A. Metro wins top honors at APTA rail rodeo

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) won the prestigious Rail Transit Team Achievement Award for the second year in a row at the 17th annual APTA International Rail Rodeo, held in conjunction with the 2009 APTA Rail Conference in Chicago this week.  

Systems from across North America competed for this honor, recognizing the men and women who keep rail systems safe and efficient. The system with the highest rail operator and maintainer team combined score is awarded the Team Achievement Award.

The Operators Competition measures professional skills including: train operation; knowledge of safety regulations; train equipment; and track right-of-way rules and procedures.  First place in the Operators Competition went to the Sacramento Regional Transit District team of Danai Lamber and William Collart.  L.A. Metro's Robert Rodriguez came in second, and Portland Oregon’s Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met) team of David White and Laura Walker placed third.

The Maintainers Competition judges the ability to troubleshoot maintenance problems. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority earned first place. The winning maintainers were Jason Rickert, Mike O’Grady and Ed Carruthers. L.A. Metro won second place with the team of Eric Czintos, Ronnie Burt and Glen Abraham, and Tri-Met came in third place with maintainers James Bledsoe, Alford Fisher and Robert White. 

The APTA International Rail Rodeo Competition is designed to encourage excellence and professionalism in rail transit operations. The competition was held on June 13 at the Chicago Transit Authority's Skokie Yard in Skokie, Ill.