Albany, N.Y.'s Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) placed first in the 2009 inaugural New York State Maintenance Bus Roadeo Competition held at the CDTA Albany Division Training facility.

The competition was organized by CDTA and hosted through the New York Public Transportation Association (NYPTA) at its fall conference. Participating transit authorities included CDTA, Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT) and MTA Bus Co., forming four teams.

The New York State Bus Maintenance Roadeo is designed to encourage excellence and professionalism in bus transit operations and to test skills. Teams compete in a series of timed events, including a written test, a bus inspection and the repair of several diagnostic trouble-shooting exercises preset with defects, such as HVAC, preventive maintenance and electric. The judging panel consisted of maintenance vendor representatives and exercises were observed by technicians from all participating transit authorities. CDTA placed first in the competition, followed by NYCT with another CDTA team finishing in third.

Winners of the State competition may go on to represent their agency at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) International Maintenance Roadeo Competition to be held in Cleveland, Ohio in May 2010.

The New York Public Transit Association also implemented its first annual Call Center Challenge, organized by CDTA, at its annual fall conference. Five N.Y. transit agencies participated in the Challenge, which showcases the talents of "behind the scenes" call center transit employees from across New York State. Judges score contestants on how they manage customer service calls related to trip planning, general information inquiry and an irate call. All calls are conducted in front of a live audience.

In the challenge, CDTA Customer Service Representative Natarshal Miles placed first.