Motor Coach Industries’ (MCI) Executive VP, Sales and Marketing, Patrick Scully, was named 2017 Outstanding Public Transportation Business Member by APTA. The award recognizes service to the organization, and particularly in Scully’s case, legislative advocacy on behalf of North American mass transit.

Early start in the coach business

A native Torontonian, Scully’s daily school commutes via public transit helped build his interest in the industry. After earning his MBA, Scully began his career at Ontario Bus Industries’ aftermarket parts group in 1988. He transitioned to Detroit Diesel Corp. in 1994, joining Daimler Buses North America in 2001, and moved to MCI in 2012. Today, in his sales and marketing leadership role at MCI, he heads the industry’s top sales teams in the public and private sector markets and contributes to MCI’s long-term strategic vision in product development.

Legislative leadership

APTA singled out Scully’s long history in mass transit advocacy for the award. He joined APTA in 1995 as a member of the Business Member Board of Governors (BMBG), pressing for growth and diversity within BMBG ranks. He has served on numerous committees and helped draft the industry’s Standard Bus Specifications and Procurement Guidelines, working with operating members to gain common ground on areas such as risk sharing and bonding.

During his two-year term as chair of BMBG from 2014 to 2016, Scully helped strengthen business member support for APTA’s congressional lobbying efforts with both BMBG and APTA legislative committees. He helped coordinate regular Business Member fly-ins to Washington, D.C., to raise direct communication between the public transportation industry and Congress. During the last transportation funding reauthorization in 2015, Patrick helped mobilize Business Member support for APTA’s highly successful “Stand Up for Transportation Day” under APTA Chair Phil Washington.

“To be recognized by the industry and my peers is truly an honor,” said Scully. “I hope that the work I have contributed to the industry on behalf of APTA and its members have improved mobility for our communities and our industry as a whole. It is my sincere conviction that business and operating members working cooperatively on industry issues is critical to our mutual success.”