The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) won the prestigious Rail Transit Team Achievement Award at the 26th Annual American Public Transportation Association (APTA) International Rail Rodeo held June 7 to 10 in conjunction with the 2018 APTA Rail Conference in Denver. The Rail Transit Team Achievement Award is given to the system with the highest rail operator and maintainer team combined score.

The overall second place finisher was the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) team. Meanwhile, third place was won by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District team from Oakland, Calif.

"Our maintainers and operators strive to provide our rail riders with the safest and most convenient transportation," said APTA President/CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. "I am so appreciative of the work all our competitors put into being the best public transportation providers they can be. The appreciation they have received this weekend is the result of years of hard work and training."

The Operators Competition measures professional skills, including train operation, knowledge of safety regulations, train equipment, and track right-of-way rules and procedures. Kuljinder Bath and Hossein Ramirez, on behalf of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (San Jose, Calif.), won first place in the Operators Competition while Narciso Garcia and Robert Dennis of Denver’s Regional Transportation District placed second, with the team of Logan Packer and Curtis Turley of UTA taking third-place honors.

In the Maintainers Competition, participants are evaluated on their ability to troubleshoot maintenance problems. LA Metro’s Marcos Martinez, Parker Rounds, and Jose Padilla were named winners in this category, with Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority team of Gary Geyer, Cameron Massaro, and Dan Compton placing second and UTA’s Jody Fairbourn, Ryan Gardner, and Kris Peterson winning third.

The APTA International Rail Rodeo Competition encourages excellence and professionalism in rail transit operations. This year's competition included 18 teams of operators and 15 mechanic teams from the U.S. and Japan.