WTS, Advancing Women in Transportation, an association dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation, named Carol Ketcherside, deputy executive director, planning, for Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA), the 2009 Woman of the Year for the Metropolitan Phoenix chapter.

Ketcherside, a north Phoenix resident, began her career in transportation 25 years ago, which included working for the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority in Topeka, Kan. and VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio. For 12 years she served as the executive director of the South West Transit Association (SWTA).

Since joining the RPTA in November 2006, her transit-related accomplishments have included:

• Completion and ongoing implementation of the Valley Metro Regional Paratransit Study, which includes intense involvement from the disability community, member agency concurrence and gaining approval of a new program requiring in-person assessments for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) eligibility.

• Leading the planning and development of several Proposition 400 projects including the Mesa Main Street LINK bus rapid transit service, regional bus stops and park-and-rides.

• Involvement with regional planning activities including commuter rail studies and the Maricopa Association of Governments Transit Framework Study.

• Serving as a mentor for career-minded women in the WTS Mentorship Program.

Ketcherside is also affiliated with the following transit-related industry associations: American Public Transportation Association, Community Transportation Association of America, a Federal Transit Administration advisory committee, South West Transit Association, WTS and Transit Cooperative Research Program.