APTA | Passenger Transport
January 5, 2009

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IN MEMORIAM

Payne Dies; First Board Chairman for Fort Worth Transportation Authority

Hershel Payne, founding chairman of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) Board of Directors, died Dec. 16, 2008, at the age of 70. He was receiving treatment for cancer in his lungs.  Payne was a lawyer in Fort Worth for 45 years and a member of The T’s board from 1983 to 1993. In recognition of his service to public transportation in the city, The T named its new headquarters in his honor at dedication ceremonies in 1997. The Hershel R. Payne Transportation Complex covers 15 acres with 114,000 square feet of vehicle maintenance centers, an expanded compressed natural gas fuel station, other support facilities, and an operations center for all T administrative staff.

Former T General Manager John Bartosiewicz noted that Payne knew the importance of public transportation and that transit was good business for the community. Bartosiewicz now serves as chief operating officer of McDonald Transit Services in Fort Worth, which manages The T.

Payne also was a former member of the APTA Board of Directors, and was appointed by then-Texas Gov. Ann Richards to chair the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority at the time of its inception.  “The T is indebted to the visionary leadership of Hershel Payne that began over 25 years ago,” said T President Dick Ruddell. “Each day our agency achieves new milestones of progress, and the seeds of those accomplishments were planted on Hershel’s watch when he led The T in its formative years as the chair of its first board of directors, serving from 1983 to 1993.

“Our headquarters building bears his name as a permanent tribute to his contributions to public transportation, not only in Fort Worth, but also through his initiatives to further transit nationally and with his service on behalf of APTA. A highly respected community leader, he will be missed personally as well as professionally for the difference he made in people’s lives,” Ruddell said.

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