Michael S. Townes, president and chief executive officer of Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) in Hampton, VA, and APTA chair in 2007-2008, accepted the 2010 Sharon D. Banks Award for Innovative Leadership in Transportation from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) at the Jan. 13 Chairman’s Luncheon during TRB’s 89th Annual Meeting in Washington.

“This is the greatest honor I’ve ever received in my life,” Townes said. He noted that any award named in honor of his mentor, Sharon Banks, would rank among the top honors in any person’s life.

Townes chaired the TRB Executive Committee in 2004 and is a past chair of the Transit Cooperative Research Program Oversight and Project Selection Committee.

TRB recognized Townes for “his service-oriented approach to addressing the mobility needs of people throughout the community, no matter what their economic or social background”; his strong commitment to internal and external customer service; his contributions to the development of future transit professionals; and his persistent efforts to promote diversity and minority advancement.

The award honors the memory of Sharon D. Banks, chair of the TRB Executive Committee in 1998 and general manager of AC Transit in Oakland, CA, from 1991 until her death in 1999. TRB presents the award to transportation professionals whose accomplishments exemplify her ideals of humanity and service by making a significant difference in the lives of those who use, deliver, or support these services.

Townes has worked in public transportation for more than 25 years, heading HRT since its founding in 1999. He joined the former Peninsula Transportation District Commission (Pentran) in Hampton in 1986 as assistant to the executive director and later served as executive director. In preparation for the merger of Pentran and the Tidewater Transportation District Commission in Norfolk that formed HRT, Townes served concurrently as interim executive director of the Tidewater agency beginning in March 1998. Beginning as executive director of HRT, he became the agency’s first president and CEO in 2002.

Photo by Cable and Pam Risdon Michael Townes accepts the Sharon D. Banks Award from Suzanne Schneider, TRB assistant executive director.

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