Here’s a brief overview of the concurrent sessions scheduled during the 2012 APTA Annual Meeting in Seattle.

Host Forum: Partnership Strategy Moves Puget Sound Region Toward its Vision. Public transit agencies in the greater Seattle area will explain how, by teaming up with many partners—including Washington State, cities, and businesses—they have achieved success in improving mobility throughout the Puget Sound region.

General Forum: Being Game Changers. To survive and succeed, public transportation agencies must address major drivers for change such as rapid shifts in funding, technology, and demographics.

The Federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. This year marks the third anniversary of the Federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a groundbreaking agreement among DOT, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency. This session will show how the partnership has led to real results at the regional level.

Creative Ridership Initiatives. The resurging economy and high gas prices played a role in public transit ridership growth, but so did innovative ridership campaigns.

Small Operations: Best Practices = Big Results. As with mid-size and large public transit systems, small operators must cope with new business problems and opportunities on a regular basis.

Opening the Door to Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). This session will focus on methods to use PPPs to help project sponsors manage risk, expedite project delivery, and help in the management of both capital construction and service operation.

Executive Suite: The Journey. Public transit leaders know the benefits, power, and impact of the industry on the economy, communities, job creation, and the future. This interactive executive roundtable session focuses on the journey: the stories of public and private sector executive leaders who recently joined the executive suite.

Bench Press Your Benchmarking: Best Practices in Performance Measure Development, Challenges, and Lessons Learned. Join representatives of the Imperial College of London, the International Bus Benchmarking Group, and the newly formed American Bus Benchmarking Group to learn about using measurement of key performance indicators and benchmarking with peers to improve performance and help decision makers think differently about their organization.

Thinking Globally = Success Locally. APTA members share their international experiences: the importance of staying connected worldwide and building relationships.

Transit Asset Management Recommended Practices. Transit agencies vary in the introduction of a comprehensive asset management strategy to inform and guide agency decisions and resource allocation. Learn recommended practices from agencies that have had success in integrating those practices with a new look at fixed assets.

Value for Money. Public transportation agencies are under extraordinary financial pressure, trying to maintain service to ridership while offsetting the impacts of reduced funding. Find out how agencies around the country and the world are identifying new operating savings and maximizing their return on investment.

How Many U.S. Jobs Will Your Transit Procurement Create? Much has been said about the importance of creating U.S. jobs. This session will engage the audience in a discussion about Buy America requirements, the realities of the market, and results of the new efforts to encourage job creation.

AdWheel Awards Ceremony. Join in the excitement as APTA honors the first-place winners and announces the grand award winners in the 33rd Annual AdWheel Awards competition. Each year, the AdWheel Awards honor the best in public transportation marketing and communications.

Advances in Serving Older Adults & People with Disabilities by Supporting Community Transportation Programs. Representatives of Portland’s Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon and Seattle’s King County Metro Transit report on their programs that expand transportation options for paratransit customers and older adults.

Planning Partnerships for Livable Communities. Communities, regions, and states are looking to improve their “sustainability” and “livability” through coordinated transportation, land use, housing, and environmental programs. Public transportation providers must be an integral part of this process.

MAP 21: Getting to Know the New Federal Authorizing Law! U.S. Senate and House staff members who developed the new public transportation and highway authorizing law, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP 21), will report on details of the law and answer questions.

Winning Approaches: Resources at Your Disposal Through APTA. APTA membership provides access to valuable industry resources. Come hear firsthand accounts of how public transit professionals are using these tools to enhance the quality and effectiveness of their operations.

American Public Transportation Foundation Scholarship Awards Program: “Harness the Change.” In today’s ever-changing economy, the task of growing a talented and dedicated workforce is more challenging than ever in the public transit industry. The American Public Transportation Foundation is working to meet that challenge in part by bringing together the industry’s emerging leaders, its 2012 scholarship recipients.

Host Session: Customer Information Technology Roundtable.

Going for Gold: What Leadership in Sustainability Means to the Transit Industry. At a time of increasing demands and scarce resources, some public transit agencies have made strides by organizing around sustainability as a strategic goal and signing the APTA Sustainability Commitment.

Industry Engagement. Learn how public transit agencies and organizations can benefit from leveraging innovative resources, including relationships with non-traditional partners, to support and enhance the transit services in communities.

APTA/COMTO DBE Assembly. Once again, APTA and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials collaborate to support Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) and develop implementable strategies to increase DBE involvement in the public transportation industry.

Best Practices in On-Track Safety Programs. Conducting work on the right-of-way is among the highest-risk maintenance activities for all rail modes. This panel will investigate pre-work (i.e., training, hazard identification), on-site, and follow-up (i.e., safety audits, reporting of near misses) strategies and practices, all aimed at getting employees home safely.

Bringing High-Speed Rail to the U.S.

Olympic Games, World Cups, and Mega Events. What goes on behind a host city’s transport operations to move significant crowds to major, once-in-a-lifetime events? Learn from agencies that have recently been there, or are getting ready to host such an event.

Beyond APTA—Why APTA’s Partnerships and Partners Matter. APTA and its APTA membership are active partners with numerous other national and international associations, ensuring thought leadership on behalf of the public transit industry.

Beyond APTA—Transit in Your Future. The current APTA Research & Technology Strategic Plan elaborates on the coming challenges facing the industry and sets a course for committee action.

Unlock the Treasures of APTA’s Website. Public transit professionals will find a wealth of information at their fingertips by visiting the APTA website.

Alternative Funding and Finance Strategies/Solutions for Challenging Times. As demand grows for more and higher-quality U.S. public transportation, regions are developing grand plans to build public transit systems for the future. In these tight fiscal times, many regions are stepping to the plate with bold new ways of thinking.

Current Issues in Public Transit Safety: An Industry Dialogue with NTSB Board Member Earl F. Weener. This interactive session will bring together leaders of the National Transportation Safety Board and the public transit industry to share perspectives on current safety challenges and how to create safer work environments and services.

Leadership APTA—Celebrating Tomorrow's Leaders. This session features the Leadership APTA Class of 2012 project presentations and the class’ graduation ceremonies, as well as the introduction of members of the incoming Class of 2013.

Forging Transit/Bicycle Partnerships. Proponents of both public transportation and bicycle transportation share a desire to create livable and sustainable communities. Improving relationships among public transit, municipalities, bicycle transportation professionals, and advocacy groups can help achieve the mutual goals of improving communities and moving trips for single-occupant vehicles to more efficient and clean modes of transportation.

Fare Policy for Regional Integration. Establishing an agency-appropriate fare policy is critical to sustaining the system's operational effectiveness. In today’s environment, many local agencies are integrating with metropolitan public transit systems.

Infrastructure Projects 2012. Between maintaining state of good repair and creating new services, exciting capital projects are taking place across the country and the globe. Top transit professionals will discuss how they have built the case for investment in infrastructure in their communities, facing challenges, and what’s next.

Non-Farebox Revenue. Every public transit agency must find new ways to bring in revenue beyond the farebox. Discover winning strategies and opportunities for growing non-fare revenues.