Public transportation chief executives and their deputies convened Feb. 9-12 at the 2013 APTA Transit CEOs Seminar. SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Palms, CA, was host system for the seminar.

APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy and APTA Chair Flora Castillo opened the seminar and later led an interactive roundtable to engage members on diversity, inclusion, and workforce development.

Selene Faer Dalton-Kumins, director, FTA Office of Oversight and Program Guidance, oversaw a workshop on the agency’s new approach to triennial reviews. The seminar schedule also included an educational session on crisis management—including managing oneself as well as staff—led by Jim Moorhead, author of The Instant Survivor: The Right Ways to Respond When Things Go Wrong.

Other key sessions during the seminar featured labor trends; funding and financing programs; economic development; APTA peer reviews; and the executive recruiting process.

Enrique Washington, partner and chief executive officer, The Generator Group, addressed the group about management skills. He provided materials describing the traits and experience most often requested by public transit agency boards in seeking a new chief executive officer.

The schedule also included seminars specifically designed for deputy chief executive officers, focusing on leadership and making persuasive presentations.

The CEOs XChange session offered participants the opportunity to speak with their peers about successful programs in place at their agencies.

The closing session highlighted new trends in Buy America: new procurement techniques that the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) and Los Angeles Metro have used to obtain higher U.S. content in their recent vehicle procurements. Speakers included BART General Manager Grace Crunican and Victor Ramirez, deputy executive officer, Los Angeles Metro. Moderator Jeffrey Boothe, partner at Holland & Knight, presented new FTA interpretations of Buy America provisions. Michael Cahill, president of Siemens Rail Systems Division, and Paul Soubry, president and chief executive officer of New Flyer, added private-sector views on increasing U.S. jobs in railcar and bus procurements.

APTA will hold its 2014 Transit CEOs Seminar Feb. 8-11 in New Orleans.

Photos by Gregg Felsen Charlotte Area Transit System Deputy Director John Muth, P.E., Gold Coast Transit General Manager Steven Brown, and other participants review a scenario and discuss action plans for a unique situation during the session, “Staying on Top of a Crisis,” at APTA’s Transit CEOs Seminar.	APTA Chair Flora M. Castillo, CHIE, and Peter Varga, APTA’s Vice Chair and chief executive officer, Interuban Transit Partnership, display “It’s All About the People” buttons.

Among the speakers at the CEOs XChange, from left: Paul Matsuoka, Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority; Julie Austin, Antelope Valley Transit Authority; David Springstead, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority; and David Armijo, AC Transit.	APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy hosts the Monday Morning Breakfast for Deputy Chief Executives. Joining him are Marcelle Epley, left, chief administrative officer and senior vice president, Long Beach Transit (LBT), and Robyn Gordon Peterson, chief operating officer and senior vice president, LBT.