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Dallas Wins Grand Champion Title at Bus Roadeo; Top Bus Operators, Maintenance Crew Also Named at Banquet Honoring Participants
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) received the Grand Champion Award at the 41st Annual APTA International Bus Roadeo, recognizing the agency’s bus operator and maintenance team for achieving the highest combined team score.
The roadeo was held May 13-17, just before the APTA Bus & Paratransit Conference. The winners were announced at a banquet May 17.
“Rain or shine, those bus operators and maintainers strive to do their job to make getting around town safe and enjoyable for all their riders,” said APTA Chair Valarie J. McCall. “Going above and beyond to give the best service to their riders isn’t something they do occasionally, but what they wake up and do every day.”
APTA Acting President & CEO Richard White added, “Those who operate and maintain a fleet of buses are the true unsung heroes of our industry. These professionals deserve our thanks year round because they make a difference every day in the lives of those in our community by providing essential public transit options that are safe and reliable.”
DART’s Jesus Rodriguez took first place in the competition for operators of 40-foot buses, beating 39 other competitors. Benito Zavalza of Omnitrans, San Bernardino, CA, was second and Daniel Schmidt of Ben Franklin Transit (BFT), Richland, WA, placed third.
In the 35-foot bus competition, BFT’s Gabe Beliz won first place against 22 other competitors. Taking second place was Howard Yoder of the Central Ohio Transit Authority in Columbus, with Abdelkader Tenouri of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Austin, TX, in third.
Twenty-six teams competed in the Maintenance Competition, which tests mechanics’ abilities to troubleshoot problems and fix them quickly. The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) in Orlando won first place in the maintenance competition, followed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority and the Kansas City Area (MO) Transportation Authority.
![](http://passengertransport.apta.com/aptapt/editor_images/19-Grand%20Champion-crop.jpg)
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Dallas Area Rapid Transit received the Grand Champion Award at the 41st Annual APTA International Bus Roadeo for achieving the highest combined team score by its bus operator and maintenance team. |
![](http://passengertransport.apta.com/aptapt/editor_images/20-40%20bus.jpg)
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DART’s Jesus Rodriguez, fourth from left, placed first among operators of 40-foot buses. |
![](http://passengertransport.apta.com/aptapt/editor_images/21-35%20bus-crop.jpg)
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The first-place winner among drivers of 35-foot buses was Gabe Beliz of Ben Franklin Transit, Richland, WA. Beliz also won in this category in 2015. |
![](http://passengertransport.apta.com/aptapt/editor_images/22-Maintenance-crop.jpg)
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The maintenance team from LYNX, Orlando, FL, took first place in the maintenance competition. |
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