12 | Passenger Transport December 22, 2014 | 13

Presidents and public transportation: President Jimmy Carter gave a rare interview to MARTA General Manager and CEO Keith Parker

to talk about public transit in Atlanta in honor of the agency’s 35th anniversary in June, and President Lyndon Johnson signed the

Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMTA) in a historic photo that marked the act’s 50th anniversary in July.

APTA’s Annual Meeting & EXPO in October kicked off with a ribbon cutting,

opening the four-day event that drew more than 12,000 industry professionals

to the industry’s largest trade show, featuring standing-room-only General

Sessions and numerous special sessions, including a Q&A with FTA officials.

The Year in Review

These photos represent a sampling of public transportation’s most notable people, places and news for 2014, a year that included openings,

special events, and advocacy. To learn more, see the stories on pages 6 and on following pages that track key milestones. Photos courtesy of APTA members,

Steve Barrett, and Tom Callins.

2014: The Year in Public Transportation

Jim Tooley, Nova Bus,

met with Sen. Kristen

Gillibrand (D-NY) in

May in her Capitol Hill

office.

Denver RTD General Manager Phil Washington snapped a

selfie with FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo, center, and other

dignitaries in May to mark the opening of a bus concourse at

renovated Union Station.

Metro Transit’s new light rail Green Line opened in June, connecting

western downtown Minneapolis with eastern downtown St. Paul.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit opened its Orange Line to

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in August.

In September, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee

signed the contract between the San Francisco

Municipal Transportation Agency and Siemens

for 175 light rail cars, the largest order for U.S.

railcars in the company’s history. Among those who

attended the event were SFMTA Director of Transit

John Haley; Michael Cahill, president, Siemens U.S.

Rail System Division; and

SFMTA Board of Directors

Vice Chair Cheryl Brinkman.

In September, New York’s MTA reopened some subway stations heavily

damaged by Superstorm Sandy as part of its Fix & Fortify initiative

effort to “flood-proof” the subway system.

New Flyer’s Paul Smith welcomed dignitaries and guests to the April grand

opening of the company’s Ontario, CA, facility.

In April, passengers disembarked from the inaugural run of SunRail,

a new commuter rail system operated by Florida DOT between

DeBary and Orlando.

Crowds filled the platform to take an opening day ride in October

on Brio, the rapid transit system operated by Sun Metro, El Paso,

TX.

Beverly Scott, general manager, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

(MBTA), opened the Assembly Station on the Orange Line in September, the

first new MBTA station in 27 years. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, third

from right, attended.

In August, APTA Chair Peter Varga, CEO of The Rapid, Grand Rapids,

MI; board chair Barb Holt; and FTA Acting Administrator Therese

McMillan boarded the agency’s Silver Line, the state’s first BRT, for

an opening-day ride.

APTA business members and APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy met

with Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), fifth from left, at a December fly-in.

James Bass, interim executive director, Texas DOT, and APTA Vice Chair Phil Washington,

Denver RTD general manager, provided testimony in March to the Panel on Public-Private

Partnerships of the House T&I Committee.

Agency GMs Joseph Calabrese, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit

Authority, and Lee Gibson, Regional Transportation Commission

of Washoe County (NV), testified before the Senate Subcommittee

on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development in July.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), left, helped cut the ribbon in June at the Lane Transit

District’s (LTD) Pavilion Station in Springfield, OR, the newest addition to the

EmX BRT line. LTD General Manager Ron Kilcoyne is at right.

Tina Quigley, general manager, Regional Transportation Commission (RTC),

Las Vegas, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, second from right,

met with mobility and public transit advocates in October to start

construction for the RTC’s mobility training center.

Vice President Joe Biden traveled to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority during May’s

Infrastructure Week to stress the importance of funding public transit infrastructure.