Atomic City Transit bus driver Lloyd Ami, left, accepts his prize Mar. 31 for taking first place in the large bus competition at the New Mexico Transit Road-eo Conference. Photo Courtesy NCRTD
NCRTD NEWS
Lloyd Ami, a driver for Atomic City Transit of Los Alamos won the large bus competition and Keith Dalrymple, a bus driver for the North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) based in Española, won the paratransit (smaller bus) competition at the annual New Mexico Transit Road-eo Conference held near Santa Fe Mar. 31.
The annual event is sponsored by the New Mexico Transit Association (NMTA). Thirty-nine bus drivers from throughout New Mexico competed.
Dalrymple will compete in paratransit national competition in Palm Springs, Calif. and Ami will compete in national large bus competition in Louisville, Kentucky.
Another Atomic City Transit driver, Ramon Trujillo, was second in the large bus competition while Melvin Roybal of All Aboard America was third
Melissa Chavez of Carrot Express in the Village of Milan placed second in the paratransit category and Rachel Vargas of NCRTD finished third.
Drivers were tested in obstacle courses with cones, backing up, starting and stopping and other safety features.
During the conference, Philo Shelton of Los Alamos was re-elected president of NMTA; Joe Hardin of ZTrans in Alamogordo was re-elected vice-president; Liz Carter of Rio Metro was re-elected treasurer and Mary Collins of Clovis Area Transit was chosen secretary.
Dorothy Claw of the Santa Ana Pueblo transportation program was elected to the board. She represents Federal Transit 5310 funded transit agencies which are used to transport seniors and persons with disabilities. Collins was re-elected to board as an at-large member. Shelton was re-elected to the board representing Federal Transit 5311 funded transit agencies which are used to transport persons in rural areas.
Other members of the board include: Anthony Mortillaro, executive director of NCRTD; Mike Bartholomew of Las Cruces who manages RoadRunner Transit; Keith Wilson, a division director for the City of Santa Fe Transit Division; Gary Guinn of Creative Bus Sales, who is a business member; and Stan Cooper of Santa Fe who is professional member.
NMTA was established as a non-profit corporation in 1987 has 59 members representing public and non-profit transit providers. NMTA provides training to its members through a grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Rail and Transit Division.
NMTA also advocates on behalf of public transportation before the New Mexico Legislature and the U.S. Congress.