District Days Telling Our Story Activities

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1 District Days Telling Our Story Activities Cincinnati, OH Metro Metro met with Rep. Driehaus at his office during the recess. Corpus Christi Texas - The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority (CCRTA) CCRTA broke ground Jan. 6 for the first new bus shelter in what will eventually be a systemwide improvement and enhancement program funded with $2.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. A constituent representative for Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D- TX) attended the event. The construction program will improve bus stop accessibility at more than 360 locations with the installation of landing pads, curb cuts, shelter pads, sidewalk improvements, and curb and gutter Repairs.

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3 Everett, Washington On Jan. 8, Community Transit in Snohomish County, WA, welcomed Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) to its Merrill Creek Operations Base and a trip on the Swift bus rapid transit line. He boarded the bus at the southbound Casino Road station in Everett and rode to the Lincoln Way station in unincorporated Snohomish County. In addition, Swift will be sending via a Swift Testimonial video highlighting business leaders talking about the benefits of Swift and providing the How to Ride Swift video to their legislators. Grand Rapids, Michigan On December 18 th The Rapid Bus in Grand Rapids, Michigan hosted Peter Rogoff to keynote the ground breaking on the Wealthy Operations Center expansion project. This is a $34 million project partially funded by a $ 10.6 Million ARRA grant. Members of the Michigan delegation, Congressman Ehlers and Senators Stabenow and Levin, were invited and are aware of the project and successes but could not attend due to conflicts with sessions in Congress. Fort Wayne, Indiana Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) braved snow and cold to join Citilink in Fort Wayne, IN, on Jan. 7 as the agency welcomed five new Glaval Titan II light duty vehicles made in Elkhart, IN. These vehicles replace almost half of Citilink s current Access paratransit bus fleet. Fort Worth, TX Fort Worth Transportation Authority Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) came to Fort Worth Jan. 7 despite an early morning ice storm and cold temperatures in the teens to help the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) dedicate 12 new downtown transit shelters. The T designed the new shelters in collaboration with committees of downtown stakeholders led by Downtown Fort Worth Inc. using a $600,000 Federal Transit Administration grant secured by Granger.

4 Two separate citizen committees recommended a new shelter design and new shelter graphics with the goal of enhancing the major downtown bus corridors along Houston and Throckmorton streets. As a result, The T s sleek new steel shelters contain such passenger amenities as improved lighting, Fort Worth heritage photos, and large transit information displays. They replace 20-year old concrete and wood structures that also took up unnecessary sidewalk space. Kansas Public Transit Association The association met with legislators during the recess. Los Angeles Metro Redondo Beach Civic Leaders Ride Subway Memphis, Tennessee In Memphis, TN, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) joined the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) Board of Directors including APTA Chair M.P. Carter for a briefing and tour of the MATA transit facility, also on Jan. 7. A representative of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) participated in the board event.

5 Oakland, CA The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) in Oakland, CA, welcomed recently elected Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) for a Jan. 7 tour of the $38 million Central Contra Costa County Crossover project, which received $13 million in ARRA funding. The project is putting thousands of people to work and ultimately will provide riders on BART s Pittsburg/Bay Point line with more seating, more trains, and improved on-time performance during their commute. Oxnard, CA Gold Coast Transit On Tuesday, Jan 5, Gold Coast Transit hosted a roundtable event organized by Congresswoman, Lois Capps (CA-23). Gold Coast conducted a short walking tour of our facility to discuss how some of our ARRA funds will be used for the facility remodeling project, purchase of new buses, purchase of replacement supervisory vans, new fareboxes, and ADA operations. The Congresswoman held a roundtable discussion in the agency s board room with local political and business leaders to discuss the economic recovery efforts and to gather feedback on what's working and the additional needs of the community. The Chairman of our Board of Directors and our General Manager participated in the roundtable discussion. Pompano Beach, FL South Florida Regional Transportation Authority/Tri-Rail Have sent invites to legislators to ride the system while in the district during recess. In addition, Tri-Rail will tape passenger interviews to create a video to send to their legislators and to post on the Telling Our Story section of the APTA site. Tri-Rail asked the members of the national touring company of Phantom of the Opera to participate in a media event next Tuesday to kick off a food drive. They will tape them, in costume, talking about taking public transportation across America when they re on the road.

6 San Carlos, CA - SamTrans, Caltrain, SMCTA On January 7 the Caltrain Board holds monthly public meetings and typically hears a summary of relevant legislative issues as they develop. Local print media typically attend these meetings. As a part of the January agenda, we invited Congresswoman Speier to address the Board and discuss federal transportation issues including: FY 2010 Appropriations including the funding she helped secure for Caltrain s Positive Train Control project Her role in passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided funding for ongoing track rehab and (most importantly) funding for long sought capacity increases in Caltrain s Bike on Board program. Additional infrastructure funding included in the Jobs for Main Street Act of Opportunities to provide increased transit and rail funding through Surface Transportation Authorization legislation Her work on the TARP Assistance for Local Government Act and the Close the LILO/SILO Loophole Act (both critical issues for Caltrain) Press Event on January 4 Announcing new SamTrans buses Funded by ARRA This event announced that new SamTrans buses have been put into service. SamTrans used a major portion of funding supplied by ARRA to fund the procurement of 137 new revenue vehicles. In addition to featuring a noticeable new look, these buses offer enhanced fuel efficiency and are responsible for the preservation or creation of over 100 Bay Area jobs. SamTrans Board members, staff and the media attended.