Mass Transit magazine features agency profiles, industry trends, management tips and new product information.
Issue link: https://masstransit.epubxp.com/i/457936
FEBRUARY 2015 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 7 Link Transit launches Five Battery-electric Trolleys ▶ Link Transit has launched "The Current," a fve-vehicle fast-charged battery-electric trolley service. Originally slated for delivery in October 2010, the project has been beleaguered by technical problems relat- ing to the design and production of the battery components and the chargers. The manufacturer of the trolleys is EBus of Downey, California. www.MassTransitmag.com/12029899 Federal Railroad Administration Sarah Feinberg will serve as the acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). She succeeds Joseph C. Szabo who was appointed and confrmed as the agency's 12th admin- istrator in 2009. Since 2013, Feinberg has served as the chief of staf for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), managing the agencies 10 modal departments and spearheading the agen- cy's legislative, policy and communications eforts. She becomes the second woman to lead the agency since its founding in 1966. www.MassTransitmag. com/12033649 Broward County Transit Mary Shafer has joined Broward County Tran- sit (BCT) as its commu- nications leader. Shafer comes to BCT from the Greater Cleve- land Regional Transit Authority (RTA) where she lead public relations eforts since 2010. She replaces Phyllis Berry who retired in 2013. Oscar Figueroa joined BCT as its compliance/ security leader. Figueroa was previously at the Bi-State Develop- ment Agency in St. Louis (Metro) where he served as manager of safety and loss control since 2002 and has more than 20 years of experience in the safety industry. www.MassTransitmag. com/12033837 Cincinnati Metro Paul Grether was promoted to director of rail services at Cin- cinnati Metro. Grether will continue to manage Metro's involve- ment in the Cincinnati Streetcar project and oversee Metro's railroad real estate holdings. He began his career with Metro in 2012 as rail services manager and is responsible for overseeing the adoption and implementation of the Cincinnati Streetcar Operating Agreement be- tween Metro and the city of Cincinnati. Previously Grether was the manager of streetcar development at the Metropolitan Atlan- ta Rapid Transit Authority. www.MassTransitmag. com/12033336 Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District Bryan Smith has joined the Champaign-Ur- bana Mass Transit District (MTD) as chief operating officer. He is the manager of MTD's Operations, Maintenance, Safety and Training and Marketing/ Customer Service/Com- munications Depart- ments. Smith formerly worked at the Portage Area Regional Transpor- tation Authority (PARTA) in Kent, Ohio. he began work at PARTA as a bus operator while a student at Kent University. He held various positions at PARTA, most recently as the director of planning. www.MassTransitmag. com/12031302 Denton County Transportation Authority The Denton County Transportation Author- ity (DCTA) announced the appointment of Nicole Recker as the agency's new vice pres- ident of marketing and communications. Recker will plan, direct, manage and oversee DC- TA's marketing, commu- nications, public relations and customer service ac- tivities and will also serve as agency spokeswoman. Recker previously served as the senior marketing manager for Greyhound Lines Inc. and prior to that worked in several multiple marketing and communication roles. www.MassTransitmag. com/12032273 Sarah Feinberg Nicole Recker Paul Grether Mary Shafer Bryan Smith Oscar Figueroa People in the News PTC World Congress March 10-12 • Orlando, Fla. Now in its 5th year, the PTC World Con- gress is for all professionals involved in meeting the mandate for positive train control (PTC) and safe and reliable rail operation. The congress aims to help railroads and commuters not only install PTC, but do so cost efectively to improve services long term. New for 2015 is the Rail Capacity Summit. The summit will address how to best manage growing demand, share best practice maintenance and asset management strategies, and keep clients satisfed by creating a sustainable, interop- erable and safe network. APTA Legal Afairs Seminar Feb. 22-24 New Orleans, La. Global Infrastruc- ture Leadership Forum Feb. 25-27 New York, N.Y. SWTA & NMTA Joint Annual Conference & Expo March 1-4 Santa Fe, N.M. APTA Legislative Conference March 8-10 Washington, D.C. MetroRail Europe March 9-11 London, U.K. Digital Signage Expo March 10-12 Las Vegas, Nev. Communications Based Train Control Conference March 10 London, U.K. Middle East Rail March 17-18 Dubai, UAE APTA Revenue Management & Fare Collection Summit and TransITech Conference March 30-April 1 Orlando, Fla. Asia Pacifc Rail March 30-April 1 Hong Kong APA National Plan- ning Conference April 18-21 Seattle, Wash. International Rail Safety Seminar & Expo April 20-22 Orlando, Fla. Events For more on upcoming events, visit MassTransitmag.com/events THE TROLLEYS are 22 feet long with a capacity of 22 seated passengers and 10 standing passengers. Link Transit