The Metropolitan Transportation Commission honored a group of individuals and organizations from around the Bay Region on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Commission’s awards ceremony. From the Grand Award winner who steered a massive transit system with hundreds of thousands of riders back to health, to another honoree who helped a fledgling van-based service that caters to a hundred or so kids get off the ground, this year’s winners reflect the theme “Excellence in Motion.”
Published: November, 2002
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission honored a group of individuals and organizations from around the Bay Region on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Commission’s awards ceremony. From the Grand Award winner who steered a massive transit system with hundreds of thousands of riders back to health, to another honoree who helped a fledgling van-based service that caters to a hundred or so kids get off the ground, this year’s winners reflect the theme “Excellence in Motion.”
“Our hope is that the innovative ideas and techniques generated by this year’s winners will spark similar efforts around the region,” said MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger.
The Grand Award this year went to Michael T. Burns, who, as the new chief of the San Francisco Municipal Railway, took on the enormous challenge of restoring riders’ confidence and reclaiming pride for the agency. Burns, a 20-plus-year veteran of the transit industry, started at Muni after the highly publicized “meltdown” of Muni’s new train control system left the popular Metro light-rail lines in a two-week standstill. The proof of Burn’s management success is in the numbers: Safety performance has improved by 20 percent since 2000, while on-time performance has gone from 47 percent to over 70 percent. In a recent survey, 57 percent of riders rated Muni’s service as good or excellent, a reversal of figures from two years earlier showing 58 percent rider dissatisfaction.
State Senator Tom Torlakson is this year’s recipient of the John F. Foran Legislative Award, which recognizes a legislator whose work has had a positive impact on transportation. Throughout his career, Senator Torlakson, who represents the 7th state Senate district in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, has exhibited a passionate interest in transportation issues and regionalism, and an ability to turn that passion into concrete legislation with far-reaching impact.
This year’s Doris W. Kahn Accessible Transportation Award went to Senior Action Network, a nonprofit, grassroots advocacy organization that mobilizes seniors and others in San Francisco to improve the fate of pedestrians in the city. Senior Action Network has won a commitment from San Francisco to expand the time allotted for pedestrians to cross at signaled intersections and to replace traditional “walk” signals with countdown signals that indicate how many seconds remain to cross.
Three individuals were honored with the Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award for career achievements in transportation. Arthur L. Lloyd, a dedicated advocate for Amtrak and passenger rail in the country, was singled out for his leadership in driving transportation policy in support of train service. Lloyd is currently a board member of the San Mateo County Transit Agency as well as the Joint Powers Board that oversees Caltrain on the Peninsula.
John Ficarra also received the Ericson Award for his more than 40 years in the transportation industry. He retired in 2002 as the chief operating officer at SamTrans, and had previously spent the first half of his career with East Coast transportation organizations.
Norman Townsend provided information and assistance to transit riders as an information service representative (ISR) at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, despite being visually impaired since the age of seven. Townsend, who recently retired after more than two decades with VTA, received the Ericson Award for his ability and dedication in helping callers with special needs.
The David Tannehill Special Employee Award was presented to Steve Fiala, trails development program manager for the East Bay Regional Park District. He is an enthusiastic and articulate advocate of trails, public access, parks and open space and has been instrumental in the development of the 150-mile regional trail system in the East Bay. The Special Employee Award this year was named in honor of David Tannehill, a longtime MTC planner who passed away in 2001.
