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SamTrans > News Archive - 2002 > Transit District's John Ficarra and Art Lloyd Get MTC Awards
Transit District's John Ficarra and Art Lloyd Get MTC Awards
John Ficarra, who recently retired as chief operating officer of the San Mateo County
Transit District, and board member Arthur Lloyd have been honored by the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission’s for their career achievements in public transportation.
Ficarra, 65, of Foster City, and Lloyd, 77, of Portola Valley, received the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award
recently.
For Ficarra, the award recognizes a nearly 40-year career that spanned the East and
West coasts and included management of bus, rail and paratransit services.
It is the second recent honor for Ficarra, who retired Aug. 19: One of the transit
district’s two bus operations and maintenance facilities was renamed the John T.
Ficarra South Base Operations and Maintenance Facility.
"I’m just overwhelmed that all these things happened in such a short period of time,"
Ficarra said, adding that he feels particularly proud knowing that his family is
aware of the recognition he has received for his professional accomplishments.
Before coming to SamTrans in 1983 as the new director of transit operations, Ficarra
had worked in his native New York City and then in Philadelphia, where he advanced
through the management ranks at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority.
When he arrived at SamTrans, the fledgling transit agency was still struggling with
the amalgamation of former municipal bus lines under one countywide agency. Over the
years, Ficarra instituted changes aimed at improving reliability and established
procedures that became the transit district’s operational foundation.
As chief operating officer, Ficarra was responsible for daily SamTrans bus and Redi-
Wheels paratransit service, including both operations and fleet maintenance. Later in
his career, Ficarra was able to draw on his rail experience at SEPTA when he took on
responsibility for Caltrain operations.
Earlier this month, Lloyd, who retired in 1991 as Amtrak’s director of public affairs
– West, was honored with the national passenger railroad’s prestigious President’s
Safety and Service Award.
Known throughout the West as "Mr. Amtrak," Lloyd was singled out as a "champion of
the rails" for his work promoting passenger rail service.
A member of the San Mateo County Transit District Board since 1987 and the Caltrain
policy board since 1992, Lloyd finds it particularly gratifying to be honored by
transit leaders in the region where he has deep roots.
"I was born in San Francisco and spent 53 years of my life in San Mateo County, and
this is where my love of transportation is centered," he said.
Lloyd’s long list of involvement includes serving as a director of the National
Association of Railroad Passengers, a facilitator of the San Joaquin Valley Rail
Committee, and as a board member of the California State Railroad Foundation. He is
also board chair of the rail safety organization, California Operation Lifesaver.
Lloyd played a key role in assembling the outstanding collection of railroad
locomotives, cars and artifacts that became a foundation for the rail museum in
Sacramento.
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