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SamTrans > News Archive - 2003 > "Three-Peat" Victory a Record at SamTrans Bus Roadeo
"Three-Peat" Victory a Record at SamTrans Bus Roadeo
Twenty-two year veteran SamTrans bus operator Edwin Freeman of South San Francisco
pulled off a "three-peat" victory at the recent James V. Castagno Memorial SamTrans
Bus Roadeo held in South San Francisco.
With a score of 517 points, Freeman took first place in the competition for the third
consecutive year, a fete no other SamTrans bus operator has accomplished. Freeman's
victory marks his ninth top-three finish.
The annual roadeo tests bus operators and maintenance workers' skills as they
maneuver buses through a timed course consisting of 11 problems. Drivers begin with
600 points that are deducted for hitting cones, making errors or finishing over the
allocated six minutes.
Bus operator Jai Prasad of Hayward took second place with 458 points, followed by
John Espinoza of San Bruno in third place with 444 points. Ariel Hale of Pacifica
won the rookie of the year award.
Operators Freeman, Prasad and Espinoza will represent SamTrans at the Northern
California Regional Bus Roadeo in Hayward on Aug. 23. The operator with the highest
combined score from the local and regional roadeos will advance to the American
Public Transportation Association's International Roadeo this fall in Salt Lake City.
In the instructors' division, Ron Jordan of Menlo Park experienced his second
consecutive first place victory with 552 points, closely followed by Enrique Silvas
of Millbrae, who earned 536 points.
Instructors Jordan and Silvas also will represent SamTrans at the regional roadeo.
On the maintenance side, the top scoring team of Gary Cox of Tracy, Greg Reschke of
Daly City and Ashok Singh of Hayward solved diagnostic problems and scored high on a
written test to finish first in the team maintenance competition.
Ashok Singh of Hayward took first place in the maintenance team driver competition,
followed by Jamie Gonzalez of Vallejo.
Mechanics Cox and Reschke with driver Singh will represent SamTrans at the upcoming
regional and international roadeos.
This year marked SamTrans' 26th annual roadeo and the dedication of the course to the
late James V. Castagno, a 26-year veteran employee, who died of cancer last year.
Castagno served as the bus transportation manager for four years in addition to his
service as a maintenance manager, maintenance superintendent, senior foreman and
mechanic.
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