Employees Shine At Annual SamTrans Bus Roadeo

SamTrans bus operators and maintenance employees had a chance to show off at the district’s annual bus “roadeo,” held recently in South San Francisco.

The roadeo is the first step to an international competition sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association. The event encourages front-line public transportation providers to perfect their skills and meet the highest safety standards.

Drivers must maneuver a 30,000-pound bus smoothly through 11 challenges on a timed-course. Each operator leaves the starting line with 650 points and points are deducted for making errors or running over the allotted seven minutes. Competitors also are judged on how smoothly they drive the bus.

Bus operator Edwin Freeman of South San Francisco came in first place with 639 points. This is the seventh time that Freeman has won the local competition, more than any other operator in the district’s 30-year history.

Bus operator Ariel Hale of Pacifica came in second place with 607 points, followed by Rodrigo Eguilos of Stockton in third place with 603 points.

Freeman, Hale and Eguilos will represent SamTrans at the Northern California Regional Bus Roadeo on Oct. 21 in Sacramento. Scores from the local and regional roadeos will be combined to determine which SamTrans operator will compete in the international roadeo next year in Nashville.

On the maintenance side, teams made up of three mechanics were challenged to trouble-shoot a “bugged” bus and ace a written test. The top scoring team was Andrew McCambridge of Sunnyvale, Robert Santiago of Pacifica and Ryan Plante of Fremont. The team has represented SamTrans three years in a row at the regional and international roadeos, and their score has improved each year.

In other competitive divisions, Mechanic Ashok Singh of Hayward finished first in the maintenance driver competition. Instructors William Snell of South San Francisco and Ron Jordan of Menlo Park came in first and second place, respectively, in the instructor division. Mechanic Robert Santiago was named Rookie of the Year, marking the first time a maintenance employee has won an operator award.

The roadeo also included participants from MV Transportation, the district’s contract operator. In that competition, Basheba Johnson of San Francisco came in first place.

The SamTrans Bus Roadeo is dedicated to former veteran employee James V. Castagno. Castagno began his career with SamTrans as a mechanic and, at the time of his death, had worked his way up through the ranks to a senior management position.

08/30/06 - crd