Two Bay Area transit agencies win national transportation awards

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has been named essentially the most outstanding public transportation system amongst North America’s major transit agencies.

This highest industry award from the American Public Transportation Association honors a member of the general public transportation system that has demonstrated excellence in efficiency and effectiveness amongst corporations that transport greater than 15 million but fewer than 50 million passengers annually, the agency said in an announcement. The VTA transports greater than 25 million bus, light rail and paratransit trips annually in Santa Clara County.

The award recognizes VTA's outstanding performance despite unprecedented challenges in 2021 and 2022. The company continued to offer essential services during COVID-19 and made significant progress in restoring service to pre-pandemic levels following a fatal shooting and devastating cyberattack in 2021, the agency said in an announcement.

SamTrans also received the Outstanding Public Transportation System award for a corporation with between 3 and 15 million rides per yr. SamTrans reported having about 10 million riders within the last fiscal yr.

SamTrans said it entered the competition to focus on a few of its recent achievements, including a number of the nation's best ridership recovery numbers following the coronavirus pandemic and moving to a 100% zero-emissions fleet.

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