Thousands of public transportation professionals from around the globe gathered in San Diego this week to participate in the 2008 APTA Annual Meeting and EXPO. Approximately 800 exhibitors showcased their newest and most innovative products and services, a display that included 70 transit vehicles and dozens of new technologies.

APTA President William W. Millar welcomed attendees: “Here at EXPO 2008, you’ll find solutions for every transportation problem or challenge.  And as you walk through aisle after aisle, you’ll see that we really are the ‘green’ industry.”

In his farewell address as APTA chair, Michael S. Townes, president/chief executive officer of Hampton Roads Transit in Hampton, VA, stressed his satisfaction in having reached significant milestones in both the authorization and visioning processes.  “I have had an extraordinary time,” he said, “and this has been an extraordinary year.”

APTA elected Beverly A. Scott, Ph.D., general manager of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, as its chair for 2008-2009. At the Opening General Session, she accepted the gavel from Townes and presented the three initiatives she will focus on this year:  workforce development, authorization, and APTA’s new strategic plan.  Scott spoke passionately of the need to “leave our industry better than we found it.”

The Annual Meeting offered educational sessions on such topics as sustainability, today’s technology,  referendums, and public-private partnerships.  Among the many speakers contributing to the success of this event were Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr., and Jim Donald, former CEO of Starbucks.

To sustain public transportation's many contributions at the national and local levels and to accommodate a doubling of public transportation ridership over the next 20 years, the APTA Board of Directors, during the Annual Meeting, approved recommendations concerning the next highway and transportation authorization bill after SAFETEA-LU expires on Sept. 30, 2009.

The board also approved the final report of TransitVision 2050, which was established to build a compelling, collaborative, inspiring vision to guide a new generation of federal transportation policy. This report envisions an America in 2050 that is energy efficient, multi-modal, and environmentally sustainable – free from dependency on foreign oil.

As most of you may have heard, APTA instituted its first-time ever blog for an Annual Meeting and EXPO.  Both APTA staffers and members contributed snapshots of what they heard or saw during the terrifically successful and just-concluded San Diego event.  For the benefit of those who could not attend the event and to ensure that more of you read what was written – we’re keeping the blog active for a while.  We urge you to go to www.apta.com, click on the BLOG link on your immediate right, settle down with a cup of coffee to read the many and varied postings – and then, we’d especially like it if you would enter your comments.  Good, bad, or indifferent as the saying goes.  Our saying goes:  we welcome your feedback!

Interesting and varied items in the media this week, from increased ridership (a new study from Kansas City-based HNTB) to digital electronic ads on buses to a restored clock tower at King Street (WA) station.

HNTB survey:  More Americans are using public transit

Chameleon ads on SEPTA buses?

History being preserved, but what color was the King Street clock?

San Diego television station KUSI broadcast a report from the EXPO floor on Good Morning San Diego. (This is a large file, so it may take a few minutes to load.)