The SF Paratransit works through a unique contract with Veolia Transportation that involves a network of 23 providers

By Marc Solo

One of Veolia Transportation’s unique paratransit operations is in San Francisco through a contract with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

Since 2000, Veolia Transportation has managed a network of 23 independent providers, including taxi companies and van operators, on behalf of SFMTA to meet the needs of passengers with disabilities.

SF Paratransit is broken into three distinct modes of paratransit—taxi, SF Access (ADA paratransit) and group vans. Taxis make up approximately 55 percent of all paratransit services. Unlike many other cities, San Francisco law requires all taxis to participate in the paratransit program and to do so in accordance with SFMTA rules and regulations. Veolia has responsibility for the SF Paratransit Program and works with provider companies on a daily basis to ensure full cooperation in all aspects of service delivery.

Stand up and deliver

By and large, the taxi companies have accepted the requirements of working with the city and have been great partners. We can say with assurance they consistently stand up and deliver, and it makes a huge difference to the program. In fact, customer satisfaction surveys consistently reflect scores in the high 90s for their level of service, reliability and overall satisfaction.

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SF Access mode is a more traditional, advance reservation-based paratransit service. It offers door-to-door service using SFTMA-owned vehicles to complement the contractors’ fleet. Unlike traditional services in other cities, the SF Access mode includes stair assist service, a service feature that assists persons in manual wheelchairs with a set of exterior steps and which carries the patron up and down stairs in their residence. This SFMTA service goes beyond the ADA requirements to address the unique landscape of the city. Historically San Francisco has always done whatever is necessary to meet the needs of the community and not just the law. This service allows San Francisco residents to continue to live independently.

Group van mode, accounting for about 25 percent of SFMTA’s paratransit service offering, is a subscription-based service that requires ADA certification and includes mostly standing orders. Group van mode is extremely important, enabling disabled people to get where they need to be—whether it is to adult healthcare centers or sheltered workshops and nutrition sites—through a combination of for-profit and non-profit van operators.

By providing reliable, affordable transportation, we are enabling the disabled community to enjoy greater independence and accessibility to the city and all that it has to offer.

Making it work

Overseeing 23 service providers can be a challenge but we believe the entire Veolia team takes it all in stride. Carefully detailed contracts with providers define roles and responsibilities as well as expectations for levels of service. Time and vehicle management are closely monitored with the help of the Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC), a consumer advisory group made up of van and taxi consumers, disability advocacy representatives, transportation providers and government entity representatives.

The PCC is a strong component of the SFMTA’s paratransit program and is highly invested in the process. PCC volunteers participate in the interview process for potential ramp taxi drivers and take part in instruction planning for driver training courses. They also often serve as liaisons with political bodies. As both consumers and advocates, they provide the opinion of the people and afford ownership of the program to the disabled community. When the SFTMA awarded the contract to Veolia Transportation, it did not happen without the evaluation and input of PCC members.

Top-notch service

Veolia Transportation and the SFMTA work closely to support everyone—from dispatchers and customer service representatives to drivers— in delivering top-notch service. Currently the company is in the final stages of executing an electronic debit card program for taxis that eliminates paper coupon payments and allows for a more simplified and convenient way to pay for the service.

This benefits both providers and passengers. It improves driver accountability and better and faster payment processing, while enhancing data collection, streamlining business processes and eliminating paper waste. With the support of Veolia Transportation, the SFMTA will develop similar electronic devices for the group van and SF Access modes of service through the use of on-board computers in those vans.

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As partners, Veolia Transportation and the SFMTA are constantly communicating. They make decisions together and share a common end goal: providing an important service that extends independent living and enhances the quality of life for the San Francisco disabled community.

Marc Soto serves with Veolia Transportation as general manager with responsibilities for the SF Paratransit Program, a program of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, San Francisco, CA. [www.veoliatransportation.com]

Already sold on the low-floor concept, transit agencies in Lubbock, TX, and Holland, MI, have adopted the ARBOC Spirit of Mobility as their preferred paratransit vehicle. These agencies say their passengers appreciate the low-floor design because it allows them greater control of their transit experience.

CitiAccess, the paratransit arm of CitiBus, Lubbock, TX, has been using low-floor vehicles of one brand or another since 1992. CitiBus general manager John Wilson says the low-trans buses employed during that time proved bigger and bulkier than what he really wanted.

“We were always on the lookout for a low-floor vehicle to accommodate our wheelchair passengers in the smallest vehicle we could possibly find for the lowest possible price,” he says.

“We wanted to make it easier on the driver and the passengers to get in and out of the tight driveways and entrances we encounter with this type of service.”

He says CitiAccess went to low-floor in the first place to ease the loading of passengers without having to manipulate a standard lift,

“An operator loses a lot of time doing that, and time is money,” says Wilson. “A driver’s time is expensive when he isn’t moving passengers to where they need to be on time,” he says. “It reduces our costs to operate when the driver moves more people per hour.”

Wilson says Citibus was thrilled to come across ARBOC Spirit of Mobility at the 2008 APTA Expo in San Diego, CA.  After his first look he arranged for a demo model.

“We put it in service in Lubbock for two months,” says Wilson. “Some of our biggest critics, both regular and wheelchair passengers, see the ARBOC as a tremendous improvement in service.”

He says CitiBus was going to buy the demo model no matter what. But he did write up all the items and issues he would like changed before agreeing to buy another 15 vehicles.

He wanted to the versatility to carry at least four wheelchair passengers.

ARBOC worked to accommodate CitiAccess with the best configuration. The Spirit of Mobility has four tie-downs and room for eight passengers and can gain more seats with the additional flip-up seat option.

“Our wheelchair passengers really appreciate the low windows,” says Wilson. “They get a great view without wishing they were in a regular seat.”

The Macatawa Area Express Transportation Authority (MAX), Holland, MI, has been running low-floor Blue Bird transit buses on fixed routes since 2005. ARBOC introduced MAX to the Spirit of Mobility in 2008.

“We and a state transportation official looked it over,” says MAX director Linda LeFebre. “We quickly realized how the low-floor throughout would remove barriers for wheelchair passengers who always have issues maneuvering on and off buses.”

She says if left to the customers who first rode the Spirit of Mobility, the agency would run nothing but this low-floor vehicle.

MAX has since jumped on board with five ARBOC buses and has ordered six more for delivery by December to replace the aging Blue Birds.

“We are on our way,” says LeFebre. “It takes awhile get the older buses cycled through, to secure the funding and take care of all the procurement details.”

LeFebre says the ARBOC buses are in service for demand-response, but MAX has dedicated one of the five to a deviated fixed-route that permits pick-ups up to three-quarters of a mile off the main route for passengers who call in advance.

“This is working out very well,” she says. “We may try more in the future if we see a need.”

LeFebre says MAX passengers are very happy to see the agency phasing out transit buses with steps. BR

In 2008 when The County Connection began planning the replacement of forty 40-ft fixed-route buses we saw it as a great opportunity to update our image and look of the fleet. We also wanted to develop a vehicle spec that would include input from our bus operators and still remain consistent with our commitment to grow green.

With increasing pressure in the transit industry to develop alternatively fueled transit vehicles that operate in a multitude of service conditions, County Connection turned to its long time supplier, the Gillig Corporation, Hayward, CA, to determine if a portion of the newly acquired buses could be hybrid driven.

Gillig has been providing service to Bay Area transit agencies for at least 119 years. With the company teaming Voith, the provider of transmissions for the County Connection fleet, we felt we were about to make more history.

Nine of our new Gilligs are indeed hybrid and 31 equipped clean diesel engines and modern particulate trap filtration devices that can reduce emissions by 85 percent.

“Everyone at County Connection is really excited that we are replacing older vehicles with new hybrid and clean diesel buses,” says County Connection Board Chair Gayle Uilkema. “County Connection has always been a leader in the effort to grow green and is proud to be on the cutting edge of a technology that promises greater efficiency not only in fuel consumption, but also with keeping our air clean.”

The nine hybrid vehicles will operate with the new DIWA hybrid system and highly efficient electric developed by Voith.

This unique system provides fuel savings of up to 20 percent, with a comparable reduction in CO2 emissions. Electrical energy generated during braking stores in a super capacitor instead of batteries for subsequent acceleration.

“Gillig will deliver the hybrid vehicles in April and be deployed on routes throughout the service area,” says Uilkema. “We would have liked to have purchased more of the hybrid vehicles, but due to the higher cost per vehicle we are thrilled we could purchase as many as we did. If the fuel savings compensate for the additional cost, we look forward to expanding the hybrid fleet as part of our vehicle replacement program.”

Many of our design decisions were the direct result of suggestions from our bus operators. For instance, the larger front windshield curves around the corner to provide greater visibility with less glare. The operator compartment features the latest ergonomic amenities such as a fully adjustable driver seat, as well as an adjustable electric steering column and adjustable accelerator and brake pedals.

For our passengers, improvements to the overall design include 38 cushioned passenger seats covered with durable upholstery, which provide greater comfort than their plastic counterparts. Rear doors with an electric touch bar require just a gentle nudge to open. The larger windows lend a more open feel. All buses accommodate two wheelchairs and come equipped with interior and exterior on-board security systems. Air suspension kneeling feature eliminates the need to climb steps, while the electric wheelchair ramp replaces the older mechanical lifts, making it easier and faster for passengers with mobility devices to board.

The County Connection purchased its new buses in consortium with other Bay Area operators led by SamTrans. When bus operators can mutually develop a common technical spec everyone benefits from the economy of scale. The savings we realized by purchasing in consortium, combined with the projected savings in fuel costs, made it possible for The County Connection to purchase the hybrid vehicles.

Rick Ramacier serves as general manager of The County Connection, Contra Costa, CA.

By David Hubbard

ARBOC Random Access makes ADA transportation a roomy, safe and enjoyable experience for all passengers.

ARBOC Mobility, Middlebury, IN, worked eight years to perfect its concept of the low-floor paratransit bus debuted one year ago. The Spirit of Mobility bus begins where minimum ADA requirements end; conceived to provide easy and equal access for all passengers, which certainly includes those using wheelchairs, scooters and walkers.

“This vehicle not only complies, it embraces the spirit and intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” says ARBOC Mobility president, Jim Bartel. “We successfully met our own challenge to develop a rear-wheel drive, low-floor cutaway bus with an entry ramp and no steps anywhere in the passenger area; and we did it without relying on a drop-box transfer case.”

Built on a conventional GM 3500/4500 cutaway chassis, the Spirit of Mobility low-floor bus comes equipped with full air-ride suspension and a standard kneeling feature.

The entire concept focuses on the 39-inch-wide door the company developed to provide easy access for all passengers. A simple power Braun ramp accommodates passengers in wheelchairs through the same entrance.

Changes to the new Spirit of Mobility include the Xpress wheelchair securement system by Freedman and Q’Straint.

Other standard features that differentiate the Spirit of Mobility include an integrated steel structure body on-chassis construction with full E-Coat corrosion protection, as well as the proprietary Bolt-n-Bond assembly process, which greatly reduces interior noise.

A new system from Creative Carriage for storing the tie downs.

This past year Bartel has worked with his ARBOC Mobility team to spearhead the next iteration of the Spirit of Mobility bus through an effort he calls the Butterfly Project.

“The butterfly is part of our logo,” says Bartel. “We believe this icon exemplifies the freedom of mobility operators and passengers desire.”

The team says the challenge has been to identify and implement the subtle refinements that improve the paratransit application. The goal is to finalize the bus to the point everyone agrees is the best it can possibly be for people with mobility challenges.

“We originally engineered the bus for mobility access,” says Bartel. “In the process we also optimized the number of seats we could put in each model length and still provide the minimum number of ADA-required wheelchair positions.”

Bartel says The Butterfly Project changed all that. Now the guiding principle is Random Access, which in the new Spirit of Mobility makes room for three, four, five and six wheelchairs to maneuver easily inside depending on the model length from 21 to 28 feet.

“It is no longer about squeezing wheelchair passengers into a bus,” says Bartel. “Now it is how to best configure the usable space for the totally free flow of people moving on and off the bus.”

The Butterfly Project entailed making the best compromises, according to Bartel.

“Any one component may not be able to function absolutely at its optimum level,” he says. “But that item still contributes significantly to a better configuration of the package.” Noticeable changes over last year include a wider, longer, lower Braun ramp, now 34 inches wide and 62 inches long with a ground to floor level ratio of 1 to 6, which Bartel says is an industry best.

To this end in early July ARBOC Mobility invited a group of trusted professionals close to the project to Wixom, MI, to participate in a critical assessment of how the components mesh to this point, and offer recommendations for improvements based on their areas of expertise.

The company hoped its key vendors, suppliers and bus dealers could help verify the current design, which was fresh off its seven-year/200,000-mile Altoona durability test in January from the FTA Bus and Research Center, Altoona, PA. In that grueling exam, Bartel says the structure of the bus body held up with no reported failures, which further validates the robustness of the Bolt-n-Bond construction.

Among those present in Wixom were representatives from Freedman Seating, Braun, Velvac, Euramtec, Q’Straint, ProAir, Trans-Air, Air Lift, Twin Vision, CMI, the Scooter Store, Rosco and Variable Torque Motors, as well as ARBOC bus dealers that included Arizona Bus Sales, National Bus Sales and Leasing, Northern Bus Sales, First Class Coach Sales, Arcola Bus Sales, Tesco, Holland Bus Co., Leeds Transit Inc., Creative Carriage and Rohrer Bus Sales.

The group combed over the Spirit of Mobility low-floor bus, and each company spoke to its role in the Butterfly Project and responded to a questionnaire.

With the findings Bartel and his team went back to the shop to ready the next generation Spirit of Mobility for its September debut in Chicago at BusCon 2009 bearing the changes that resulted from this meeting.

Alterations based on their suggestions have been as simple as repainting the handrail stanchions yellow for better visibility and placing grab handles on the wall for wheelchair passengers to the redesign of component systems.

The more complex changes involved the implementation of the Xpress wheelchair securement system by Freedman and Q’Straint combined with an innovative system for storing the wheelchair tie downs proposed by Creative Carriage.

“The complaint was the former system was bulky and took up too much floor space,” says Jeff Meyers, ARBOC Mobility vice president, operations. “Our solution is a tidier revised housing that stores the securements.”

The Freedman seats feature the eco-friendly Nanocide™ Antimicrobial fabric from CMI and foam filling that employs a powerful natural antibiotic to fight off infection through the destruction of disease-causing organisms with no harm to human health.

“This was a worthwhile exercise,” says Bartel. “The input we received from our industry partners at this stage proved vital to further improvements we felt were necessary.”

A new twist in hybrid technology
In addition to the Butterfly Project, the invited guests had the opportunity to drive and evaluate a Spirit of Mobility bus equipped with a new electric launch assist hybrid system by Variable Torque Motors (VTM). This collaboration represents a break-through in system performance, weight and cost for the medium-duty bus market.

Ten years ago an idea for another type of hybrid electric motor design squarely struck entrepreneur, inventor and a founder of Variable Torque Motors (VTM) Larry Zepp, a man with 25 years of electric motor experience. The highly efficient and low maintenance traction motor he envisioned incorporates the VTM-patented magnetic field weakening method that pushes the rotating magnet rotor out of the stator coils, decoupling a portion of the magnets. The system slows the vehicle, reducing use of the brakes.

The hybrid-electric system Zepp designed is a launch assist system that attaches to the drive shaft and permits the vehicle to accelerate predominately on electric power up to 30 mph providing significant savings in fuel and emissions. The system stores and delivers generated electrical energy through the use of ultracapacitors by Maxwell Technologies.

A surprise in the business plan
The ARBOC Mobility business plan relied heavily on acceptance of the bus in paratransit and feeder route operation. However, separate from the present sales and marketing strategies and a surprise to ARBOC Mobility, the bus has caught the attention of a number of North American transit authorities from Calgary, AB, Canada, to Lubbock, TX.

“Because of the low-floor accessibility, agencies are considering the Spirit of Mobility for actual transit applications as much as paratransit,” says Don Roberts, ARBOC Mobility vice president, sales and marketing. “The features are ideal and the price enhances the seven-year, 200,000 mile life cycle.”

The cockpit in the transit-ready ARBOC Spirit of Mobility comes equipped with a heavy-duty USSC Evolution drivers seat and fare collection box.

“These contracts have created a substantial order backlog,” says Roberts. “In a very short time span, the Spirit of Mobility bus is gaining tremendous acceptance and market penetration.”

ARBOC plays a vital role in the Spirit of Alexandria Foundation

Leah and Craig Bennett established the Spirit of Alexandria Foundation to remember their daughter Alexandria Bennett, the late granddaughter of ARBOC Mobility president, Jim Bartel. The foundation builds on the passion Alexandria held for nature in her young age. In cooperation with partners close to home and across the country, the foundation helps other children experience nature in the places Alexandria loved.

Alexandria’s Nature Buses are central to the mission. Bartel and ARBOC first developed the vehicles for use in Yellowstone National Park, WY, and as mobile classrooms for the Teton Science Schools, which has worked 40 years to connect children to nature through programs in remote areas of Greater Yellowstone. Many of the children in these areas have not had the opportunity to visit the ancient homes of their ancestors. Alexandria’s Nature Bus makes that possible.

Earlier this year the Howell Conference & Nature Center, Howell, MI, met with The Spirit of Alexandria Foundation to devise the second Spirit of Alexandria bus. Established in 1978, the Howell Nature Center provides wildlife rehabilitation and conservation education with their on-site and off-site programs. The center sees the nature bus as the perfect means to reacquaint children with nature. With the help of ARBOC Mobility and the many supporters of the foundation, the nature bus was completed and presented to the Howell Center at the Foundation’s Annual Golf Outing.

The Howell Nature Bus shows animals native to Michigan. The nature bus is available for any school to book for a classroom, and the foundation will provide grants for schools and teachers to experience the nature bus even in uneasy economic times.

The vision of The Spirit of Alexandria is to have nature buses as mobile classrooms across the United States in nature centers or state parks to connect as many children as possible with nature, and to help them better experience the world around them.

In an economy this bleak with requisite budget slashing unfortunately becoming the new order of the day, agencies and companies seem to be operating on the premise that they are just doing what a business has to do.

Many of the country’s major transit agencies are reluctantly weighing cuts in service, fare hikes and layoffs. Such is life for many — but certainly not all — transit agencies and transportation companies across the country. The Utah Transit Authority, (UTA), Salt Lake City, UT, points the residual damage from record high fuel prices and more recent dips in sales tax revenue for its recent cutbacks.

The fear is paratransit riders could be taking an unintentional but inordinate hit. For example, UTA has figured how to immediately trim off $1.6 million from its paratransit operations, while remaining compliant with ADA rules to provide paratransit service within a minimum three-quarters of a mile of bus and rail stations, and on the same time schedule as fixed route service. UTA says it will increase one-way paratransit fares and put a halt to ADA paratransit fare discounts. Cities across the country such as Albany, NY, Phoenix, AZ, and Reno, NV, are similarly facing fare hikes and service cuts in paratransit service to make up for funding shortages. Paratransit regulars are not taking the increases lightly.

APTA president William Millar almost understates the dilemma by saying paratransit is vital for people with disabilities but remains a very expensive service for transit systems. Last year national paratransit ridership climbed 5.8 percent. Millar says paratransit ridership made up only 2 percent of public transit ridership nationwide, but fares on average cover only one-third of the operating costs but expended 13 percent of the operating costs.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is urging public transit to seek out more inventive funding solutions, insisting the paradigm must change. The FTA is hinting that soon it will no longer be acceptable to simply cut service and raise fares at the same time.

Unfortunately, many of the alternative solutions it suggests are lofty and a long way off.

UTA does say the provisions it is making at this time are most likely temporary, and that people eligible for paratransit service will always be able to ride Trax and fixed-route bus service at no charge. Its ultimate objective is to still take the high road and strive to find or reallocate resources to provide service not only to the people who will suddenly be without service, along with the people not receiving the paratransit services they have needed for a long time.

While this may be SOP for the moment, some transportation companies around the country are managing to sidestep a downward spiral altogether.

On the OEM side, DesignLine USA, a manufacturer of hybrid transit buses, says it has been and will be hiring more workers — assemblers, body workers, electricians, mechanics and welders — for its new, 100,000-square-ft plant at its headquarters in Charlotte, NC.

TransCare Corporation, Brooklyn, NY, is aggressive in its hiring paramedics and emergency medical technicians. Its ambulance operations and paratransit division serve the five boroughs of New York City; and the outlying communities outside the city including Philadelphia and Baltimore.

MTA NYC contracts with TransCare to operate its Access-A-Ride Paratransit and smaller operations in the other regions. The company says in the last fiscal quarter it added more than 240 new employees.

TransCare says it always has an ongoing need for paratransit operators, and plans to continue its weekly hiring open houses in addition to special hiring events to help fill those spots.

Believing successful staffing does not begin and end with new hires, TransCare says it has worked as hard to improve its employee retention rate, relying on its People First approach to enable engaged and happy employees to stay and deliver the quality service that drives the bottom line.

TransCare says it promotes from within and offers career options to paratransit drivers capable of moving into dispatch, field training and supervisory positions, and help oversee the deployment of hundreds of paratransit operators and a fleet of more than 200 MTA NYC Access-A-Ride vehicles.

Because the tremendous need for all paratransit services is not going away, we want the essential medical transport, emergency and non-emergency medical services to hold strong despite the economy, or at least the compromises to disadvantaged and disabled home bound passengers kept to a minimum.

By David Hubbard

Veolia Transportation proposed a significant change and settled on the Dodge Sprinter for paratransit operation in Baltimore, MD.

The light went on when Marlon Bates, general manager, paratransit division for Veolia Transportation, Baltimore, MD, noticed major delivery companies replacing fleets with sleek one-piece European styled vehicles promising greater economy and efficiency.

He and his colleagues began scouting out options to also improve fuel economy, maneuverability, service and maintenance for the crucial on-demand paratransit service Veolia Transportation provides to Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD).

To qualify for the Medical Assistance program, potential riders must be BCDH certified with no other source of transportation, or access to anyone else who could be reasonably expected to provide transportation.

The service operates seven days a week, running more than 800 one-way trips a day and offering door-to-door non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) to qualified medical assistance recipients.

In order to provide the daily service, Veolia Transportation subcontracts some of the work to small businesses, most of which are minority and women owned. In this capacity, Veolia Transportation serves as a broker booking or assigning the trips to pre-approved vendors who provide the service on their behalf. Veolia Transportation’s subcontracted partners perform all non-emergency ambulance/stretcher trips.

Veolia Transportation was proposing a significant change, and Bates and his team knew a switch in vehicles would certainly impact the drivers and mechanics, not to mention the BCHD passengers. The company did not take the process lightly.

“We had been purchasing the same vehicle make for years, and it would have been comfortable to replace vehicles piecemeal with newer models of the same,” he says. “But we saw this as an opportunity to try something different.”

The group gravitated toward Daimler Buses North America and the Dodge Sprinter. In early 2007 Veolia Transportation Baltimore replaced the fleet of 36 vehicles with 29 Dodge Sprinters and noticed an immediate and dramatic decrease in fuel and maintenance costs. The increased capacity of the new vehicles meant the company could purchase seven fewer vehicles than it had in its original fleet, but accommodate the same number of riders. Veolia Transportation has since purchased 13 more Sprinters for the Baltimore fleet, bringing the number to 42.

Running on clean burning biodiesel, the Sprinters average slightly better than 14 miles per gallon against eight miles per gallon with the previous fleet. Daimler Buses North America says the Sprinter vehicles can operate 10,000 miles before a service oil change and 60,000 miles before engine and transmission service. The Dodge Sprinter claims 56 percent less CO2 per vehicle mile than a cutaway vehicle with a Ford 6.0L diesel engine; and 53 percent less than a Ford 6.8L gasoline engine. The OEM recommended interval for oil and filter changes on the Sprinter is every 12,000 miles as opposed to the former 3,000 miles on previous vehicles, which saves on maintenance costs.

Bates also says the narrow body design and tighter turning radius make the vehicles easier to maneuver.

“The new vehicles have actually boosted driver morale,” he says. “Our drivers say they are more comfortable operating the Sprinters, and feel our company has also invested heavily in their safety.”

Prior to putting the vehicles into revenue service, Veolia Transportation Safety and Training Department developed a Sprinter-specific familiarization program.

“We felt we had only one chance to make a positive first impression,” says Bates. “We believed this paid training demonstrated our investment in our people and used it to reinforce our values and commitment to our employees.”

Incurring no expense for the new vehicles, BCHD adds it is important that the vehicles not only be operationally effective, but also well received by customers and promote a positive image for their department as well as the City of Baltimore.

The BCHD Sprinters carry the Veolia Transportation logo and Web site — the first vehicles in the Baltimore fleet to bear the name of the company since Veolia Transportation acquired Yellow Transportation in August 2001. With the Web site posted on the rear of the Sprinters, Bates says the company received a significant spike in inquiries about career opportunities with Veolia Transportation.

Recognizing his effort and leadership to negotiate this change, last year Veolia Transportation honored Bates as the first recipient of its Sustainable Development Award, along with Steve Shaw, Veolia regional vice president for the Northeastern region.

Sustainability is a major priority for Veolia Transportation. Last year the company implemented biofuel in the vast majority of its vehicles with several contracts, and adopted the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products that promote green behaviors in its offices and maintenance shops. BR