Three mechanics from King County Metro
Transit walked away with the top honors at an international competition
held last weekend in Salt Lake City.
The American Public Transportation Association
(APTA) [external link] International Roadeo was held
September 26-28. There were 44 teams of mechanics competing in the maintenance
team event representing the "best of the best" from the United States and
Canada. Metro's team of Ryan Stringfellow, Leonard Emry, and Larry Fitzpatrick
finished first, with a total score of 950 points.
"This King County Metro team has been training and competing together for
six years," said Jim Boon, the manager of Metro’s Vehicle Maintenance unit.
"Their energy and expertise has brought a lot of pride to our maintenance shops
and the entire Metro organization. They are a great example of the high quality
of our transit maintenance personnel."
The competition included troubleshooting events with two different drive
systems, vehicle brake components, and a coach inspection. The teams also took
a written knowledge test. The combined score of these events determined the
winners.
In addition to the mechanics, Metro bus driver
Michael Grady finished 35th in the driving competition. With the
combined operator and maintenance team score of 1464 points, Metro finished
third in the overall transit agency competition.
