WeDriveU’s Operators and Maintenance Teams Shine in Bus Roadeos

This Spring, WeDriveU’s drivers and mechanics showed their skills and competitive spirit in multiple “roadeo” competitions and brought home well-deserved bragging rights.

Saddle Up for Roadeo Season

Inspired by traditional rodeos, a bus roadeo is a tiered competition where operators and maintenance teams representing transit systems gather to demonstrate their driving, safety, and vehicle maintenance skills by passing various tests and obstacle courses. The winners advance to state, regional and ultimately the International Bus Roadeo, hosted by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Our teams have done exceptionally well at bus roadeos in recent years, including:

• 2023 North Carolina Public Transit Association (NCPTA) Roadeo – Our PART fixed-route bus operator Barbara Townsend won Driver of the Year, and GoDurham Access paratransit driver Jackie Williams placed 3rd in the LTV category.
• 2023 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Roadeo – Our MetroAccess Paratransit Driver Jeremiah Sager won 2nd place.
• Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) also held its annual CATS Bus Roadeo this March where drivers showed their skills.

Teams Excel at 2024 State Roadeo

WeDriveU was thrilled that three CATS operators – Leonard Adams, Ever Martinez, and Kimberly Wallace – went on to the 2024 NCPTA Bus Roadeo and earned a first place finish as a team in the 35-foot bus competition. This qualified them to advance to APTA’s national competition.

During the Charlotte Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) meeting on April 24, 2024, Brent Cagle, CEO of Charlotte Area Transit Systems (CATS), personally recognized the winning team, acknowledging that the “skills that the operators exhibited in the bus rodeo [are] truly amazing and worthy of recognition.” The team got a standing ovation from everyone present at the meeting (watch at 16:22).

“skills that the operators exhibited in the bus rodeo [are] truly amazing and worthy of recognition.”

WeDriveU also congratulates our drivers from Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) and GoDurham Access who competed at NCPTA this year.

Maintenance for the Win at APTA

Adding to these impressive national qualifying results for our bus operators, WeDriveU’s Maintenance team at CATS had a marvelous result from their trip to the 2024 APTA International Roadeo in Portland, Oregon, taking first place as the “Cummins/Allison Power Train Winner.” 46 maintenance teams qualified to compete.

We’re so proud of our CATS maintenance team comprised of Charles Jones, Jeff Dahle, Brandon Hartsell and Supervisor Gregg Trogdon who accompanied them to the Pacific Northwest.

The competition assessed their ability to diagnose and repair engine defects, conduct pre-checks of buses, and identify and fix various issues in a race against time and each other to demonstrate their mechanical expertise. Here are some images in the heat of the battle.

In a press release, APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas said, “The APTA Bus Roadeo is a celebration of excellence, and this year’s winners have truly demonstrated the highest caliber of skill and professionalism in public transit operations. The commitment to safety and customer service displayed by all participants sets a standard for the industry. Congratulations to all and thank you for advancing public transportation.”

Join our Winning Team

If the idea of fine-tuning your skills and competing at the state or national level as a bus driver or maintenance technician is right up your alley, explore career opportunities to join our team with a knack for winning!

Learn More

Interested in seeing the competition in action? Watch APTA’s International Roadeo highlights.

Fast fact: Bus roadeos date back to the mid-1970s and mirror similar competitions in the truck industry.