Photo provided
Ryan Skelly and Cindy Culberston with Bus No. 9936, named for Ryan.
The Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority held four separate celebratory events for its OTS, BBS, WYTS and LATS fleets last Saturday, May 8, to officially unveil newly named buses which have the names of employees’ children and grandchildren.
All of the newly named buses have been acquired since fall of 2009.
“This begins a new tradition for RGRTA – one that has created much excitement amongst the employees. The purpose of the program is to celebrate employees and their families and express their value to the team and the organization as a whole”, said Mark Aesch, Chief Executive Officer of RGRTA.
At Hampton Corners, Livingston Area Transportation Service unveiled 7 new 25 foot 22 -passenger buses and 3 new 32 foot 34-passenger buses. Employees and family members looked on as the children were honored with commemorative certificates and a photo of their bus.
The names will remain on display for the life of the each bus. Listed in the order of employee, bus number, and name, they are: Cindy Culbertson – 1057 – Abigail Skelly; Joseph Guarasci – 1058 - Jeffery Bartholomew; Leigh Gorton – 1059 – Jessica Gorton; Joseph Guarasci – 9935 – Joey Guarasci; Cindy Culberston – 9936 – Ryan Skelly; Leigh Gorton – 9937 – Adara Gorton; Johns Keith Alexander – 9938 – Madelin-Cary; Kelly Fitzpatrick – 9939 – Allison O’Connor; James Wagner 9940 – Jimmy Wagner; Elvin Button - 9941 – Mya Button.
At other RGRTA headquarters — Orleans, Batavia and Wyoming — a total of 17 more buses with employees’ children or grandchildrens’ names were likewise unveiled.
Naming of vehicles is new to the Authority, but not a new concept.
“We borrowed the idea from our friends at Federal Express who hold a similar contest to name new planes in their fleet,” noted Aesch. “These kids, these buses strengthen our ties to the community we serve. Many of the children whose names appear on these buses today will be graduating high school and starting college when these buses are retired.”
“As ridership at the Authority grows at a rate two times higher than the national average – our public transportation system is a key component to strengthening the local economy. Growing our fleet was essential to meet the service demands of the community,” said Aesch.
