ANTIOCH — The agency that runs East Contra Costa County’s public buses has received top honors for accomplishments that include keeping employees safe and customers happy.
For the first time in its 37-year history, Tri Delta Transit was recognized with the 2014 Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award for an agency providing 4 million or fewer trips annually.
The American Public Transportation Association conferred the distinction on the Antioch-based bus operator at its annual meeting last month.
“That’s a big deal — that’s huge,” said APTA spokeswoman Virginia Miller of the award, calling it the “equivalent of the Oscars.”
She noted that the agency was competing not only with U.S. transit agencies but those in Canada and Mexico as well.
The accolades were based in part on Tri Delta’s track record from 2011 through 2013, during which it reported no violations of Cal/OSHA safety standards, no lost time among its bus drivers and no passenger or pedestrian injuries. Tri Delta also indicated that there were only 22 days over those three years when maintenance employees were off work because they hurt themselves on the job.
The agency attributes the success to its emphasis on following safety rules at staff meetings, in weekly employee newsletters, on signs posted around the building and to a team that meets regularly to discuss workplace hazards and solutions. Tri Delta also saw the number of preventable bus accidents drop by 42 percent during that three-year period.
“They are creating a culture of safety,” Miller said.
In addition, ridership increased by 16 percent, which Tri Delta credits to its adoption of technology that makes taking the bus more convenient. Anyone who has a computer and smartphone users with an Android operating system now can download a mobile application to find out exactly where a bus is along a particular route, eliminating the uncertainty of how long it will take to arrive.
And now GPS software automatically announces major stops along a route instead of passengers having to rely on drivers for the alerts.
Tri Delta surveys show that customer satisfaction with its services rose from 55 percent in 2011 to 73 percent last year, Miller said.
The agency also was judged on what it’s done to protect the environment: Tri Delta has bus shelters that are lit with solar energy at night and its employees participate in community clean-up days.
Reach Rowena Coetsee at 925-779-7141. Follow her at Twitter.com/RowenaCoetsee
