CEO Accents - SARTA - Stark Area Regional Transit Authority

From SARTA's Executive Director/CEO, Charles Odimgbe...

2006 was a pivotal and important year for Stark Area Regional Transit Authority for several reasons. It is a year marked with remarkable accomplishments and numerous milestones for the organization. What was most telling about the year 2006 is the ability of SARTA staff and board to handle all these accomplishments with minimal impact on the agency budget and service delivery.

First is the case of double digit increases in ridership. In 2005 SARTA recorded a fifteen per cent (15%) increase in ridership. This unusual ridership phenomenon continued into 2006 with the agency recording almost 40% increase in ridership. Yes, it is true that we had help (gas prices) nonetheless; the agency was able to handle these unusual and unprecedented increases in ridership with no impact on agency budget, fleet requirement or service delivery. In fact, I believe these stresses enabled SARTA staff and board to showcase their abilities, quality, tenacity and experience in delivery transit to the Citizens of this County.

Second was SARTA staff and Board--in seeking new direction for the agency--developing what is currently know as the 5/10 Plan. The goal of the 5/10 plan was to assist the agency with conducting environmental and visionary scan and assessment of what will be confronting the agency in the next 5/10 years. These include assessment of the agency funding and funding sources, continuously increasing costs, ridership impact on fleet, training, rider demographics, the changing role of SARTA within the community and emerging industry trends. Based on our assessment, the following programs have been developed to assist us tackle some of the challenges lurking in the horizon.

Third, as some of you are aware, the American Public Transportation Association voted Stark Area Regional Transit Authority the “Most Outstanding Transit System of the Year” in 2006. This accomplishment, the most coveted transportation award in the nation, is very huge especially for a medium size agency such as SARTA. It is with great pride that I extend huge congratulations to all SARTA staff and Board of SARTA for a job well done in creating an environment that nurtures continuous learning and effectiveness. Citizens of Stark County should be proud of the accomplishments of these individuals in this last year.

Finally, being #1 in the nation is a notion that is not lost to us either. We realize and understand that with this achievement comes some responsibilities are well. My pledge to the Stark County community would be that Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) would continue to innovate and blaze new trails for other to follow. We must continue to improve upon processes currently in place through testing for effectiveness and consistency with industry norm. We must continue to improve upon and develop high quality Staff and board through continuous training as outlined in our “Five Bold Steps.” I am confident that pursuing the above stated objective will ensure that we continue to project our “Most Outstanding Public Transit System” of the year image and status for years to come.