Santa Rosa CityBus and Michael Bair of San Bernardino Associated Governments were the headline honorees at the California Transit Association Small Operators Award Luncheon, held in conjunction with the Association's annual Fall Conference and Expo in Monterey.

The Transit Excellence Award honors outstanding small operator innovations, programs or services which demonstrate innovative concepts or effective problem-solving techniques, or promote a positive image of transit in the community. Santa Rosa CityBus received the award based on enhancement to its operations, delivered projects and improved planning efforts. The agency delivered such significant projects as the completion of its first Transit Operations building to consolidate administration, implementation of an Automatic Vehicle Locator System on fixed routes and paratransit runs, the introduction of a mobile Transit Information Center, becoming the first small operator in the Bay Area to introduce a functional testing element to its paratransit eligibility process, and significant re-branding efforts.

Bair received the Transit Leadership Award, which is presented to an outstanding individual who has provided strong leadership and vision to a small operator. Currently the Transit and Rail Director for SANBAG, Bair has spent nearly 30 years heading the development of transit authorities in rural areas with the Mountain Area Regional Transit, the lower desert with the Morongo BasinTransit Authority, and in the newly urbanized area of the Victor Valley with the Victor Valley Transit Authority. He has also been instrumental in the evolution of transit services in the town of Needles and the development of Barstow Area Transit on the edge of the Mohave Desert.

The awards were presented by Small Operators Committee Chair Austin O'Dell, Transit Services Manager of Santa Maria Area Transit.