Transportation Awards

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1999 MTC Award Winners

Grand Award

• The Forest Hill Adopt-A-Muni program, headed by Joe Blue, was a first-of-its-kind effort that restored the dilapidated Forest Hill Muni station.

Doris W. Kahn Accessibility Award

• Sue Hodges has been a life-long advocate for transportation, affordable housing and personal care attendant issues for persons with disabilities.

Special Transportation Employee Award

• Douglas La Vallee, a Caltrans Tunnels and Tubes operator, rescued an elderly woman whose car was on fire in the Caldecott Tunnel in February 1996. He also worked to improve safety and training practices in the tunnel crews.

John F. Foran Legislative Award

• State Sen. John Burton of San Francisco, President pro Tem of the California state Senate, put transportation back on the legislative map after years of neglect with the introduction of a major three-bill package aimed at funding transportation needs in the state.

Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award

• Robert Halligan, longtime chief public information officer for Caltrans District 4, passed away in February 1999. Halligan, among other things, conceived of the lighting project to celebrate the Bay Bridge’s 50^th anniversary.

• Gerald Haugh, one of the region’s longest serving general managers, has been at the helm of SamTrans for the past 17 years.

Merit Awards

• Transportation Choices Forum & BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self-sufficiency) are two groups that have made exceptional contributions to the transportation planning process by bringing new voices to the transportation planning table.

• Bill Baxter and the Santa Clara County Traffic Operations Center. Baxter is the branch manager for the County Roads and Airports Department of the new, $1.7 facility that allows technicians to monitor traffic flow and adjust signal timing to alleviate congestion, or dispatch emergency crews.

• Caltrans District 4 Public Awareness Campaign Team organized the PAC to make more motorists aware of the special safety needs near highway work zones.

• Phil Frank draws the beloved "Farley" comic strip for the San Francisco Chronicle which, more often than not, deals lightheartedly with transportation issues.

• The S.F. Caltrain Station Renovation took a rather drab and uninviting place and made it light, airy, and, more importantly, highly accessible to persons with disabilities.