This Saturday, Montgomery County’s Ride On bus system will hold its annual bus “Roadeo” where bus operators compete to demonstrate their driving skills. The winner of the competition will go on to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) International Bus Roadeo held next May in San Antonio. Last year’s Ride On winner, placed 55 out of 200 participants in the International competition.

Bus operators are judged by their ability to successfully maneuver around 11 obstacles within seven minutes. Operators are also judged on personal appearance, smoothness of operations, their knowledge of Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, safety habits, and how they perform a pre-trip bus inspection. The guidelines and judging criteria are specified by APTA. 

The Roadeo will be held at 8751 Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg. Volunteers and participants check in at 8:30 a.m., followed by the competition and judging. Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director Al Roshdieh and MCDOT Transit Services Division Chief Dan Hibbert will present the awards at the conclusion of the event at approximately noon. 

Participants can compete as individuals and as teams. This year’s participants competing as individuals include Henrich Bathas, Perry Edwards, Hailu Fenta, Oscar Gutierrez, Kokou Kounoudji, Murid Omid, Nisantha Ranmuthu, Patrick Simen and Guillermo Vasquez.

Team competitors are as follows:

Silver Spring Team:

Tomeka Brown

Erskine Hodge

James Russell 

Gaithersburg Team:

Debra Huser

Charly Mbella

Leslie St. Lewis

Nicholson Court Team:

Gracesen Lacon

Carlos Perez

Lenora Vasquez

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