APTA President and CEO Skoutelas Addresses CUTA Conference

APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas gave welcome remarks at the Nov. 18 Opening Plenary Session of the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s (CUTA) Annual Conference and Transit Show Nov. 17-20 in Toronto, hosted by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).

Skoutelas acknowledged City of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, TTC Board Chair Jamaal Myers, and TTC CEO Greg Percy for hosting the event. He noted the collaboration between CUTA and APTA, thanking CUTA Chair Kelly Paleczny and President and CEO Marco D’Angelo for the long and fruitful partnership. A new Memorandum of Understanding through 2027 was signed just this past year, reaffirming the strength of the relationship.

“Not only do we share a common mission and many common members from the public and private sector, but we share common issues and challenges for the industry,” Skoutelas said. The most critical, he added, is ensuring long-term, significant and sustained investment in our sector.

From left: Simon Minelli, director, research, technical services & industry programs, CUTA; Michael McDaniel, vice-chair, finance, CUTA, president and general manager, Coast Mountain Bus Company; Dave Reage, vice-chair, CUTA, executive director, Halifax Transit; Kelly Paleczny, chair, CUTA, general manager, London Transit Commission; Paul P. Skoutelas; Marco D’Angelo, president and CEO, CUTA; Petra Mollet, vice-president, strategic and international programs, APTA.

Certainly, for the U.S., Skoutelas said, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has provided unprecedented levels of federal funding these past few years, with the potential for a total federal investment of more than $108 billion for public transportation and $102 billion for rail infrastructure. This investment has already had a significant impact, he noted.