November 22, 2022 – Every year the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) celebrates the achievements of its members at the annual CUTA Awards Ceremony. From over 100 submissions, CUTA’s Awards Committee selected 20 winners who demonstrated the greatest impact within the communities they serve.

The 2022 CUTA Awards Ceremony marked the return to an in-person format, providing an opportunity to celebrate award winners, both organizations and individuals, for their contributions to public transit in Canada.

List of 2022 CUTA Award winners:

CUTA’s 2022 Individual awards: nine awarded

Young Leaders Award – young and talented emerging leaders entering the sector (35 or younger)

• Heather Aitken (Toronto, ON)
  Interim Head, DB Engineering & Consulting
  Recognized for dedication to transit sustainability and passionate support for accessibility and diversity of perspective in public transit.

Excellence Award – major contributions that improved public transit

• Tania Wegwitz (Victoria, BC)
  Transit & Regional Transportation Lead, Watt Consulting Group
  Recognized for 27+ years of transit planning expertise and a commitment to transit system improvements in urban and rural areas.

Edward J. Dowling Distinguished Service Award – exceptional service for 10 or more years

• Guy Picard (Laval, QC)
  CEO, Société de Transport de Laval (STL)
  Recognized for nearly 40 years of urban transit experience where he supported several innovative projects including electrification initiatives and alternative on-board payment solutions.
• Doug Morgan (Calgary, AB)
  General Manager of Operational Services, Calgary Transit
  Recognized for his over 30 years of service to the City of Calgary, where his planning expertise and people-first leadership style contributed to Calgary Transit’s increasing customer satisfaction ratings.

William G. Ross Lifetime Achievement Award – exceptional service for at least 25 years. The winner is inducted into the CUTA Hall of Fame.

• William (Bill) B. Menzies (Winnipeg, MB)

Senior Transit Planner, Dillon Consulting Limited

Recognized for his contributions at Winnipeg Transit and Dillon Consulting Limited, over his 42-year public transit career where he developed and implemented a multi-year Winnipeg transit improvement program and customer education initiative.

• Alain Mercier (Quebec City, QC)

CEO, Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC)

Recognized for significant contributions at RTC and his 30+ years of service in various leadership roles where he helped increase transit ridership, revenue, and adoption of sustainable transit initiatives, as well as his roles with ATUQ, UITP and as former Chair of CUTA.

• Brian Leck (Toronto, ON)

General Counsel, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)

Recognized for his work as General Counsel at the TTC from 1999-2021 where he contributed to major arbitrations, trials and efforts to increase safety for public transit operators.

• Luc Tremblay (Montreal, QC)

CEO, Société de transport de Montréal (STM)

Recognized for significant contributions to the STM over his 28-year career where he built a resilient system that withstood the challenges of the pandemic, and his commitment to promoting public transit at the international level through his work with UITP.

• Patrick Delmore (Windsor, ON)

Executive Director, Transit Windsor

Recognized for significant contributions to Transit Windsor, over his 34-year career where he advocated at the federal and provincial level on behalf of OPTA, CUTA and small systems across Canada, as well as his continued advocacy for increased youth engagement in public transit.

 

CUTA’s 2022 Corporate awards: 11 awarded

Equity Diversity & Inclusion Award – initiatives, programs and outreach by businesses, transit systems, and/or their municipal owners, committed to inclusive, accessible, diverse workplaces and community

• Toronto Transit Commission (TTC): 2022 Indigenous Heritage Month Campaign, working with frontline employees to create an internal communications campaign that celebrated the strength of indigenous communities.
• Edmonton Transit Service: launching a new bus network and on-demand transit service, with community consultation through virtual and in-person workshops for various community stakeholders that included Indigenous Peoples, new Canadians, seniors and people with disabilities.

Safety and Security Award – for systems that took extra steps to keep riders and workers safe

• BC Transit: People in remote areas were rescued and brought to safety during BC’s 2021 Emergency Evacuations. With the help of its fleet of buses, regional authorities helped evacuate vulnerable residents (sick and elderly) to help as floods began threatening communities across the province.

Environmental Sustainability Award – for systems whose projects helped advanced environmental sustainability

• Société de transport de Montréal (STM): Sustainably designed and constructed Côte-Vertu underground metro train storage facility provides capacity for future network expansion, turning a brownfield site into an open and publicly accessible outdoor space.
• Toronto Transit Commission (TTC): Implementing its green bus technology plan that includes the largest electric bus fleet in North America.

Innovation Award – for using technology and new approaches to make services more effective and efficient

• Société de transport de Montréal (STM): Innovative approach at its Towers Mechanical Ventilation Station, where the facade of an abandoned 19th-century Victorian home has been preserved and converted into an underground ventilation station for the Montréal Metro.
• Town of Coburg: Coburg Rides campaign that consolidated paratransit service and other on-demand transit service into a single on-demand transit service that provides town-wide coverage.
• MiWay, City of Mississauga: Digitalized crew selection for transit operators that saves staff time and provides cost savings through reduced print costs.

Marketing and Communications – for excellence in advertising, corporate communications, or public relations

• Halifax Transit: Launched an updated Transit Code in 2021 for passenger conduct and policy guidelines, aimed at increasing public safety for riders and operators, and public awareness to promote a modern and inclusive urban transit culture in Halifax.
• MiWay, City of Mississauga: Launched the Freedom to Move back-to-school marketing campaign that reminded Mississauga residents to consider public transit with a strategic youth-targeted social media ad campaign for student riders.
• BC Transit: Celebrated Transit Operator and Worker Appreciation Day with programming that reached over 900 schools, and a digital marketing campaign that reached over 100,000 people, to show gratitude for all transit staff that helped keep transit running during the pandemic.

Interested media are encouraged to email CUTA at [email protected] to connect with award winners, who can provide additional comments upon request.

Please visit CUTA 2022 Award ceremony digital Media Kit (linked here) that contains CUTA’s digital 2022 Awards Booklet, headshots or logos of each award winner, as well as images from the awards ceremony.

 

ABOUT CUTA

CUTA is the collective voice of the transit industry in Canada. Its membership includes Canadian transit systems, private transportation operators, manufacturers, suppliers, as well as transit industry thought leaders and academics from across the country.

 

Media Contact

Alex Krause

Communications and Public Affairs Specialist, CUTA

[email protected]