Big Stu in the Big Easy

Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart, in his role as a member of the C-Tran Board of Directors, and C-Tran Executive Director Jeff Hamm attended the American Public Transportation Association’s Expo in New Orleans last week.

The expo, staged every three years, is billed as public transit’s “premier showcase” of technology, products and services.

Stuart said he attended the expo instead of Commissioner Marc Boldt, who chairs the C-Tran board, because it fit his schedule. Boldt sounded wistful last week during board time, remarking that there were going to be 800 exhibitors.

“Imagine how many pins he’s going to get,” Boldt said.

Stuart said there was a lot of swag. The best item? A one-gigabyte flash drive in the shape of a bus.

The expo was Oct. 3-5 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center; it was also APTA’s annual meeting. Stuart said he and Hamm divided and conquered the packed schedule of sessions. Stuart’s sessions include one on funding that featured staff members from U.S. House and Senate committees.

Stuart said Rs and Ds alike stressed the need to find an alternative to the gas tax, a declining revenue source.

Stuart and Hamm will share what they learned at an upcoming C-Tran meeting; agendas are published here.

The trip was paid for by C-Tran. Registration fees were $575, airfare was $300 and the hotel was $170 a night. Meals were reimbursed at the federal rate for New Orleans at $71 a day, less the cost of some meals that were included with the registration fee. All told, it cost approximately $3,000 to send Stuart and Hamm to the Big Easy.