APTA announces 2026 hall of fame inductees, award recipients
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has honored 12 organizations and leaders with awards for their vision, leadership and commitment to public transportation. The association also named four individuals to be inducted into the APTA Hall of Fame.
The 2026 APTA Awards recognize individuals and organizations which have demonstrated leadership, are outstanding role models and whose accomplishments and innovations have greatly advanced public transportation, APTA officials said in a press release. The outstanding public transportation systems of the year include Caltrain (more than 3 million but fewer than 15 million annual passenger trips); Valley Metro (more than 15 million but fewer than 50 million annual passenger trips); and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (50 million or more annual passenger trips). This year's hall of fame inductees are Dorval Carter Jr. of Chicago; Nuria Fernandez of Washington, D.C.; Larry Jackson of Long Beach, California; and Chuck Wochele of Canandaigua, New York. APTA Innovation Award winners are the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, for their fully automated Skyline rail system; the Jacksonville Transportation Authority of Jacksonville, Florida, for their Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation (NAVI); and the San Bernadino County Transportation Authority of San Berdino, California, for their Zero Emission Multiple Unit (ZEMU) hydrogen fuel source passenger-rail vehicle. The 2026 APTA awards will be presented at the association's TRANSform conference and EXPO, to be held Oct. 4-7 in Chicago. A full list of winners is available here.