KINGSTON, N.Y. — Ethan Allen Transportation General Manager Rick Wolff recently received The Golden Merit Award from the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) at its annual meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina. Established in 1969, NSTA’s Golden Merit Award recognizes school bus employees for their achievements in safety, driver training, business practice, vehicle maintenance and superior service to their school district, community and pupil transportation industry.
Located in Kingston, New York, Ethan Allen Transportation provides school bus service to the Kingston School District and is a member of The Trans Group family of bus operations. Trans Group Executive Vice President Tim Flood congratulated Wolff on receiving The Golden Merit Award.
“Rick is usually a behind-the-scenes hero,” explained Flood, “devoting his career to school bus safety and advocating for his passengers, in particular those with special needs. He is a valuable member of our management team whose passion for school transportation and the children he serves is evident in everything he does. Rick is uniquely deserving of The Golden Merit Award and everyone at The Trans Group joins me in congratulating him on this important honor.”
Wolff began working in the school transportation industry for Ethan Allen Transportation in 1993, quickly establishing himself as proficient in dispatch, safety, routing, and driving. He has served on the Onteora School Board and the Board of Directors for United Cerebral Palsy, both in Ulster County, New York.
In addition to Wolff, Patti Royce-Moser of Trans Group operation Educational Bus Transportation also received a Golden Merit Award at the recent NSTA annual meeting. Past Golden Merit Award recipients affiliated with The Trans Group include Warren Gumbs, Helen Schwabacher, and Trans Group Executive Vice President Tim Flood.
At its recent annual meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) presented awards to individuals and companies for achieving excellence within the school bus industry. Top among the honors, The Trans Group received the first ever company-wide Gold Certification from the NSTA’s Green School Bus Fleet Certification Program — an award that was reviewed and endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus USA Program. Headquartered in Spring Valley, New York, The Trans Group is comprised of 11 school and public transit operations serving lower New York State and Long Island.
“We are honored to receive this important industry recognition for implementing the latest clean diesel technologies and reducing our overall environmental impact,” stated Trans Group President John Corr, Jr. “We operate over 1,200 school and public transit buses and are very aware of our responsibility to the environment. I am proud of the measures we have taken to improve our fleet but also our facilities. We use idle-reduction technology on all buses, as well as retrofits of facility lighting and oil-heat and water-heat systems in order to reduce energy consumption. Whether we’re reducing the use of paper with digital filing or researching solar power options, everything we do is with an eye towards improving the environment. We thank the National School Transportation Association for recognizing our efforts with its Gold Certification.”
The Trans Group has been honored in the past by the National School Transportation Association for its environmental efforts and was recently awarded grants through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Clean Diesel Rebate Program to help replace older school buses. According to the EPA, the National Clean Diesel Rebate Program was designed to encourage school bus fleet turnover so more children can ride buses with the cleanest emissions standards.
About the Trans Group
With more than 1,700 employees, The Trans Group operates over 1,200 school and public transit buses in lower New York State and Long Island. The company is actively involved in the school bus industry on the state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.thetransgroup.com.
