[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 6, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF LESLIE R. WHITE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 2014

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and thank Leslie R. 
White for his lifetime of service to the public transportation 
industry, including the last 17 years as General Manager of the Santa 
Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, called ``METRO.''
   Les took the helm at METRO, which provides bus service to the very 
transit-dependent communities of Santa Cruz County, CA, at a time of 
turmoil and molded the agency into a national model. He transformed 
virtually every aspect of METRO's operations, from replacing an aging 
diesel fleet with clean fuels buses to adding routes and making 
existing routes more efficient to improving paratransit service 
delivery.
   Under his leadership, METRO has grown to provide a level of service 
that makes public transportation in Santa Cruz County a viable 
alternative to automobile travel. Students from the University of 
California at Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College are loyal METRO riders, 
as are the scores of Santa Cruz residents commuting to and from jobs in 
Silicon Valley on the popular Highway 17 Express.
   My first interactions with Les involved working together on the 
development of MetroBase, the agency's centralized operations and 
maintenance facility. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed much of 
METRO's infrastructure and left the system without any adequate 
facilities. After dealing with the delicate task of finding a suitable 
site for the new facilities in Santa Cruz, Les worked tirelessly to 
corral federal, state, and local resources for the MetroBase project 
that has resulted in long-term savings for the agency.
   In addition, I was pleased to have worked closely with Les on the 
creation of the Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) program in the 
2005 surface transportation reauthorization law known as SAFETEA-LU. 
Years earlier, Les came to me with an idea to rectify an imbalance in 
the way that federal transit funding was allocated to smaller urbanized 
areas such as Santa Cruz. Now, the STIC program provides additional 
formula funding to communities with a strong local commitment to public 
transit, and over 160 communities in 45 states have benefitted from the 
program since its inception.
   Les has dedicated his life to public transportation, and had a long 
history of achievement prior to his arrival in Santa Cruz. He started 
his career as a bus driver in his home state of Michigan and rose to 
lead transit agencies in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and 
Vancouver, Washington. Joining him every step of the way was his wife 
and best friend Phyllis, who passed away in December 2012.
   In 1996, he reached a pinnacle of his profession when he was elected 
by his peers as Chairman of the American Public Transportation 
Association, where he also helped develop the popular Leadership APTA 
program, which helps groom transit professionals for leadership 
positions in the industry.
   Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Les for his service to Santa Cruz and 
congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement.

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