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The Minnesota Public Transit Association’s (MPTA) has announced that the 35th annual Minnesota State Bus Roadeo will be held on July 15-16 in Austin.

The event is being hosted locally by SMART Transit.

The Bus Roadeo provides safety training to bus operators in a friendly competition setting. Operators are asked to perform challenging driving tasks around a course and judges are set up throughout the course to score operators based on how well they accomplish each task and how long it took the operator to get through the entire course.

Operators must also complete wheelchair securement testing and attend a training program over the lunch hour on Saturday.

After all operators have completed and finished training, the scores are tallied and winners are announced during the banquet dinner Saturday evening on July 16, which will take place at the Holiday Inn Austin Conference Center in Austin.

“We’re really excited to showcase our town with all of the competitors and volunteers who will be coming to Austin,” said Kirk Kuchera, SMART Transit’s Director. “We also really appreciate the support we have received from local companies and partners like Hormel Foods, Discover Austin, Darrick’s Preferred Auto, and Kwik Trip.”

The event is free and open to the public. The opening ceremony begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday, July 16 at Riverland College, followed by the Large Bus Division Competition at 7:30 a.m. and the Small Bus Competition beginning at 8 a.m. Bus operators from all across the state will be competing in both divisions.

This event recognizes the men and women who are proud to call themselves bus operators. These essential workers continued to provide critical transportation throughout the pandemic. MPTA appreciates the opportunity to thank them for their service while hosting this important transit safety event.

For more information and to view the schedule of events, please visit the MPTA website at: https://www.mpta-transit.org/event/2022-mpta-bus-roadeo.