Transit 2050+ Wins Award at AMPO Conference

Transit 2050+ receives award at the 2025 AMPO conference.
Matt Maloney (center), Deputy Executive Director for Metro Planning & Policy, accepts the award on behalf of MTC/ABAG.
Credit
Alex Eisenhart

Plan Bay Area's Transit 2050+ planning initiative won a national award at the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) conference, held last week in Providence, R.I.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) have been working with the region’s transit operators on Transit 2050+ — a parallel long-range planning effort to Plan Bay Area 2050+ that will develop a first-of-its-kind plan to re-envision the future of the public transit network in the nine-county Bay Area.

Transit 2050+ was awarded the 2025 "Excellence in Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Coordination and Partnership" award from AMPO. The award recognizes outstanding efforts in collaborative projects and practices among MPOs, transit agencies and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), fostering better regional transportation planning and development.

The national recognition reflects the deep engagement and collaboration between MTC/ABAG and Bay Area transit operators over the past three years. The MTC/ABAG project is a complex effort to shape a post-pandemic regional vision, given tighter fiscal constraints that transit is facing. Transit 2050+ is co-led by MTC/ABAG’s Kara Vuicich and AC Transit’s Andy Metz. 

"We wish this exciting work was happening under better financial circumstances, but we're nonetheless proud to say that Transit 2050+ has been one of our most collaborative regional planning efforts," said MTC/ABAG's Deputy Executive Director for Metro Planning & Policy Matt Maloney, as he accepted the award. 

In addition to receiving an award, MTC/ABAG staff also participated in two conference sessions. 

Maloney spoke as part of a panel entitled, "Shaping the Future: Collaborative Strategies for Reliable Transportation Funding."

Planners Janica Mendillo and Kaya Tollas from the Regional Planning Program also gave a presentation on automating comment classification using large language models. 

The AMPO Annual Conference is where MPOs gather to spark innovation and build meaningful relationships.

Participants engaged in a dynamic program filled with enlightening sessions, thought-provoking main-stage presentations and hands-on mobile tours designed to elevate their expertise.