Metro News Release

For immediate release: September 27, 2005

Former Metro Board Member Carlton Sickles honored with APTA Hall of Fame Award

Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Board member for nearly 32 years, was honored with the 2005 American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Hall of Fame award today during the association’s annual meeting in Dallas.

Sickles, remembered fondly as "the father of Metro," served on a joint commission nearly 50 years ago that led to the creation of Metro. He played a significant role in the completion of the 103-mile Metro system that is vital to the Washington metropolitan region. As a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in the 1950s, he recognized the importance of a public transportation system for the Nation’s Capital and became a champion for the Metro system.

In 1967, Sickles joined Metro’s Board of Directors and served almost continuously until his death in 2004. He represented both Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland. During his tenure at Metro he served as Board Chairman in 1971 and Chairman of the Safety Committee for nearly two decades. He remained active on Metro’s Board of Directors, attending meetings and Metro functions, and was respected throughout the transit agency.

"Carlton Sickles was a visionary, man of great integrity, tireless champion for regionalism on the WMATA Board of Directors. The APTA Hall of Fame award is a fitting recognition for his half-century of dedicated service to public transportation for the Washington metropolitan area," said Richard A. White, Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer.

APTA’s Hall of Fame Award honors an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to public transportation and has actively participated in APTA activities.

"When Carlton Sickles passed away on January 17, 2004, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority lost one of its founding fathers; the public transportation industry lost one of its most vocal and steadfast advocates in the Nation’s Capital; and the metropolitan Washington region lost a great leader and a true gentleman," said The Honorable Steny H. Hoyer, United States House of Representatives.

News release issued on September 27, 2005.