Five DART Operators Earn Spots at State Roadeo

On May 18, DART held its annual Roadeo competition, a timed driving skills course. Twenty competitors, from all over DART, participated to showcase their talents behind the wheel of a 40-foot and/or a smaller On Demand bus.

Here are the winners from the 2024 DART Roadeo:

Open Class Competition

This class is a "just for fun" part of the competition where operators, maintenance, facilities, and other staff can join in driving the Roadeo course for bragging rights. Each class has two divisions a large bus division (40-foot buses) and small bus division (On Demand/Paratransit bus). 

Small Bus Division   First Place – Joe Vitale (Center) Second Place – William Ostrander (Left) Third Place – Daniel Patton (Right)

Large Bus Division   First Place – Abay Mengistu (Center) Second Place – Larry Flanders (Right)  Third Place – Daniel Patton (Left)

In honor of winning during their first time entering the DART Roadeo, Larry Flanders and William Ostrander were both named Rookie of the Year for their divisions in the Open Class.

Competition Class

The Competition Class is made up of DART drivers attempting to earn a spot at the statewide Roadeo hosted by the Iowa Public Transit Association and Iowa DOT. Like the Open Class, the Competition Class has the same two divisions, small and large bus.

Small Bus Division First Place – Kurt Mackel-Wiederanders (Right) Second Place – Joe Vitale (Left) Third Place – Micheal Flaig (Not pictured)

Large Bus Division First Place – Cesar Chavez (Middle right) Second Place – Justin Hazebrook (Middle left) Third Place – Paul Mast (Far left)

Daniel Patton was named Rookie of the Year for the Competition Class for placing during his first DART Roadeo. 

Cesar Chavez, Justin Hazebrook, Kurt Mackel-Wiederanders, Paul Mast and Joe Vitale will represent DART at the 36th Annual IPTA/Iowa DOT State Roadeo competition in Ames this year. At the state Roadeo, drivers from across the state are trying to earn a spot at the national and international level competitions.

Thank you to DART's administrative and operations staff who volunteered their Saturdays in order to make this event happen, and thank you to all the families who came out to cheer the team on!