Bay Area

AC Transit Honors 11 Bus Operators for Combined 295 Years of Safe Driving

They navigate unpredictable driving from fellow road warriors while maneuvering busses starting at 40 ft. long, 11 ft. high and nearly 31,000 lbs.—and now, according to AC Transit, 11 bus operators are being duly honored with the 2022 Safe Driving Award. AC Transit’s Safe Driving Award recognizes bus operators who have safely driven with no preventable accidents over a minimum of five years.

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2023

Oakland Post

AC Transit bus at Richmond BART Station.

By Kathy Chouteau

AC Transit’s Safe Driving Award recognizes bus operators who have safely driven with no preventable accidents over a minimum of five years. The agency said that the award is “a significant achievement for our transit safety professionals,” as they bypass scores of challenges on the road while safely driving their coaches—all the while maintaining a timed schedule and avoiding unpredictable behavior from others.

This year AC Transit’s Safe Driving Award goes to the following bus operators: Lomax Binion, 20 years; Deborah Scarbrough, 20 years; Tony Simington, 20 years; Cheryl Brown, 20 years; Rogelio Barrientos, 20 years; William Collins, 25 years; Michael Winston, 30 years; Claudia Waters, 35 years; Ricardo Perez, 35 years; Tejinder Brar, 35 years; and Jerry Strong, 35 years. According to the agency, these bus operators have 295 years of combined safe driving.

Aside from traversing narrow roads in the Berkeley hills, the NASCAR-like Bay Bridge toll plaza and safely transporting more than 40,000 Bay Area kids to school each academic day, AC Transit said their bus operators are “frontline ambassadors” and “have performed countless acts of heroism for the 16.9 million riders who boarded our coaches this past fiscal year.”

“We encourage all riders and the communities we serve to return to transit, seek out this year’s winners and offer a heartfelt ‘thank you and congratulations,’” said AC Transit.

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.