The Transportation Association of Maryland's (TAM) Spring General Membership Meeting will be held on May 10, 2023 at the Turf Valley Resort. This meeting will include a full Board of Directors meeting (featuring special guest MTA Administrator Holly Arnold), elections for the Board of Directors, and a workshop on understanding employee value. Following lunch, The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration will be presenting a half-day workshop on Drug & Alcohol testing compliance.

How to Register

Registration is $75 for TAM members, and $100 for non-TAM members. Those joining the drug and alcohol testing compliance session do not need to register.

Click here to register!

Location

The General Meeting and Drug & Alcohol testing compliance training will be held at the Turf Valley Resort on 2700 Turf Valley Road, in Ellicott City, MD 21042. For those of you who attended 2022's General Meeting & Training, this year's event is being held at the same location.

Schedule of Events: 

General Meeting

TAM's General Meetings are opportunities for our members to come together as an organization, learn about TAM's current status and plans, and help decide the future of the organization. During the Board meeting portion of the meeting, our Committee chairs will give reports on the activities and status of TAM's efforts in various arenas, including training, member services, government affairs, and events like the Roadeo and Fall Conference. Our FY 2024 budget will be presented and an election will be conducted to fill expiring terms on the Board of Directors. Following the meeting, our attendees will enjoy a buffet lunch and hear the results of the board candidates balloting.

The General Meeting will feature special guest speaker MDOT MTA Administrator Holly Arnold, who will present on upcoming MTA initiatives and the path forward for community transportation under the new administration.

Leadership Workshop - Understanding the Value of Your Employees

Presented by Kelly Shawn of RLS & Associates

This session will cover some key principles of leadership and will address what can motivate employees. In order ro build an organization that embraces teamwork, healthy employee morale, and exception customer service, transit leaders must be able to identify and navigate the ever-evolving needs of the workforce. When those evolving needs are met, the organization is more apt to function in an efficient, productive manner.

Discussion will include topics such as the workforce shortage, days/hours flexibility, driver safety, breaks, operations policies, schedule adherence, passenger interactions, wellness, and managing stress.

Drug and Alcohol Testing Compliance Workshop

MDOT MTA will be hosting a workshop on federal grant recipient compliance with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) drug and alcohol testing requirements. This training will take place in the afternoon from 1-5 PM. MDOT MTA requests that all LOTS agencies send a representative to this training in-person, which is intended to assist in bringing all Maryland grant recipients into compliance with FTA regulations. This session is intended for locally operated transit systems (LOTS).

It is critical that your local county or city drug testing agencies, representatives of your human resources departments, or anyone else associated with drug testing programs attend this session. To facilitate their attendance, such representatives will be able to join this training and participate virtually. Please reach out to the responsible persons and agencies in your city or county to ensure their participation. You will receive the virtual link to share for this session in your registration confirmation email.

All jurisdictions operating federally supported transit service must participate in this workshop as the continued availability of grant funding is conditioned on compliance with these requirements. 

Board Elections

TAM Board of Directors terms run for three years. The following terms are expiring at this General Meeting:

• Secretary
• At-Large Director
• At-Large Director
• Associate Member Representative

Eligibility Requirements:

• Candidates for officer positions (Secretary) must be current at-large directors or officers employed by Full Member TAM organizations in good standing.
• Candidates for At-large Director positions must be employed by Full Member TAM organizations in good standing.
• Candidates for the Associate Member Representative must be employed by Associate Member (vendor) TAM organizations in good standing.

Nominations:

All candidates standing for election to the Board are required to fill out and return to TAM via email ([email protected]) by April 28  a completed nomination form. 

Elections:

The election will be conducted during the General Meeting. Each TAM member organization will have one vote to cast for each of the open positions. Ballots will be collected and counted by Board members not currently up for election and the results will be announced at the end of lunch. The election for Associate member representative will be conducted both prior to the meeting via electronic voting as well as during the meeting itself, as only associate members are eligible to participate in it.