Golden Empire Transit District elects new chair
Golden Empire Transit District, (GET) Board of Directors elected James Hunter as Board Chair for the 2016 year. Hunter was appointed as the Member-At-Large by the other four board members in February 2015. He is originally from Fillmore, CA. He has degrees in public administration, engineering and information management. Hunter served in the US Federal Foreign Service Diplomatic corps from 1966 to 1980. He has worked in several countries and on a number of projects from Japan to Saudi Arabia. He is now the CEO of Knowledge Solutions Group which focuses on strategic project planning and design. He is also a board member for the Kern Transportation Foundation, a board member for the Bakersfield Sister Cities International organization and serves in the Garden Pathways mentor program.
Cindy Parra was elected Vice Chair. Parra was born and raised in Bakersfield. As a teen she moved to San Jose and after high school, attended San Jose City College and San Jose State University. She returned to Bakersfield in the mid-80s to work for SmithtechUSA, Inc where she has worked as a Project Manager for 20 years. Parra was a founding member of Bike Bakersfield in 2005. She currently serves on the Bike Bakersfield Board of Directors, California Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Board of the California Bicycle Coalition, Kern Council of Governments Board as a GET representative and is chair of the Kern Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Coalition.
Golden Empire Transit District (GET) was formed in 1973 and serves the Bakersfield Metropolitan area which is 160 square miles. GET has a fleet of 88 compressed natural gas buses equipped with wheelchair lifts and bike racks. GET services 16 routes, which operate 7 days a week and transport approximately 7 million passengers each year with its fixed route buses. In addition GET operates 19 compressed natural gas GET-A-Lift buses.
