MCAT, SCAT to square off in Manatee-Sarasota Bus Roadeo

MANATEE -- Manatee County Area Transit drivers will participate in the first-ever Manatee-Sarasota Bus Roadeo this Sunday.

MCAT drivers will compete with Sarasota County Area Transit drivers in a series of competitions at Manatee's Fleet Services Center, 1108 26th Ave. E., Bradenton. The event, which begins at 9 a.m. with the driving action starting closer to 11 a.m., is free and open to the public.

"It's fun to see people drive these big vehicles on an obstacle course," Jim Egbert, transit operations superintendent, said in a news release. "They're maneuvering a 40-foot-long vehicle weighing over 39,000 pounds without passengers. This is not your dad's Oldsmobile."

During Sunday's competition, the transit drivers will drive around a "test road course set up with cones, barrels and bus stops. The competitions will test drivers' ability to negotiate tight turns, to operate transit buses backwards and stopping within six inches of an object," according to the release.

The MCAT and SCAT first-place transit and paratransit winners will advance to the April 2 Mega Bus Roadeo in Fort Myers.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 2:58 PM with the headline "MCAT, SCAT to square off in Manatee-Sarasota Bus Roadeo ."