James Wininger, Bay Transit’s newest safety manager, intends to build on the commitment to safety that his predecessor, Allen Slade, brought to the job in 2018.

When Slade retires in March, Wininger will have been working alongside Slade for over a month. “It really is nice to have had the opportunity to work with Allen before he leaves,” Wininger said.

While a student at James Madison University, Wininger started driving a bus for Harrisonburg Transit. After graduating, he stayed on with Harrisonburg Transit for nearly 10 years, transitioning from driver to dispatcher and then safety and training manager. In 2017 he moved to Colorado. After three years serving as safety and training manager at Steamboat Springs Transit in Colorado, Wininger decided to move back to Virginia. “I spent three winters in the Rockies, but when it snowed on Labor Day I said, ‘Maybe this isn’t for me’ and decided to move back to Virginia.”

Wininger learned about the safety manager opportunity at Bay...