User:SMS

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Revision as of 15:21, 9 November 2019 by SMS (talk | contribs) (→‎Influences)
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Shanake Mario Seneviratne is a transit operator and transportation historian from Montreal, Quebec.

About

Shanake has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from McGill University. He has been a moderator with the Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board since February 2008 and an active member since March 2005. He is also an infrequent wiki editor.

He is employed as a full-time bus driver with Réseau de transport de Longueuil, finishing second overall in his training group.

The username SMS is quite simply derived from his initials.

Shanake's interests include (but are not limited to) collecting maps, signs, documents, books, and anything else of value for his personal archives. His favourite Canadian transit authorities are in Montreal and Toronto. He expects to travel around the world in pursuit of his interests.

For photography, SMS currently uses a Canon 5D Mark II (since 2012). He previously used a Canon Digital Rebel XT (from approximately 2007).

Shanake is married to Heidi Ludovico. He proposed to Heidi during a Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation fan trip by asking the Société de transport de l'Outaouais to specially program the destination sign of 1991 MCI Classic 9131 in order to pop the question. They live happily in Longueuil, Quebec with their cat Guntax, or Gummy as he is affectionately known.

Initiative

Shanake contributed to the 2007 Montreal Transportation Plan and infrequently attended the monthly meetings of the Société de transport de Montréal's board of directors. Whenever possible, he attended public consultations by the Agence métropolitaine de transport as well as by those by the Association québécoise du transport et des routes and the Canadian Urban Transit Association. Currently employed full-time in the transit industry, there is unfortunately very little time to participate in such activities anymore.

He is also the President and Co-Founder of YUL Bus Charters. With his extensive experience coordinating bus fan charters, Shanake is an accomplished charter organizer and has helped plan and execute two major bus conventions in the Greater Montreal Area for the Toronto Transportation Society and the Bus History Association.

In June 2019, Shanake was acclaimed vice-chairman of the Bus History Association during the annual convention in Ottawa, ON.

As a semi-professional photographer, Shanake's work featured in several recent publications of the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation. He first offered three of his photographs in the 2009 Street Side Guide. His dedication to the hobby has not gone unnoticed, as he has since submitted several photographs for publication in the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 editions of the Street Side Guides.

Travel

SMS has traveled with the following urban transit authorities:

Employment

Timeline

  • 3 November 2009: created username and password on RTL website
  • 22 March 2010: e-mail invitation to evaluation session
  • 7 April 2010: evaluation session at Sandman Hotel
  • 13 April 2010: e-mail confirmation, passed the exams at the evaluation session
  • 29 June 2010: e-mail invitation to begin CFTR training
  • 7 August 2010: first day of CFTR training at GASH
  • 10 December 2010: e-mail invitation to RTL training at GASH
  • 14 February 2011: first day of RTL training at GASH
  • 27 June 2011: first day officially driving for the RTL

Influences

  • Pyerre Boisvert
  • Benoît Clairoux
  • Marc Dufour
  • Jesse Goulah
  • Richard Hooles
  • Greg Northcott
  • Kevin Nicol
  • Tristan-Philippe Roy
  • Patrick Wright

Memberships

Contact

Private messages via the CPTDB are welcome.

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