BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Michelle Petelicki believes caring for the environment is not about one big program or promise. It is reflected in the everyday decisions that shape how a company operates, maintains its equipment, supports its employees, and serves its community.
Panorama Tours received the 2026 Environmental Leadership Award at the United Motorcoach Association’s UMA Motorcoach EXPO, held Feb. 11–14 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sponsored by Motor Coach Industries (MCI), the award honors bus companies that use cleaner equipment and follow business practices that help protect the environment.
Petelicki said sustainability must be embedded into daily operations rather than treated as a temporary effort.
Everyday decisions, lasting impact
“For me, environmental leadership shows up in everyday choices,” Petelicki said while accepting the honor. “It’s rarely one big initiative. It’s a series of intentional decisions that add up to real impact.”
Tom Wagner, vice president of private sector sales at Motor Coach Industries, presented the award.
“This award recognizes the motorcoach operator that doesn’t just check the sustainability box, but lives it,” Wagner said.
Wagner pointed to Panorama Tours’ comprehensive approach to sustainability, beginning with driver performance and extending throughout the organization.
The company supports those efforts with anti-idling policies, automatic engine shutoffs, and incentive programs that encourage environmentally responsible driving. Real-time telematics and data analytics allow employees to track performance and continuously improve results.
“Thanks to real-time data, everyone knows the score,” Wagner said. “And they take pride in improving it.”
The industry as part of the solution
Beyond fleet operations, Panorama Tours has become an active advocate for the motorcoach industry, engaging policymakers on congestion pricing, emissions policy and transportation regulation.
“We know motorcoaches are sustainable, environmentally friendly, and efficient,” she said. “Everybody in this room knows it. Our most important obligation is making sure those shaping policy know it as well.”
She stressed that innovation across the industry continues to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and move more people with fewer vehicles on the road.
Wagner said Petelicki consistently drives home one point when speaking with lawmakers: “Motorcoaches aren’t the problem, they’re a big part of the solution.”
Petelicki, a UMA Board Member, also used the moment to reinforce a broader message about the role of motorcoaches in environmental policy discussions.
“Our industry is the solution,” she said. “To congestion, we are the solution. To pollution, we are the solution. Yet far too often we are viewed as the problem.”
As legislative and regulatory conversations evolve, Petelicki encouraged operators to build relationships with policymakers before major issues arise.
“It is about making sure the people influencing policy know who you are and what you stand for before you need their support,” Petelicki said. “Those relationships matter.”
A shared honor
Wagner noted the company operates modern, clean coaches equipped with advanced technologies, maintains rigorous maintenance standards, and recycles materials such as tires, oil, and water.
“Environmental leadership isn’t about grand gestures,” Wagner said. “It’s about discipline and choices made every single day.”
Petelicki closed by emphasizing that the recognition extends beyond one individual.
“This award is not mine alone,” she said. “It belongs to my family back home, my team at Panorama Tours, and to colleagues and industry partners who continue to share ideas and elevate this industry. And it belongs to this motorcoach community that consistently shows up as part of the solution. I am incredibly proud to be part of the motorcoach community,” she added. “I truly love what I do.”
Petelicki said she accepts the award with gratitude and with a continued commitment to environmental leadership, thoughtful advocacy, and ensuring sustainability remains central to how the industry operates and is understood.
Photos by Jill Kelly/Terrapin Blue
