By Tracy E. Dunleavy
Project Manager
International Transit
Studies Program
Eno Transportation Foundation
The International Transit Studies Program was
established in 1994 by the Transit Cooperative Research Program
to provide an international dimension to the development of
transit managers and to expand the network of contacts available
for advice and problem solving. The TCRP is a cooperative
undertaking of the Federal Transit Administration, the Transit
Development Corporation, and the Transportation Research Board.
The challenges facing transit managers in the
United States are being faced in other countries as well:
attracting and keeping passengers, upgrading services, reducing
congestion, and employing the new Intelligent Transportation
Systems technologies to increase the speed, comfort, and cost
recovery of urban transit systems. Familiarity with overseas
practices and the acquisition of a network of contacts can assist
mobility managers to produce high quality public transportation
services. Compelling evidence also suggests that such experience
advances professional development.
The ITSP was created because today's transit
professionals must be able to deliver broader, more innovative
responses to growing transportation challenges. In essence, the
industry's advancement relies on an evolving breed of managers,
mobility managers, who can assess problems and opportunities from
many perspectives. While exposure to applications of new
technology is an essential part of the ITSP experience, the focus
of the program is professional development.
To date, 94 transit professionals have
participated in seven leadership development missions to Europe,
Asia, and Canada. Future mission sites will include South
America, Australia, and a return to Asia and Europe.
Many of these participants have already
reported making changes in their transit operations influenced by
their experiences. Some have reported career enhancements and
promotions partially attributable to their international
experiences.
Since I have been involved in this program from
its beginning, I felt it was time to check on what has happened
to our alumni. What I discovered is an intriguing set of facts
and attitudes attesting to the positive impact of international
experience on the personal and professional lives of mission
participants.
Over the next several months, Passenger
Transport will be reporting on some of these subsequent career
moves.
Let's start alphabetically with Ron Barnes, who
recently succeeded Glenna Watson as general manager of the
Central Ohio Transit Authority, with more than 700 employees in
Columbus, Ohio. He took part in the first ITSP mission, which
looked at the contribution made by public transit to the
attractiveness and livability of six major European cities.
Barnes has more than 18 years of experience in
the transit industry, serving as general manager for Transit
Management of Wayne and Oakland Counties Inc., Royal Oak, Mich.;
Western Reserve Transit Authority, Youngstown, Ohio; and Madison
Metro Transit, Madison, Wis. He most recently served as deputy
general manager for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit
Authority, where he also coordinated and prepared the operational
plan for the successful $70 million Waterfront Rail Line project.
Active in the transit industry and in the
community, Barnes is currently president and chairman of the
board of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. In
recognition of his significant achievements, Barnes has been
recognized by many organizations, receiving the Black
Professional Association Most Distinguished Member Award, a
Distinguished Service Citation from the United Negro College
Fund, the ATE Management Award, and many other honors.
"We have many challenges ahead as we face
continued suburban development coupled with the developing
downtown core," Barnes said when he took over COTA. "I
look forward to helping the community find creative solutions to
the mobility issues that arise with such development, as well as
finding ways to support this economic vitality with a strong
transit system."
In this task, he will be aided by his European
experience, which he defined as having "provided me with an
overall new perspective in my career. First, it provided me the
opportunity to be more global in my thinking as it relates to the
sharing of information and providing quality services for all. I
found that the problems in the U.S. are identical to those of our
European counterparts, but yet they have taken strategies for
resolving them. This trip has caused me to focus on the future
and to look for opportunities to integrate more research and
development into our day-to-day service provision."
The European study mission in which Barnes
participated met with transit properties of major cities in the
United Kingdom including London and Manchester; Amsterdam, the
Netherlands; Paris and Lille, France; and Stuttgart and
Karlsruhe, Germany.
Along the way, participants found transferable
ideas directly applicable to or adaptable by U.S. communities,
among them innovative chip card, traffic management, and
passenger information systems.
To view the ITSP trip report, access the
International Transit page of the APTA web site,
http://www.apta.com.
Other participants with significant career
moves who will be featured in the months ahead include Allen
Biehler, now project manager for Tren Urbano in Puerto Rico;
Michael Bolton, Institute for Transportation Research and
Education, North Carolina State University; Shirley DeLibero,
general manager, New Jersey Transit Corporation; Kevin Desmond
and Vicki Cannard, Pierce Transit, Tacoma, Wash.; Ron Freeland,
Maryland Mass Transit Administration, Baltimore; Bill Millar,
president of APTA; Mike Townes, executive director, Peninsula
Transportation District Commission, Hampton/Newport News, Va.;
Linda Watson, general manager, Corpus Christi (Texas) Regional
Transportation Authority; and other program alumni who have
applied their overseas experience to the opening of new transit
horizons for their communities.
Return To International Focus
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