Class of 2015 Presentations and Papers

What is the CEO’s vision for transit in the future? What do they think are some of the best practices to achieve that vision? By 2035, population growth will greatly increase the number of people who rely on transit; congestion will continue to increase and climate change demands greener transportation choices. Using long-range plans and interviews from CEOs, this project explores strategies and recommendations that can maximize the benefits of tranist for future generations. The paper provides some examples of what we can do now to ensure a lasting, positive impact on the next generation of transit riders. It also envisions some scenarios of what life would be like with and without transit to show how essential transit is to achieving quality of life, economic, and environmental goals for the future.

• ​Team 1 Report (PDF)
  
• Team 1 Presentation (PDF)

• ​Kenyatta Lee
  Senior Manager, Technology and Innovation
  Jacksonville Transportation Authority

• Roland Cordero
  Director of Maintenance and Vehicle Technology
  Foothill Transit​ ​   

• Travis Engstrom (Team Coordinator)
  Manager of Information Technology
  San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit      

• Kimberly Williams
  Deputy Chief of Procurement Officer
  Metro Transit Authority of Harris County

• Sidney Dimanche (not pictured)
  Manager of Systems Assurance
  Bombardier – Airtran JFK

• ​Team 2 Report (PDF)
  
• Team 2 Presentation (PDF)

Team members, pictured left to right:

 

• Ehren Bingaman
  Director, Transportation Planning
  HTNB

• David Cangany
  General Manager
  South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (TRANSPO)

• Kirstin Baer-Harding
  Advertising and Marketing Manager
  Des Moines Area Rapid Transit

• Dino DiPietro (Team Coordinator)
  Senior Manager of Systems Development
  MTA – Long Island Rail Road

As an Executive in the Transit Industry, who do you want to uphold and advance your future strategies and goals? Given the increased focus on building and promoting Transit as an important cultural and economic necessity across all regions and demographics, it is important for Executives within the Transit industry to “Discover and Cultivate the New Champion of Transit.” The future of transit, its growth, investment, preservation, and integration in thriving transportation networks requires the development of Champions both internal and external to your organizations. While this is not a new story, what is new are the evolving faces and roles of transit champions. As we look forward to the new trends of transit we can already see the sustainable results that are in progress of being achieved. Through interviews with industry leaders and an analysis of common traits of successful transit organizations and the innovative results that are now being produced, Leadership APTA 2015 looks forward to presenting a toolkit to support the Discovery and Cultivation of the next generation of Transit Champions.

• ​Team 3 Report (PDF)
• Team 3 Presentation (PDF)

Team 4: Collaborative Mobility

Team members, pictured left to right:

• Nathan Macek
  Principal Consultant
  WSP – Parsons Brinckerhoff

• Maureen  Lichtner
  Director of City Schedules and Support Services
  Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

• Jaqueline Bruce
  Assistant General Manager, Business Process Improvement, Department of Buses
  MTA New York City Transit

• Lloyd Sullivan (Team Co-Coordinator)
  Section Manager, Project Management and Business Intelligence
  Orange County Transportation Authority

• Nadine Lee (Team Co-Coordinator)
  Project Manager, FasTracks program
  Regional Transportation District – Denver

• Ryan Adams
  Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development
  Keolis Transit America

The changing landscape of transportation, fueled by fast-paced innovations in the technology sector and the emergence of new mobility options, presents opportunities for transit executives to lead the expansion of mobility in ways that agencies have never before contemplated. The Collaborative Mobility project empowers transit executives to promote and pursue a new vision for maximizing mobility and accessibility through collaboration with other public agencies, non-traditional service providers, and technology companies. The project cites case studies exemplifying a variety of approaches to maximize system capacity, identifying common success factors and lessons learned. The study also recommends strategies to mitigate the challenges and obstacles that limit agencies’ abilities to pursue partnership opportunities. Ultimately, the study advises public transportation executives to embrace and capitalize on emerging delivery models to create seamless network connectivity through partnerships with flexible, on-demand services.

• Team 4 Report (PDF)
• Team 4 Presentation (PDF)

Team 5: “People Ready” – Workforce Planning: Maximizing the New Reality of Revolving Workforce

Team members, pictured left to right, top then bottom: 

• Maurice Bell
  Assistant Vice President, Bus Operations
  Dallas Area Rapid Transit

• James Bradford (Team Co-Coordinator)
  Chief Operating Officer
  Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority

• Heather Stafford Smith
  Director, Human Resources
  Intercity Transit

• Ana Rivas
  Superintendent, Bus Transportation
  San Mateo County Transit District

• Jeffrey Flynn (Team Co-Coordinator)
  Senior Operations Manager – Transit Management Division
  San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency – Muni

Team “People Ready” is sharing the industry’s most successful strategies for executive managers everywhere for cutting edge onboarding of new employees, maximizing employee engagement, and optimizing employee retention. According to a study from the Transportation Learning Center, nearly half of the transit industry’s current employees with be retiring over the next ten (10) years while the transit workforce is expected to expand by almost forty percent (40%) in the same period! This means we’ll need to hire and train roughly ninety percent (90%) of today’s total transit workforce in Public Transportation just to maintain and break even by 2025! Are you ready to embrace this reality? How well have you really stress-tested your organization to withstand this revolving workforce? As CEOs and GMs the success of your agency ultimately depends on the people you employ. Team “People Ready” surveyed many transit agencies who shared their challenges and the impact employee turnover has had to the agency’s identity, growth, brand, and most of all, their customers. Our team will share our research, which will provide valuable resources for GMs and CEOs while revealing the current trends and best practices within the industry for effective strategies in talent acquisition, hiring and maximizing employee engagement.

• Team 5 Report (PDF)
• Team 5 Presentation (PDF)