Transit Unplugged

Latest Episodes:

Michelle Bouchard — Caltrain Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

Stretching from San Francisco to Gilroy (the garlic capital of the U.S.), Caltrain follows the spine of the Bay Area peninsula and straight through Silicon Valley. Having been around since the 1860s, Silicon Valley grew up around Caltrain. And unlike most commuter rail lines, Caltrain doesn't serve a single city center with traffic going one way in the morning and back in the afternoon; people travel up and down the peninsula in both directions getting to work. This is, as Michelle says, a blessing and a curse. She needs to plan for a constant flow of people north and south, no matter what time of day.

The pandemic has had its challenges for Caltrain, but Michelle and her team have adapted service throughout the day, nights, and weekends. Caltrain is coming back, but like all commuter rail lines, no one is quite sure what that's going to look like long term. One thing is for sure--electric trains! The first four trainsets have arrived ahead of full revenue service in 2024 and the trains look pretty amazing.

Learn more in this week's Transit Unplugged In-Depth.

Next week on Transit Unplugged News and Views Paul's guest will be Lisa Walton, CTO of SFMTA.

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter and if you have a question or comment, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Suhair Al Khatib — Washington Metro Rail Safety Commission Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

Suhair Al Khatib knows safety. After years at Baltimore MTA, he's now a Commissioner for Maryland on the Washington Metro Rail Safety Commission and his job is simple. Keep passengers safe. Safety isn't just about ticking boxes or enforcing rules, it's a mindset. It's knowing that putting safety first sometimes means disrupting service. Sometimes it means inconveniencing the traveling public. Because if you don't make those tough calls and let things slide, bad things can happen.

Join Paul and Suhair in talking about safety including Suhair's plans that won awards and are a model for how to make repairs with the least amount of disruption possible.

Also in this episode:

Updates from Paul on upcoming events
Transit news of the week
Mike's Minute with Mike Bismeyer
And Julie Gates sitting in for Elea Carey

Tune in and enjoy.

Next week we have Michelle Bouchard Acting Executive Director of CalTrain to talk about the seventh largest commuter rail line in the U.S.

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter and if you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Paul Comfort, Bacarra Mauldin, and Alex Wiggins on Diversity and Inclusion Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

Our guest host Julie Gates, award-winning broadcaster and Director of Marketing at Trapeze interviews Paul about his upcoming book Conversations on Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation. They talk about why he wrote it, what it's about, what you'll learn from it, and most importantly what it means to Paul. We also hear from Bacarra Mauldin of MARTA reading excerpts from her forward to the book and Alex Wiggins of NORTA on the practical things he's doing for diversity and inclusion in New Orleans.

Paul's book will be unveiled on October 10th in the Vontas booth at APTA TRANSform. At APTA Paul will be giving away and signing copies of the book. Several of the contributors to the book will also be on hand to sign your copy and chat. You'll be able to buy the book shortly thereafter from all the places you get books.

Next week Paul chats with Suhair Al Khatib from Metro Rail in Washington D.C.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Steve Young — VIA Metropolitan Transit Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

We've all stood at a stop wondering when the next bus will arrive. And a lot of us have wondered why a bus didn't go where we thought it would because of a detour or closure. These are not good feelings as a rider. Steve Young, VP of Technology and Innovation at VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, TX knows a thing or two about data and customers. He and his team have pushed the limits of technology to give his customers the absolutely latest information about routes and buses.

VIA riders always know where a bus is, and route changes are updated every day so your planned trips go as planned. It's these little things that have given VIA an off the charts NPS (Net Promoter Score) rating from its customers. Hear how Steve dug into the technology and data so his team could deliver these amazing results.

Also this week on Transit Unplugged News and Views:

This week's transit news
Messaging Minute with Elea Carey
Mike's Minute with Mike Bismeyer
Update from Paul on where he'll be over the next few months, including where you can get a copy of his new book coming out in October.

And don't forget this Friday we'll have a special episode of Transit Unplugged TV from APTA Tech all about ... transit technology!

Next week on Transit Unplugged In-Depth we have Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Manchester U.K.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

David Scorey – CEO Keolis North America Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

David Scorey leads Keolis North America working with agencies across the U.S. and Canada. From starting in the trenches in the UK's rail sector to managing the MBTA commuter rail contract, and now CEO of Keolis North America, David keeps his sights on what's important to agencies and riders.

David looks at transit holistically, like how he views accessibility:

"When I talk about accessibility, many people think of step-free access, you know, elevators and things like that. And of course, that's an important part of it, but accessibility is more than that to me; it's about what we can do to take away the mystique of every journey and make it again, as easy as possible for people to travel and encourage that travel."

David leverages Keolis worldwide to both learn from other regions, but also help other regions learn from North American examples too. The Keolis KPI room is a key part of keeping sight of what's important to riders--safe, efficient journeys--and agencies--On Time Performance, budgets, and improving the transit system overall. The KPI room gives everyone at Keolis, regardless of where in the world they work, a north star for what they are working on.

Next week on Transit Unplugged News and Views, Paul is talking with Steve Young, Chief Innovation Officer at VIA in San Antonio, and technology and innovation at his agency and beyond.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Steve Martingano — Denver RTD Transit Police Aug 24, 2022

Show notes

Six years ago Steve Martingano challenged conventions with his innovative policing strategy at Denver RTD by pairing officers with mental health workers. He saw a lot of police interactions weren't criminal issues, but medical issues. People needed help. They needed medical care. They needed support. They needed housing. Steve talks with Paul about how after six years he's expanding his efforts beyond medical and mental health support to housing and social service access. Steve talks about changing mindsets about the causes and solutions of issues on transit and how it's positively affected the region.

Learn how it started, where it is today, and how he continues to help those most vulnerable in his community.

We also hear in the news segment about the billions of dollars of funding awarded for low and no emissions plus other infrastructure investments.

Elea Carey talks about how to measure the effectiveness of your communications plans and Mike Bismeyer checks in on great work helping others in Orlando, FL.

Next week Paul is talking with David Scorey of Keolis about contracting in public transit.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email info@transitunplugged.

Monica Backmon — Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

Monica Backmon, CEO of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, has a unique job in the transit world. Her agency plans and funds transportation projects as small as traffic calming and as big as Bus Rapid Transit. And she does it across cities, towns, and counties in Northern Virginia. While often compared to a Municipal Planning Organization, NVTA has no close comparators in the United States. Her responsibility is broad and so is her mandate to help move people across her region. From supporting a town of 123 people to cities of millions with planning and funding, Monica juggles the needs of a diverse set of people in one of the fastest growing regions of the U.S.

Her extraordinary vision gives helps with diverse needs and incomes. Those for whom transit is a necessity and those who could use something else. Her goal is to improve transit and the region for a brighter, greener future through better, smarter technology.

If you have a comment, question, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email info@transitunplugged.com.

April Rai CEO COMTO Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

Paul met April Rai, CEO of COMTO (Conference of Minority Transportation Officials) at the recent COMTO conference in Miami. He sat down with April to talk about the origins of COMTO, the challenges transit is facing today, and her vision for how we'll solve them.

On Transit Unplugged News and Views this week we also have:

Transit news of the week
Elea Carey's messaging minute
Mike Bismeyer on leadership
Updates from Paul about his latest book about diversity and inclusion in transit

Next week on Transit Unplugged In-Depth our guest will be Monica Backmon, CEO of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

We'd like to thank all our listeners who nominated us for a Podcast Award; we made the cut! Transit Unplugged is in the voting round and we'll hear the results in September.

If you have a question, comment, or would like to be on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com; and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter on our website!

Henry Li — SacRT Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

This week Paul talks with a guest we've wanted to get on the show for a long, long time. When Henry Li arrived in Sacramento, the agency needed to restore both public trust in the system and financial stability for the agency. In his 7 year tenure so far he's launched the first microtransit pilot in the U.S., made the system free for kids in grades K-12, and ensured there was pay equity across his agency. His efforts have clearly paid off, Henry was named APTA CEO of the year in 2019 and SacRT was named APTA agency of the year in 2021.

In his career that has taken him from Atlanta to Jacksonville and now Sacramento, Henry has shown he knows how to create a transit system that lifts his entire community up and provides opportunities for all. When he bought new light rail cars for his system, they were built at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, giving his region better transit and an economic boost.

While SacRT is still bouncing back from the pandemic, his microtransit solution continues to be successful and filling gaps in his 100 square mile service area. Listen to this conversation and learn about the microtransit solution, light rail, and the new payment systems Henry has brought to his agency. Learn more about SacRT on their website.

Next week on Transit Unplugged News and View, April Rei, CEO of COMTO will be joining Paul talking about the work she does supporting minorities in transit leadership.

Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter to get all the latest about Transit Unplugged. If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on Transit Unplugged, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

Alva Carrasco and Herold Humphrey — Latinos In Transit Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Alva Carrasco and Herold Humphrey are on a mission. A mission to increase the visibility, opportunities, and voice of Latinos in public transit. And not just when talking about issues, but more importantly in leadership positions to help the communities they serve. Alva and Herold talk with Paul about the origins of Latinos In Transit from a casual group of people working in the same industry to an organized force to encourage and support Latinos in their careers.

From advocacy and mentorship to scholarships and networking, Alva Carrasco, President, and Herold Humphrey, Vice President, have a vision to ensure Latinos have a seat at the decision-making table, the boardroom, and C-suite. Listen to their story on this episode of Transit Unplugged News and Views.

Also on the show:

Paul covers the transit news of the week
Elea Carey talks about back to school messaging
Mike Bismeyer on fostering the next generation of leaders
Paul talks about the Transit Center report on the four things needed to help solve the bus operator crisis.

Next week we have Henry Li, CEO of the Sacramento Regional Transit District on the show. It's not too late to nominate Transit Unplugged at the Podcast Awards in the Government and Organizations category. Nominations close July 30!

If have a question, comment, or be a guest on Transit Unplugged email us at info@transitunplugged.com.