This week, we give you Part 2 of our special CEO roundtable recorded live at APTA TRANSform Conference and EXPO. The conversation picks up with host and producer Paul Comfort asking the panel what are the big projects they have going on. From Dave Dech's trash clearing to Coree Cuff Lonergan's just culture, each CEO highlights an essential aspect of public transit today. The discussion continues with each CEO talking about the biggest trends facing the industry, including payments, apps, transit...
Nov 08, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Welcome to our 6th anniversary and the start of season 7 of Transit Unplugged. Host Paul Comfort has a special opening reflecting on the past 270+ episodes so far and what lies ahead down the road. In our interview this week, we have Randy Clarke, GM and CEO of WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) https://www.wmata.com/ , chatting with Paul from his new LEED Platinum office building. In his first year as CEO, Randy has: fixed safety issues with his trains improved frequency inc...
Nov 01, 2023•34 min•Season 7Ep. 1
What's it like being the CEO of a transit agency? Paul Comfort asked a panel of five CEOs who've been on the job for about a year what it's been like, what's surprised them the most, and why they love working in transit. Listen to this lively and engaging panel featuring Coree Cuff Lonergan, GM of Broward County Transit, Dave Dech, Executive Dir of Tri-Rail, Dottie Watkins, CEO of CapMetro, Frank White III, CEO of KCATA, and Tiffany Homler Hawkins, CEO of LYNX where they candidly share their exp...
Oct 25, 2023•37 min•Season 6Ep. 52
This week Paul Chats with Carl Sedoryk, CEO of Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) https://mst.org/ , about his jazz-themed BRT line, applying their new vision statement to serve the people who need transit the most better, and how his practice of martial arts makes him a better leader. Monterey-Salinas Transit is in an interesting place, geographically and within the larger transit industry. Nestled on the Pacific coast and the Salinas Valley, Carl serves a unique community from tourists to farm wor...
Oct 18, 2023•24 min•Season 6Ep. 51
This week we focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in public transit with Eve Machol, Director of Aviation and Transportation Strategy at Microsoft, and Renee Autumn Ray, Senior Director of Transportation Policy at Hayden AI https://www.hayden.ai/ . As both our guests point out, AI in transit isn't new; we've been using AI for years, but with recent attention on generative AI tools like ChatGPT, AI is the hot topic on everyone's minds. Eve and Renee talk with Paul and our Producer/Editor Tris Hu...
Oct 11, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 50
This week Paul talks with Laura Hendricks, CEO of Transdev US https://transdevna.com/ , about her career starting as a driver at FedEx, Trandev's global expertise transitioning to zero emissions, and how Transdev combined with First Transit brings more cohesive transit solutions to transit agencies. As the largest private transportation contractor in the world, Transdev is uniquely positioned to apply its global expertise to a wide range of transit needs and challenges. From zero emissions to sc...
Oct 04, 2023•36 min•Season 6Ep. 49
This week join Paul in conversation with Diana Kotler, CEO of the Anaheim Transit Network https://rideart.org/ . Recorded live at APTA Tech earlier this summer, Paul and Diana connect transit, tech, and people in this engaging interview. Diana runs a very unique transit system. It's funded by businesses, but all Anaheim residents and people who work in Anaheim ride for free. Tourists coming to visit the city pay a small fare to ride all day on a completely cashless system. And the goal of the sy...
Sep 27, 2023•28 min•Season 6Ep. 48
This week Mike Noland, President and GM of the South Shore Line https://mysouthshoreline.com/ , joins Paul to talk about commuter rail in the Midwest. The South Shore Line connects Northwestern Indiana with Chicago. This busy corridor is used by commuters and casual riders heading into the Windy City for work or fun. Mike talks about the South Shore Line, how he's adapting to changing ridership, and his double-tracking project to expand capacity and flexibility on the line. Commuter rail is in a...
Sep 20, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 47
This week Paul continues his look back at his time working at Yellow Transportation with the former CEO of Yellow, Veolia, and Transdev, Mark Joseph (now CEO of Mobitas Advisors-- https://www.mobitasadvisors.com/ ). Mark is a true leader and visionary in the transit industry. Mark recounts how he took a failing taxi business and created a business that would be a leader in public transit contracting. Mark reflects on the future of transit, talking about workforce challenges, the opportunities (a...
Sep 13, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 46
Transdev is the largest public transportation contractor in the world, and it got its start in North America with the acquisition of Yellow Transportation. Paul worked for Yellow Transportation for a number of years and today we bring you a special reunion show with a few of the people Paul worked with there. Paul and his guests, John Duncan, Jeff Barnett, and Peggy Maher, worked together at Yellow during the early days of building the company from a regional taxi, limousine, and charter bus com...
Sep 06, 2023•40 min•Season 6Ep. 45
When Paul talked with Seleta Reynolds of LA Metro, one of the places she planned to visit ahead of the Olympics in LA was Brazil. She wanted to see first-hand how Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) works and helped move people in Rio for the Olympics. This week we have the second of our Brazil-focused episodes with Tula Vandaramatos, President of the Passenger Transport Association, where Tula talks more about Brazil's unique public transport system and how BRT is helping move people faster through some of...
Aug 30, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 44
This week on the show Paul chats with repeat guest Dimas Barreira about Brazil's unique way of organizing public transportation, innovations in his own city of Fortaleza, and his approach to reducing carbon emissions in his region. We kick off the episode though with Dimas retelling the story of his life-changing motorcycle accident where he was dead for 40 minutes and spent 4 days in a coma! This episode was recorded during Paul's recent trip to Brazil where he met with industry leaders, attend...
Aug 23, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 43
This week we're staying in sunny Florida and moving down to Broward County to hear what Broward County Transit (BCT) CEO Coree Cuff Lonergan has in store for the people of her county. As the new CEO she's leading the charge on an amazing 15-year plan to add 200 miles of new transit service to the county's transit infrastructure. Over the next decade and a half Broward County will get: High-frequency bus service Commuter rail Light rail Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Coree is starting with high-frequenc...
Aug 16, 2023•27 min•Season 6Ep. 42
This week Paul has two great interviews for you: John Slot, Chief Innovation Officer of LYNX in Central Florida, and Rudy Vidal, Managing Director of Vidal Consulting Group . Both interviews center on building strong, emotional connections with riders, so they choose transit over other options. John Slot leads a team responsible for testing and piloting innovations in and around the Orlando area. From sustainable buses to new payment options to bring fare equity to everyone, John's team makes su...
Aug 09, 2023•37 min•Season 6Ep. 41
This week we bring you our final segment from the UTIP Global Summit held earlier this summer in Barcelona. In this dynamic CEO Roundtable recorded live at the summit, we hear from Dorval Carter, President of the Chicago Transit Authority , Paul Skoutelas, President and CEO of APTA , Carla Purcell, CEO of Yarra Trams , and Jeremy Yap, Deputy Chief Executive of LTA Singapore . This panel continues the discussions started in the first CEO Roundtable with a focus on innovation across the industry, ...
Aug 02, 2023•50 min•Season 6Ep. 40
We have a jam-packed episode for you this week. We lead off with David S. Kim, formerly the Secretary of Transportation for the State of California, now Senior Vice President & Principal, National Transportation Policy and Multimodal Strategy at WSP . Paul and David talk about two of the most pressing issues facing public transit today: finding alternatives to gas taxes to fund transportation and the transition to EVs. For decades federal and state/provincial taxes on gas and diesel have fun...
Jul 26, 2023•40 min•Season 6Ep. 39
This week we bring you the first of two special CEO Roundtables recorded live at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona. This first panel features: Thierry Mallet,CEO of Transdev Anjes Tjarks, Minister of Transport in Hamburg Laura Shoaf, CEO of the West Midlands Combined Authority Ruben Leonor, Strategy & Quality Director at Renfe Paul leads this all-star lineup of transit leaders through discussions of today's changing ridership, funding and fares, the transition to zero emissions, and what t...
Jul 19, 2023•54 min•Season 6Ep. 38
Every week we bring you the top transit thought leaders from around the world, and this week is no exception. Recorded while at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona, Paul sits in conversation with Dr. Kaan Yildizgöz, Senior Director of Membership and Global Operations at UITP . Kaan and Paul dive into one of the most important topics facing public transport today--helping people rely less on personal cars for regular travel. In much of the world, taxis are integrated into the transit system so pe...
Jul 12, 2023•40 min•Season 6Ep. 37
We wrap up our special look at Canadian transit tech innovation with three great innovators in the transit tech landscape. We lead off with Paul in conversation with Jean-Pierre Baracat, VP and Partner at Cysca Technologies , talking about the need for enhanced operational cybersecurity for the vehicles and systems that power transit. Then Paul talks with Tim Bigwood, GM of Trapeze Workforce Management , about the need for agencies to have a single source of truth for all their safety-related da...
Jul 05, 2023•42 min•Season 6Ep. 36
This week we kick off the first of two episodes focused on Canadian transportation tech and innovation. In this episode, Margaret Cullen, Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate in Florida, joins Paul with Niklas Kviselius, Sr. Manager Innovation Management and New Mobility at TransLink , and Colin Lavery, Chief Growth Officer at Asset Market . On the show, the guests about the planning needed for the tsunami of EVs coming over the next several years and how agencies need to be more proact...
Jun 28, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 35
Listen to this sneak peek at part one of our two-part series on Canadian Tech Innovations in Transit. This segment features Paul Comfort with Niklas Kviselius of TransLink and Colin Lavery of Asset Market talking about the role of AI in transit.
Jun 23, 2023•7 min
After spending the bulk of her 20 year career in public transport in Montreal at STM , Renée Amilcar has been at the helm of OC Transpo in Ottawa for almost two years and leading the effort to move OC Transpo to zero emissions by 2036. But that's only the tip of the iceberg for this dynamic transit leader. Join Paul in conversation with Renée in an interview recorded at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona the day before she took office as the President of UITP. OC Transpo serves the City of Otta...
Jun 21, 2023•29 min•Season 6Ep. 34
We have two very complementary episodes this week on Transit Unplugged. We start off with Alex Esposito, Co-founder and CEO of Circuit , who took a passion for solving traffic problems and turned it into a business. In our leadership segment Paul talks with Marinma Dorado , Founder and Passion Catalyst of Mindset Results , about connecting the things you're passionate about with your work. On demand transit is an innovation born out of a simple premise: just because it isn't cost-effective to ru...
Jun 14, 2023•35 min•Season 6Ep. 33
This week we continue our series focusing on LA Metro with Paul talking with LA Metro COO Conan Cheung. Conan was originally a transit planner and this focus on details and connecting with people gives him a unique approach to managing his agency. In his discussion with Paul, Conan gets into three issues facing all agencies right now: the transition to zero emissions, improving safety on the system and building a strong workforce. Like many previous guests and agencies, Conan talks about LA Metr...
Jun 07, 2023•34 min•Season 6Ep. 32
Plus how to match your strengths to your job with Josh Cohen Welcome to the first of two special episodes featuring leaders from the second largest transit system in the U.S.-- LA Metro ! In this first interview, Paul chats with Seleta Reynolds, Chief Innovation Officer and interim Chief People Officer at LA Metro, about planning for the future of LA Metro including the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics. Seleta reflects on how to build a lasting legacy for Los Angeles from transit...
May 31, 2023•34 min•Season 6Ep. 31
This week we're continuing our tour of Western Canada with Martin Bean, CEO of Roam Transit in Banff, AB. Roam Transit, like many transit agencies in tourist destinations, has a dual role. One is to get the residents of the Bow Valley from Canmore to Banff (who all ride for free by the way) where they need to go, the other is helping the over four million visitors who come to Banff National Park and Lake Louise each year explore the region (and leave their cars behind). Beyond transit passes for...
May 24, 2023•27 min•Season 6Ep. 30
This week, we have two intersecting interviews covering customer experience and innovation in transit. We start off with Paul talking with Aaron Weinstein of Transit CX about creating customer experience (CX) programs within transit agencies. We continue with Brandon Bartneck, GM of Edison Manufacturing and Engineering and the host of the Future of Mobility podcast, talking about transit innovation and manufacturing. Aaron talks about building a customer experience mindset within transit agencie...
May 17, 2023•38 min•Season 6Ep. 29
Tom Hingson knows transit inside and out. Learn how the City of Everett, WA tackling battery-electric range issues with inductive charging. And announcing Paul's newest book--Comfort Food. We return to Snohomish County this week to the City of Everett (and county seat) to learn about this network within a network from Everett Transit Director Tom Hingson. With a transit career spanning 40 years, Tom has seen it all, from behind the wheel to behind the scenes as a transit leader. Everett is one o...
May 10, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 28
We continue our discussion on the transition to zero emissions with Doran Barnes, CEO of Foothill Transit, and Karl Gnadt, Managing Director of the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District, talking with Paul about their hydrogen fuel cell-powered bus fleets. Doran currently has the largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses in North America with 20 and growing to over thirty in the future. Karl manages one of a few agencies that generates its own hydrogen for its fleet of buses. Together t...
May 03, 2023•40 min•Season 6Ep. 27
Welcome to the 250th episode of Transit Unplugged! What a tremendous milestone and we're only just getting started! We have big plans for the show--the podcast and TV--and we know you'll like what we have up our sleeves. This week Paul is in conversation with Community Transit CEO, Ric Ilgenfritz from Snohomish County, WA. Listen as Ric and Paul talk about not only serving the diverse needs of Snohomish County but also the Bus Rapid Transit plans he has put into motion to get people where they w...
Apr 26, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 26
