The Transit Authority

Have you struggled with how to build community at the same time you are planning, designing, building a project? Understanding of the role and import of transportation in peoples' lives has evolved, and transportation professionals need a new frame and methodology to help them successfully meet and balance multiple vague and conflicting goals.  Transportation projects we plan and deliver must be informed by the needs of the people and communities they are intended to serve.  This edition of The Transit Authority will feature a conversation with Lynn Peterson, author of the new book Roadways for People:  Rethinking Transportation Planning and Engineering.  Lynn will describe how the well-being of communities and the people who live there is dependent of the planning, community involvement, and goal-setting that goes into the front end of transportation projects.   Lynn is currently serving as President of Oregon Metro Council. 

In this episode, we discuss shifting trends in mobility and how a transit organization can and must adjust to serve the public with guest Rolando Cruz, Chief Transportation Officer at Culver CityBus in California.

This podcast highlights Sound Transit's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion and anti-racism. Hear from Sound Transit CEO, Peter Rogoff and their Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Jonté Robinson.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we sat down with Alva Carrasco, President of Latinos in Transit and Cindy Chavez, Board Member at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to discuss their pathways to leadership, how to foster inclusion and equity, and advancing Latinos in the public transit industry, and a whole lot more.

As we celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month, we sat down with Dawn Distler, Chief Executive Officer at METRO RTA in Akron, Ohio, to discuss equity, inclusion, and diversity in the public transit industry. 

As part of APTA's ongoing celebration of Women History Month, we sat down with India Birdsong, the General Manager and CEO of the Greater Cleveland RTA, to discuss her leadership journey and leading in a time of crisis.

In this episode of The Transit Authority, APTA’s official podcast, we talk Positive Train Control (PTC) and the past, present, and future of commuter rail with Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Executive Officer of Metrolink in California.

From autonomous buses to fleet electrification to new incremental technological changes -- what will the bus of the future look and operate like? Our latest episode of APTA’s official podcast, The Transit Authority, explores this topic with MJ Maynard, Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

How safe is it to ride transit amid the coronavirus pandemic? Our latest episode of APTA’s official podcast, The Transit Authority, explores this topic with guests Sam Schwartz and Daniel Schack, authors of the recently published report Public Transit and COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Research and Best Practices, which examined global data and research to determine whether there is a correlation between riding transit and the transmission of COVID-19.

Listen to the latest episode of The Transit Authority, APTA’s official podcast, with our guest Tim Chan, Group Manager -- Station Area Planning at the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, who discusses initiatives and strategies to address homelessness in public transit, with special focus on COVID-19 and its impact on the issue.

Listen to the latest episode of The Transit Authority, APTA's official podcast. In this episode, we we explore the changes in political organizing and power in the environmental justice movement and how these changes impact the future of public transportation with guest Dr. Michael Mendez, assistant professor of Environmental Planning and Policy at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Climate Change from the Streets: How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement.

Listen to the latest episode of The Transit Authority, APTA’s official podcast. In this episode, Christian Kent, principal of Christian T. Kent, Transit Management Consulting, LLC and chair of APTA's Access Committee discusses the impact of COVID-19 on paratransit service and also shares his views on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the 30th anniversary of this landmark legislation.

In this episode, Randy Clarke, President & CEO of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin, Texas, discusses how his agency is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Clarke also shares information on Project Connect, a bold transit plan for Austin that will be put before voters in November.

Listen to the latest episode of The Transit Authority, APTA’s official podcast. In this episode, Doug Kelsey, General Manager of TriMet in Portland, Oregon, shares his agency’s pragmatic and pioneering approaches to dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. Kelsey also shares his views on how public transit may look post-COVID.

This episode features APTA Chair Nuria I. Fernandez, general manager and CEO, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, CA. She speaks with APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. Fernandez talks about what her system is doing now during the COVID-19 outbreak and what public transit systems will need to do to ensure the safety and security of riders when full operations resume. She also discusses the Mobility Recovery and Restoration Task Force that she initiated.