Podcasts about Maryland Transit Administration

Holly Arnold, Administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration, talks about managing rising ridership while state budget cuts seem inevitable. Plus, news on the Red Line.Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

When you think of big city transit agencies you think about Boston, New York, Toronto, LA, San Francisco...maybe not Mississauga, Ontario. It might surprise you that this city of one million people supports a transit system with over 500 buses and serves as the essential connector between cities East, West, and North (South is Lake Ontario). Mississauga Transit (or MiWay) helps people in Brampton, Oakville, and Toronto get to jobs and school.But they seem to be doing something right because they've increased ridership 27% over the last year and are at 109% of their 2019 ridership levels (let's stop saying the "p" word). Eve Wiggins recently took the helm of MiWay after almost a decade at the TTC and Metrolinx and before that a decade at the Toronto Airport Authority. Eve certainly knows how to get people where they want to go, in the air or on the ground.While she's only been at MiWay a short time, she has a big vision and big plans for the agency to grow and expand over the next five years.But you can't execute your vision on your own. You need to lead people and clear the roadblocks in their way. Eve subscribes to the CASTLE (Courage, Authenticity, Truthfulness, Love, and Effectiveness) leadership philosophy and you will want to listen to how she describes her leadership style. It's pretty inspiring just listening to how she approaches getting things done and relying on others when she knows she doesn't have all the answers.Coming up next week we have Holly Arnold, CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration about her career at the MTA and the massive projects she has on the go there.We're excited to announce a special Transit Unplugged live CEO round table. Hosted by Dr. Khan you'll Legos at UITP MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition on February the 29th at the Trapeze booth. We'll have guests, including UITP President, Renee Amilcar and the Director General of the Integrated Transport Center in Abu Dhabi, Abdulla Al Marzooqi.The MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 2024 is the premier event focusing on sustainable urban mobility solutions in the MENA region. It takes place in Dubai from February 28th to March 1st, the event is co-organized by UITP and Dubai's RTA.The MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition has been a leading platform for showcasing advancements in public transport since 2007.If you have a question or comment, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo and these fine folks:Paul Comfort, host and producerJulie Gates, executive producerTris Hussey, editor and writerTatyana Mechkarova, social mediaFollow us on social media: LinkedIn - Twitter - Instagram - FacebookSign up for the Transit Unplugged Newsletter0:00 What's the secret sauce to increasing ridership 27% in one year?00:03 Introduction and Overview01:44 The Success of Mississauga's Transit System04:27 The Secret Sauce: How Mississauga Grew Ridership12:01 Eve's Leadership Philosophy and Approach19:00 The Future of Transit in...

We welcome Paul Comfort of Modaxo and Transit Unplugged to this week's episode of Speaking to Influence where he shares stories from his experiences running some of the world's largest transportation and transportation technology organizations through potential powder-keg situations and refocused on new ‘north stars' of safety, efficiency, reliability, and world-class customer service.   In this episode you will learn: How Paul, the newly appointed head of the Maryland Transit Administration, faced a crisis during the Baltimore riots, took immediate action, implemented new standards, demanded accountability, and gained the respect of the senior leadership team. The difference between skills and abilities, highlighting the successful hire of a director of bus operations who had transferable skills and knowledge from a different background. The favorite parts of Paul's work– the significance of creating a fun and engaging environment for the team, such as organizing MTA Day at the Orioles and bus rodeos.   24 Hour Challenge: Sit down and take an inventory of yourself. Analyze: 1) what you're good at (what are your skills?) and 2) what do you enjoy/what are your passions? Focus on where they intersect: your strengths, rather than focusing on improving your weaknesses.   About Paul Comfort: Paul Comfort serves as SVP and Chief Customer Officer for Modaxo Americas, one of the world's largest transportation technology companies, and is host of the industry public transportation podcast, Transit Unplugged, heard in over 100 countries, and the new YouTube sensation Transit Unplugged TV show. Paul has authored three Amazon #1 bestselling books: “Public Transportation– From the Tom Thumb Railroad to Hyperloop and Beyond” and 2022's “Conversations on Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation”.  His most recent bestseller is a cookbook – “Comfort Food”-- featuring recipes, stories, and photos from over 30 top public transportation leaders around the world. Paul also serves as Executive Director of the North American Transit Alliance.  Mr. Comfort is an attorney, popular keynote speaker, and the former CEO of one of America's largest transit systems, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) in Baltimore. He has also served as an elected County Commissioner and County Administrator for two Maryland counties. Mr. Comfort is the recipient of the U.S.A's top individual transportation honor: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) “President's Award”.   You can connect with Paul in the following ways: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcomfort/ Website: https://www.futureofpublictransportation.com/ Podcast: https://transitunplugged.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@transitunplugged/featured   You can connect with Dr. Laura Sicola in the following ways: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlaurasicola LinkedIn Business Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vocal-impact-productions/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VocalImpactProductions Facebook: Vocal Impact Productions Twitter: @LauraSicola Instagram: @VocalImpactProductions Website: https://vocalimpactproductions.com/ Laura's Online Course: virtualinfluence.today   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"I'm living by what I believe, and what I've learned, and how I interpret it." // Avonte Jones is an Administrative Assistant in the College Counseling Office at Gilman School. Before starting at Gilman in 2019, Avonte held similar positions at Garrison Forest School, Sinai Hospital, Maryland Transit Administration, and T. Rowe Price. // On Episode #67 of the Path to Follow Podcast, Jake and Avonte discuss dealing with loss, the new college counseling wing at Gilman School, how Avonte found Gilman, the differences Avonte sees between all-girls and all-boys academic environments, Garrison Forest School, a typical day in the life of Avonte Jones, standardized testing, growing up in Baltimore, being nominated for high school class president, handling grief, meditation and well-being practices, singing, "words to live by," and Avonte's book recommendation: 'The Bible.' // Enjoy the episode? Please follow @pathtofollowpod on all platforms. More to come! // Many thanks to Cesare Ciccanti for all of his efforts on podcast production. //

Holly Arnold, acting head of the Maryland Transit Administration, gives an update on how public transportation is recovering from the pandemic. We hear how MTA plans to reach more jobs in the Baltimore region, and improve on-time performance--about one out of four buses now runs late.Then, a new report identifies Baltimore's areas of greatest transit need. We speak with Samuel Jordan of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition. He says lagging access poses a health hazard to the city's Black and brown residents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Quinn, the new TransLink CEO, has taken on the role in the pandemic, moving from the lead role with the Maryland Transit Administration, and shares his thoughts on the many challenges of public transit in the Lower Mainland. He is in conversation with BIV publisher and editor-in-chief Kirk LaPointe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The UMB Pulse talks about outdoor locations on UMB for some mask relief (00:48), The 1807 Pearl Street Gallery (01:35), the latest updates with your Pulse Check (04:23), and opens up The UMB Pulse mailbag (28:56)!  Angela Hall, director of UMB Parking and Transportation Services, joins the show. Angela goes over how parking works (12:07), the MTA Sticker Program (15:00), the UMB shuttle (17:33), Lyft programs (18:55), EV charging stations (20:04), flat tire, lockout service, and even how to borrow an umbrella or ice scraper (21:03),  tools to remember where you parked (22:50), the bicycle commuter program (25:26) and electric scooters (25:57).

Show notes: Welcome to Comfort's Corner for May 26th, 2021. This week on Comfort's Corner we have a special newsmaker segment with board members of the North American Transit Alliance (NATA) and the International Association of Public Transit (UITP) discussing the results of a new survey on private contracting in public transit agencies. UITP completed the study on behalf of NATA and conducted interviews with transit agencies from around the world. The results of this study and give a rich, diverse, and global picture of contracting in public transit. You can download a copy of the report from the UITP website. If your agency would like a presentation about the results of the study, contact Julia Gessner at NATA. In transit news, Paul covers: Kevin Quinn appointed as the new CEO of TransLink. Greyhound Canada ceases all operations in Canada on May 13. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is taking steps to curb fraud and abuse. Union City, CA is bringing back The Flea microtransit service to BART stations. Finally, we hear from Elea Carey in her messaging minute talking about how to leverage the media for hiring at your agency. Next week we have Jeremy Yap of Public Transport, Policy and Planning for the Land Transport Authority in Singapore speaking with Paul in another segment on public transit around the world. Show transcript: Paul Comfort: This is Transit Unplugged. I'm your host Paul Comfort. Great to be with you on another edition of Comfort's Corner, where we bring you the inside story and what's happening in and around the transit industry. Today, we've got a great show for you got some big headline news stories to give you. And then after that, we'll be going into an in-depth interview with the North American Transit Alliance in UATP. It's a great interview with them. Um, and I'll tell you more about it in just a moment. We'll be talking about a new study on contracting and that'll take up most of today's show now on to headline news.  my successor as MTA Baltimore's CEO, Kevin Quinn was announced this week that the TransLink Board of Directors have appointed him Kevin Quinn to serve as the agency's next Chief Executive Officer. When we'll begin the role on July 19th and relocate to the Metro Vancouver, British Columbia area from the Baltimore, Maryland area. I've talked to Kevin multiple times this week, and very excited for him. And I know that he will be greatly missed at MTA. The TransLink folks are in for a great new CEO and, and Tony Gugliotta the Chair of TransLink's Board of Directors said. "We look forward to welcoming Kevin Quinn to the TransLink enterprise, which will benefit from his bold, innovative and customer centered approach to leadership." Congratulations to Kevin and to Holly Arnold, who will step in. She's been the deputy CEO for a while at MTA. She stepping up to be the interim CEO at the Maryland Transit Administration headquartered in Baltimore. On to some interesting news due to sustained ridership declines in Ontario and Quebec, Greyhound Canada is discontinuing all operations on its remaining routes in Ontario and Quebec and permanently closed all services in Canada effective May 13th. This announcement has no impact on Greyhound lines operation in the U S which will continue to operate cross border express service on the following routes when the border reopens Toronto to New York, Toronto to Buffalo Montreal, the New York Montreal to Boston, Vancouver to Seattle. Greyhound Lines, Inc, as a separate entity from Greyhound Canada, but a sad day when the inner-city bus Greyhound, Canada ceases to continue to operate their services. On to another interesting story out of Honolulu, Hawaii. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is beginning to take steps to institute better. Internal auditing measures through a report presented by a group within the HART Board of Directors. The Permitted Interaction Group or PIG, which consists of half the board was tasked with reviewing suggestions from the American Public Transportation Association about HART's internal auditing practices. The report that PIG published, included 10 changes that should be implemented. One of the more substantial changes would implement an outsourced independent, internal audit function for HART. And they would report their findings to the committee, which is then charged with managing follow up actions resulting from the audit. The recommendations from the PIG also suggested that the audit committee establish a fraud and corruption hotline with an independent provider. The hotline would be both for internal sources within Hart and external complaints from outside the authority.  And now onto what a big trend is happening right now. And that is micro transit. I've been telling you about it as matter of fact, if you did not listen to our last Comfort's Corner from two weeks ago, I encourage you to go back and listen to it. It in it, and the final part of the program and the future of public transportation. I gave a heartfelt description of how I thought micro transit could help us add in equity and inclusion in a lot of cities are moving toward micro transit. One of them is in Union City, California. They're reviving a micro transit program from the 1970s that uses vans to help people get to and from its industrial business district, the BART station and parts of the Dakota neighborhood. This being the 2020s though, the Flea as they call it this time around, we'll take advantage of technology to provide on demand van service. The pilot program is set to launch this week and operate for 22 months. A Bay Area quality air quality management district grant will cover most of the $818,000 costs. And the city transit funds will pick up the balance. City officials hope the Flea will fill some of the gaps in regular bus service and be flexible enough for commuters to take advantage of. And now onto our newsmaker interview on this week's Comfort's Corner. It's a great interview with a UITP, which is the International Public Transit Union, the director of strategy Sylvain Haon and members of the North American Transit Alliance, including board chair, Brad Thomas, president of First Transit. The NATA Treasurer, Matt Wood, who is COO of National Express Transit Corporation here in North America and NATA a board member, Arnaud Legrand, who is CEO of RATP Dev along with Strategic Communications Manager, Julia Gessner. I interview them. Regarding the just released UITP study on contracting and transit the value and benefits of private contracting in North America and internationally to meet passenger needs. It's a great in-depth interview. I know you'll enjoy it on this edition of Comfort's Corner. Thanks for being with us and stay safe out here. This is Transit Unplugged and I'm your host Paul Comfort. We are on a newsmaker interview with Comfort's Corner. We like to travel around the world and talk to leading transit industry leaders about breaking news. And we've got breaking news for you today because UITP, the International Transit Union had just completed a brand-new study called Contracting and Transit The Value and Benefits of Private Contracting in North America and Internationally to Meet Passenger Needs. And we have with us on the newsmaker hotline. Sylvain Haon who is Senior Director of Strategy at UITP calling us today from where Sylvain, where are you at today in the world Brussels Belgium. We also have on the on the newsmaker interview hotline, Brad Thomas, who was President of First Transit and the Chairman of the North American Transit Alliance. Brad, welcome. Brad Thomas: Good morning. Paul Comfort: And we also have Clement Michel, who is the was the CEO of Keolis North America. And it just been promoted to an amazing new job at corporate headquarters. He's now in Boston, but headed to Paris, Clement. Welcome. And tell us the name of your new title you're gonna have. Clement Michel: Oh, I don't remember. But the HR transformation so safety sustainable development and HR. Yes. Paul Comfort:  So Clementis one of the founders there's of the North American Transit Alliance, along with Brad and other CEOs. And he is on the Board and is Vice Chair, the I guess the outgoing Vice Chair, but the current Vice Chair of our organization. We also have my good friend, Matthew Wood, who is a Chief Operating Officer of National Express and the Treasurer and a Board member of North American Transit Alliance. Matt, thanks for being with us. Matthew Wood: Thank you, Paul. Good morning, everyone. Paul Comfort: Good morning. And then we also have Julia Gassner. Julia is with First Transit and she's also basically the Vice Chair of the working group North American Transit Alliance, and has really been involved in integral in this study that was just completed. That was commissioned by NATA, but conducted by an independent third-party which is UITP. Thanks for being with us today, Julia. Julia Gessner: Thanks for having me. Paul Comfort: So, let me set it up. Uh this group, actually, Brad, let me ask you first right off Brad. Why don't you tell us some about the North American Transit Alliance what your role is and why you commissioned this study? Brad Thomas: Sure. Well, first, first things first the North American Transit Alliance has made up of the six largest.  public transit contracting companies in North America. So that is First Transit, Keolis MV transportation, National Express, Transdev, and RATP Dev. And we formed the North American Transit Alliance in 2020, really to advocate for policies that promote public transportation.  We knew that together we could bring more value supporting the industry as a group than we could. As individual organizations. And I think really the, the pandemic really served as you know, serves as catalyst. It got this group together more quickly than we may have otherwise, but it really, it demonstrated the need for our organization because we were able to advocate on behalf of the private contracting industry to get the support that we needed to continue to operate. During COVID. And that was, that was obviously extremely important for these organizations and the, and all the folks who worked with us. Paul Comfort: So the, the organization to me kind of reminds me of like an airline association, right? So you've got, you know, Southwest and United and American, but they formed together to work on Capitol Hill for things that affect them and also to promote their industry, it would, would that be a good analogy? Brad Thomas: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you know, we believe sincerely in the value of private contracting. We believe this, we're passionate about it, and we believe the value that we in the value that we can bring to the market. We've got the experience, the expertise, the bandwidth, the resources, the ability to get best practices from all over the globe and deliver them to local transit authority. So we, we really do you know, we, we believe in what we can bring to the market. But prior to this, we really didn't have a group that really represented us.  and you know, we, we felt that that was important. Um, and we felt that there were a lot of issues that we needed to have a voice in. Um, and that has given us the vehicle to be able to do that. Paul Comfort: And so why did NATA choose to commission, you know, this study with UITP? Brad Thomas: Well, again, I mean, we knew the value.  that private contracting brings to the market. We knew that, but we needed to, we really needed to challenge ourselves and to bring in what we felt. It important that we bring in a third party to kind of confirm what we believe. Um, and we've contacted UITP. We talked to them about the best way to do that and what we kind of would be set. What we settled on was. Looking at private contracting around the globe, going all over the world to see the different models that are used throughout the rest of the world and to talk to the customer, talk to the agencies and, and to get their perspective on private contracting or private contractors bring to their market. And ultimately the study, I mean, I think it's an amazing study. And I think it was you know, tremendous that the findings in it are tremendous. The ideas in it are just, you know, really amazing. We got we got folks from all over the world to talk about their experience and ultimately now in North America, we can look at those expand. There were people from North America, too, in the, in, in the study. So. People and people can look at the study and see what we're doing here in North America, what's happening in the rest of the world. And now we can kind of look at it and say, you know, where what other things could we be doing? What other models could be using? What other, what other ideas should we be bringing to North America from the rest of the world? And, and, you know, what might work in my community better than maybe, you know, how I'm operating today, where, you know, how could we improve? It's always best to get, you know, best practice when you can, when you can get best practice and you can see what others are doing and what's been successful in other places. And you can then, and the ability to bring that to your local community. Um, you know, that's the best of you know, that's the best of the, of the, of the industry. Um, and you can, you can bring it into your, you know, your local community. So I think that's ultimately what this study proved Atlas. There's amazing things happening in North America, and there are amazing things happening in the rest of the world. Now, people get to see all of those in one place and kind of look at them and see what's, you know, get some new ideas. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. Excellent. Well, thank you, Brad. That's a great kind of intro to it.  now I want to turn to Sylvain from UITP. Sylvain thank you for being with us today. You've been kind of overseeing this study from the beginning. And why don't you tell us a little bit about UITP, just like Brad did about NATA and explain to listeners who may not be familiar. I know that you're basically like the APTA for the rest of the world outside of outside of the United States. So tell us about your organization. You guys are phenomenal and a huge organization and really the leading transportation, public transportation organization in the world. Sylvain Haon: Um, thank you. Thank you for those nice words. That's a better introduction that we'll do. I actually UITP a couple of things which are important for UITP. We are a global organization, as you rightly say. So we have members from more than a hundred countries. We have, I think the latest count is 1700 members from across the world. We are multi-stakeholders so our members come from. Um, the industry, they can manufacturers IT systems providers, et cetera. Um, there are public transport operators.  so running the services. And, and the authorities as well, whether it's a transit authority a city authority, a regional, federal, it depends on, it depends from country to country in a couple of cases of another country, transport authority as members and we represent public transport. But, you know, in a very broad sense on one more as, you know, the, the, the. And the difference  between mass transit and other forms of sharing equitable, but the transport is blurred. So w we, we believe we really, really represent the situ at-large in putting new mobility to the actors, um et cetera. And our mission is really to work with our members to advance public transport. In a sense of developing knowledge had been done to learn from each other, working together to develop solutions. Make the case core urban and public transports towards decision makers of various kinds. So being the voice of the sector and repeating days after days that there won't be sustainable cities in the future, if there is not a good transit system. Um, and we bring all those people also together in various ways and forms so that they can exchange and network with each other. Paul Comfort: Excellent. And we want to do a shout out to our good friend, the UITP Secretary General Muhammad Mezghani, who was really the world's leading transit, you know official, I guess, representing all these folks. So he's been a good friend to me personally, and to I've been on this podcast before and just wanted to make sure we acknowledged him. So I also want to acknowledge Arnaud Legrande who has joined us now on the podcast Arnaud is the CEO of RATP Dev USA.  Arnaud thank you for joining us today. Arnaud Legrand: Yeah, it's good morning.  Sorry to be late, but that's, that's operations Paul Comfort: better, late than never. Right. And, and he's also a founding member and a board member of the North American Transit Alliance. So great to have everybody on the show. So we were talking about Arnaud, and for our listeners is this study that's been commissioned by NATA and had this third-party organization independent, globally known for their work in public transportation to conduct this study that really provides a review of private contracting services in and outside of North America. The study includes case studies based on interviews with leaders at transit agencies and the varying contract models are looked at, and it shows the study shows that they were influenced by the context, the culture and the history of each location and the case studies point to the benefit of private contracting and best practices. In partnership relations. And I think it's important Sylvain that you actually interviewed, like Brad has said before, you weren't like talking to the contractors themselves, per se. You were talking to the transit agencies who contract out, you're saying to them, Hey, tell us about contracting. Tell us about the model you use. Are there benefits? Are there downsides to this? Let's get a full picture. So tell us overall, your, your, you know, kind of the overall summary of the study and any key points that you found coming out of it. Sylvain Haon: It's exactly this it's there are various ways various governance models for, for, um transit. I'm going to try to use the right terminology and there are various governance models each of them as its merits and they have a very good performance, but there is one thing we thought to our discussion with NATA. We it was the right time to highlight is. If she goes from contracting, how do you make it successful? How do you, how do you create benefits out of the model? Because there are various ways to do it and you need to make things properly to create the proper framework, to have the proper contracts so that it delivers its uh the benefits and that you maximize the benefits from or from contracting. And that's what  and the city really Looked at the movement of the theory of this, but a lot also through interviews discussions with authorities, as you're saying, who have contracted that we have services in various ways in various places of the world, as you put in, because that means you also have various even certain environments, so that changes the way you can do things. How, what made them successful what was important? What were the key elements to make the most out of it? Um, I mean what comes out of this?  I think a few key points is there's not one recipe, but there are a few things which you find always again, again, again, the first one is you have to create a partnership with your contractors.  and that's very key. It's not the process and the way you manage a contract does not stop the way that you sign it. It's probably starts to a certain extent. And it's this is a complex situation. I need to have a partnership. I would say the second, the second element for me, which is critical is in one way or the other, your customer as to be the center of this partnership. I don't know the distribution, so, and that's important because it's, then it's very natural when you have an organization, which is focused on the contractual  agreement and the governance to be reminded constantly that at the end of the day, it's about the customer, the way it moves around or to attract or to deliver good services. And I think that's a very important part for our sector. It's says we'd never repeated enough for our sector, such as such as ours and consequently. It's not all about the financial performance. And I think you people are, I think that's tracking into the study. If you look at the KPIs and the contracts, if you look at the best offer from the contractors, it's a complex mix of various type of KPIs including both end customer satisfaction, but not necessarily. It's not about being the cheapest. It's about being the, the, the, the one who with the best service. Paul Comfort: It's good. So it's not a lot of times people think that contracting is primarily just to save money. I mean, and. When I used to work in the industry when I did averages, basically what it came out to our studies was that a contractor can, a lot of times do the work, maybe 20% cheaper than the transit agency itself can was the numbers a few years ago.  but it's not just about that, is it you're saying the contractors also have seen improvement in customer satisfaction rates in safety rates and an on-time performance and other key performance metrics. And where can people find this study? Before I start talking to the members of NATA, do you have it up on your website? Sylvain Haon: Absolutely  UITP.org. You will find other publications. Paul Comfort: And then the North American Transit Alliance will also has an up on our website as well. So people want to access the study. It's not real long, it's less than 40 pages long. And it's a, it's an easy read. There's an executive summary up front and then all of the various case studies and then some findings at the end. So it's organized very well. Again, I want to thank you and congratulate UITP for putting out such a scholarly work that really did a good analysis and kind of compare and contrast models across Europe, Australia, and the United States and Canada on contracting. And the, the big story I think coming out of it is that contracting provides benefits, great benefits that transit agencies, number one, especially number two, if it's done in a partnership model like is like has done across Europe and Clement Michel um, you've really created a partnership model there in Boston where your company has done some rail work there. And what did, what, what did you see? What did you find from the study? Did you find what were the key salient points for you? Clement Michel: Uh I I really, really did. I appreciate it because it enabled us to ask ourselves a couple of key questions  what's our worth as a private contractors to, to public entities. Uh and amongst them, you mentioned it some of the work that was highlighted in the, in the study is the fact that there is a what would be a bit more innovative for the North American market, and it'd be more common in the other places mechanism that drives  the contractor to work on increasing the ridership and the revenue.  And since we've made this a contractual demands  in in Boston, we've seen pre COVID some, some ridership growth around 5% on the commuter rail.  and, and that is really what we're here for to, to, to increase the attractiveness of the, of the services. So we have more sustainable communities and more inclusive communities. So, so we, we can really see how we're driving marketing, we're driving some of the research we're driving redesign on networks and on April 5th this year, We completely redesigned the commuter rail network, which is not commuter rail specific now to, to actually yeah, be more inclusive and, and increasing the ridership and helping the communities  come out of COVID-19 uh this, this has been highlighted by Sylvain at UITP, and there's a, a few other examples across the world that, that really, really a make me extremely optimistic about the place of public transit in general and the private contractors in particular, into helping our communities to thrive. Paul Comfort: Very good. Arnaud Legrande as a board member of NATA and a head of RATP Dev a big international company that does work in places like Paris, et cetera. What did you find from the study that was that was poignant to you. Arnaud Legrand: I, I think as rightly said before but by Sylvain and also by Clement, I think there is one very important aspect. Is the collaboration between the authority and our companies.  I think as you said, our companies are generally used to operate in very different contexts in different environments, under different regulations. So it's very good to bring all those experience and the studies. It's a very good support for screening all of this, and we can bring this kind of  put on potential solution to our client, which are the agencies. And they benefit from, from these different return of experience and, and together, we are able to improve the service. And, and, and I think that that's really what is important and what is really about for the future is, is really to be able to, to move this transit system or transit service to another era for the moment I'm used to say that in the US transit is mainly not only, but it's mainly seen as a social service, which is very important, but we should be more attractive. We should continue to bring service to the people we really need a we're are really dependent of the transit system. And now we need to attract also the people that can compete with the system with their own means of transport being taxis, Ubers, or the individual car, because we know that the future of all the cities. It's really to get more people in a smooth in one vehicle instead of having one people per vehicle. And I think our companies are able to bring solutions to bring innovation and to bring peppermints. As we mentioned, that will together contribute to the satisfaction of the passengers will ultimately is the final customer of the service. Paul Comfort: Excellent. And Matt Wood from National Express and a Board Member of NATA. Um, now that we've identified that this study that UITP did identified the benefits public transit being contracted out there are great benefits to it from the agencies that they talk to around the world. And they've also identified an increase in key performance metrics, especially when they work in partnership . Going forward, kind of like, I think everybody in the world, especially in north America now rolling out across the world, we're thinking post pandemic. And so what is the role of contracting now based on the study and your knowledge of the industry coming out of COVID. Matthew Wood: But I think this report is very timely. Paul, as everyone has pointed out the ridership demographic and the traditional demand patterns post pandemic will undoubtedly change. We we've talked about the need to attract choice ridership. In addition to those that are traditionally dependent on public transit. So the question now becomes one of. Of equity and the ability for contractors to provide flexible and, and quick to market solutions to attract that choice ridership and really what that means is a better connection to jobs, schools, other basic social activities, economic empowerment, inequity. Um, I think we have a unique opportunity here to rethink how we meet the demands of both the underserved and choice riders it and not to mention this is a solution and an opportunity to reduce traffic congestion and, and, and pollution. Um, we're getting smarter both as, as agencies and contractors are introducing more flexible and less costly transportation operator options. Um for instance, the use of mass micro transit first and last mile solutions are really creating a bridge between the traditionally underserved areas and more mainstream transit corridors. So I think when we talked about contracting. Gives transit, traditional transit agencies, the flexibility to implement these services quickly, and a more modified or more specific solution that meets the needs of that individual community and transit authority. So the study is very timely and I think it points out some great opportunities for all of us as contractors and how we can benefit the transit agencies. Paul Comfort: That's great. Brad, back to you. Um, speaking of COVID and, and we just have a few minutes left, but I also want to get Julia in to talk about the three key findings after you during the COVID 19 pandemic. And I know we're not completely out of it yet, but during the peak of the pandemic, tell us about what contractors were doing. Brad Thomas: Well, you know, great question. And I think it's not specific solely to contractors. I mean, it really, the whole transit industry, it's important for people to understand this industry never stopped. We never stopped operating in the, in the darkest days of COVID. And as you say, we're not through COVID yet.  but we're certainly hopefully on the, on the, on the other side of it you know, this, it, even in the darkest days we were operating. We operated. We operated from the beginning, you know, til today. And we provided transportation to essential workers folks who needed to go to work police and firemen, you know, doctors, nurses, all sorts of things. We provided transportation to grocery stores for people who had to, you know, people who had to, so they could go out and do their shopping. We provided medical transportation, you know, transportation to medical appointments, to therapeutic appointments, to think things, medical care that people needed that was ongoing, that people that people needed to continue to get medical services, those things are absolutely necessary. And it proved to me beyond what I had already known, honestly, but it proved the essential nature of what it is that we do in the communities, in which we operate and how essential the service is to that community. And how much a part of the infrastructure we are, that's an, you know, so that was, that was, to me, one of the, one of the great things that come out of, you know, the darkest moments, which is, you know, COVID, it's been a horrible thing, but it just showed how, how amazing this industry is and how, how much we do for the communities we serve. The other thing that it shouldn't that I want to make sure we, that we mentioned is the fact that our the employees, our partners. We're on the frontline throughout COVID drivers, technicians, ditch dispatchers, supervisors, managers, all these folks in all across the industry private privately contracted services and public contracts, contracted services. They were out there every day. They were on the frontline. They'd been on the frontline. They never came off the frontline and they're still there. And that is a Testament. To how amazing the people are, who in this industry who put, who worked for this and work in this industry and sacrifice day in and day out to make sure that people can get to the essential destinations, they need to get to very humbling for me as leader of an organization. I'm sure I speak for it for the rest of the leaders of, you know, for all the leaders of organizations throughout North America and the rest of the world. Um, very humbling when you see, when you, when you see just how hard these people, these folks worked and the fact that they are, they're still out there, they're still doing it. They are so passionate and they're so dedicated. Paul Comfort: Excellent. All right. We're going to do a quick lightning round, as they say. And maybe if each of you could give me a closing comment on the study, it maybe 30 seconds. And then Julia, we'll close out with you to talk about the three final what the summary of the study, and then what the plan is to roll the study out. Sylvain from UITP give us your final take on things. Sylvain Haon: I would say I would really encourage people to read the survey, the study, to look at the diversity of situations and each of them, which is lessons for other transit agencies around the world, actually, no matter what, some of them there is really through diversity of approaches, you really have a lot to find in this study. Paul Comfort: Thank you.  Arnaud Legrande. Arnaud Legrand: Yes I would, I would really encourage people to read it.  I think it's very instructive. Uh it's whether or not you do already contract or, I mean, it's, it's a source of inspiration that will give you not, as you said at the beginning, not one recipe, but plenty of recipes. And then you can pick up and you can decide whether or not it applies to you or it's benefit for your organization. So it's a very good source of information. Read it. Paul Comfort: Thank you, Matt Wood. Matthew Wood: I think it's a very great, it's an excellent study and I encourage everyone to take a read. Um, but my takeaway is that you're not constricted or refined to one contracting model, that there are different models that meet the individual demands of different agencies. And, and finally the flexibility within inherently within the contracting model. I think that's very important. Paul Comfort: Wonderful. Clement? Clement Michel: Not much not to say what is that to say apart from the fact that  we are willing as a, as a group and as individual companies to, to really partner and we recognize that public interests is a, is a, is a critical. And ad, and it's owned by elected officials and, and technicians, agencies and we're here to serve. Paul Comfort:  Wonderful Brad, the Chair of NATA. Brad Thomas: Yeah, I think, listen, everybody said some great things about the study and it is a tremendous study. I think it really proves that what we all believe, which is there's, there's a value in contracting. Um, but I do think that the other thing that that the, the, to me, the overarching theme that comes out of this is the best solutions to any challenges, to any problems are the, getting the best from all parties. And the fact of the matter is that when you can bring the best. From the public sector and the best from the private sector. And you can bring any, can put them together and get a really good, productive partnership. That's when you get the best ideas, that's when you get the best solutions. And I think that's what the study show proved out was the fact that when you get the best from all parties involved, You get the best solution and that's, what's ultimately best for the writer. And that's what most important thing. Paul Comfort: Very good. And now Julia Gessner, can you tell us what are the three big takeaways are from the study and then tell us how the plant's going to be rolled out and how people in our audience might actually get a chance to meet some of the folks on this call and what's going to happen going forward. Julia Gessner: So to start the main three points that we pulled away from this study from the contracting perspective is that. You know, contracting, as we've all said, it exists all around the world in many different forms, it's all influenced by the history and the culture and the context and the area. Um, all of the study participants discuss numerous benefits. That was part of the goal of this study was to understand what works in private contracting. And a lot of them saw improvements in KPIs collaboration on. Um, and innovative services. And as we, every single person, I think on this call, I said, this was built on private contracting being a partnership. Um, collaboration was the key right now. This is a really exciting time in transit. Um, we're all looking at what we can do. Every industry is coming out of COVID. But now with transit, you have mobility as a service, you have electric vehicles, you have autonomous vehicles, there's a lot going on in the technology space and to have contractors who truly see themselves as the partners be a part of that now is a great time or We're considering adding a partner. If you don't have one or looking at how you can work more with your current. Um, so to continue, you are rollout of this study. As I said, this is a really timely study because of COVID, but this is also a very, very great study to look at. Long-term it's a very relevant study now, and I think it will be very, very relevant for many years to come. We are looking now at reaching out to different trade organizations, looking at how we can speak more about the study. We do have a few interviews that we know are coming up in different trade publications. Um, and we're also looking at how we can make sure all of our team members are really well educated on what happened, what the study found and how we can continue to advocate for private contracting, which we all know is can be a great for cities and towns and just getting people moving. Paul Comfort: So if there's an organization or representative, let's say from the North Dakota Transit Association or from the US Conference of Mayors or something like that, that would like to have a presentation to them about this study, how would they contact you to see if they could make that happen? Maybe we could have some of the board members and somebody from UITP actually come for a half hour, 45 minute presentation and share with them the study. How would they reach you? Julia Gessner: Absolutely. They can reach me at my NATA email address which is Julia period. Gessner N a transit alliance.org. Um, I'll make sure I have that direct link to you, Paul. Um, and yeah, we would be more than happy to present this study to anybody who would be who is interested in learning more. Paul Comfort: That's right. So to Julia dot G E S S N E R. at na transit alliance.org, that's your email address? And so I encourage our listeners. I've, I've read the study. It's phenomenal.  the UITP team did a great job. Um, Sylvain do you want to name that? Just real briefly, the folks who worked on this, we want to acknowledge them.  you had one staff person that was a real key. And then Didier, if you could take your mute off and tell us who they were. I think we'd like to acknowledge that as well. Sylvain Haon: No, absolutely. I'm thank you for this opportunity. I think we need to the tremendous work done by our colleague, Greg Gregory G-code is is a native from Quebec, Canada. And he's actually left us to go back to Canada in the meantime.  but Greg did a great job and anybody needs and thanks to him. We have this and he worked out with Didier his team who is a legit, he's a recognized expert in call centers on construction contractor contracting, sorry, in a, in public transport. Paul Comfort:  That's right. And we hope to do a webinar soon with a UITP so that anyone can join and get more in-depth information. Keep your eye out for that. Thanks for being with us today on comfort corner. This newsmaker interview with the board members, many of the board members from the North American Transit Alliance. Um, and also Sylvain from UITP and Julia.  we thank you for being with us and if you need more information about the study. Go to the two websites that we mentioned UITP or the North American Transit Alliance website. Thank you so much. And thank you guys for being on the show. Tris Hussey: And now our messaging minute with Elea Carey, talking about messaging for recruiting in your agency. Elea Carey: Hi, I'm Elea Carey, a communications consultant who loves working with public transit agencies. I frequently searched the news for positive stories about public transit to share with my networks. And lately I've been seeing a lot of stories about agencies, hiring new employees that got me thinking about how your media relations strategy can help you fill empty roles. Now, of course, when you're hiring, you'll be using all the regular channels, like your social media, LinkedIn, and the local and national job sites to promote your open positions, depending on how solid your media relations are. You might also be able to place a news story with your local media about job openings. You improve your chances of getting coverage. If you can peg your hiring news to some other broader development and easy one would be if you're expanding service. But you might also peg your story to broader economic news, a local story, like a new employer coming to town or graduation season. Even if you don't have an immediate hiring story to push out, make sure that jobs information is evident in other press releases you put out. Today's news reader will be tomorrow's job seeker. If you'd like to talk about media relations strategy or anything else related to communications and public transit. Look me up on LinkedIn. My first name is spelled E L E A. Last name C a R E Y. Tris Hussey: Thank you for listening to this week's Comfort's Corner with members of the NATA board and UI ITP talking about their recent study about private contracting in the transit industry. Next week, Paul is talking to Mr. Jeremy Yap, the Chief Executive for Public Transport, Policy and Planning for the Land Transport Authority in Singapore. This is sure to be a very interesting session from another one of our international guests. We hope you tune in and until then ride safe and ride happy.

Constance Craig-Mason is the CEO & Visionary of Concierge Financial Group and CFG Agency. She is a passionate International Speaker, award-winning Insurance Broker, dedicated Financial Wellness Coach and a x3 Amazon Best Selling Author, who marries positive beliefs, emotions & daily money habits with financial literacy fostering a shift in her client’s financial well-being! Constance empowers her clients to live the life they want without worrying about money! Anthony Mason is an honorable veteran of the Armed Forces, who retired from Maryland Transit Administration as an Operations Instructor. He has a passion for music as he spent a great deal of his young adult life writing lyrics for songs that he and a close cousin produced together. Constance & Anthony are the visionaries of a new anthology experience called “MONEY TALK$: Uncut Convos With Power Couples About Love Money & Entrepreneurship.” In this well-anticipated project, they have brought their truths, experiences, struggles, stories, strengths, strategies and positive energy! They have given the UNCUT, REAL version of how they have weathered the storms of love, money and entrepreneurship, while trying to grasp work/life balance. This book is perfect for couples who need to know the REAL DEAL about what it truly takes to keep their marriage together, while trying to create wealth, impact & breaking the chains of dysfunction in our communities! The book launches in February 2021 as a part of a debut hybrid virtual conference called the “Let’s Keep It Real Conference: REAL Talk To Power Up Your 2021”. It includes a Live VIP experience in Baltimore, Las Vegas, Miami and Toronto Canada! To connect with Constance, you can find her on all social media platforms as @ccraigmason or visit www.ccraigmason.com. Facebook: @ccraigmason Twitter: @ccraigmason Instagram: @ccraigmason LinkedIn: @ccraigmason Website: www.ccraigmason.com Book/Pre-Launch: https://ccraigmason.samcart.com/products/vipticket --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tradesecrets/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tradesecrets/support

With many bus and train riders staying home during the pandemic, transit agencies across the country are being hit with huge losses in revenue and facing tough decisions. Councilman Ryan Dorsey, chair of the city council’s transportation committee, joins us to discuss the effects of the cuts in service put forth by the Maryland Transit Administration. Brian O’Malley, head of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, argues for alternative ways the state transportation department could shore up its losses. And Dr. Celeste Chavis, who teaches at the Urban Mobility and Equity Center at Morgan State University share her concerns about the long term. To read more about MTA proposed cuts, visit this link. For Dr. Celeste Chavis's op ed, visit this link. For information about MTA public comment meetings visit this link and scroll to the bottom. You may also send comments to: HearingComments@mta.maryland.gov

Holly discusses raising three Uniquely Special children on the Autism Spectrum, each with accompanying health challenges, after leaving her position as a gubernatorial appointee working as the Deputy Director of Communications for BWI Airport and subsequently being selected to be the Director of Communications for the Maryland Transit Administration. She tells her story of flying to Munich, Germany to search for her German grandmother at the age of 14 as her German-born father, who was legally adopted by his black birth father to come to the United States, had lost contact with his mother for 42 years; studying journalism at the University of North Florida; working as a flight attendant, beginning her career with landing gear failure; ending her airline career after a possible encounter with 9/11 terrorists; earning a M.S. in Transportation Management at Morgan State University; leaving the workforce to care and advocate for children with special needs who often end up incarcerated at higher rates; her third great grandfather Peter G. Morgan, who was born into slavery, was selected to write the new Virginia state constitution, was one of first blacks in the Virginia House of Delegates, and was a Presidential appointee working as a Postmaster in Richmond; solving the mystery of who is the father of family patriarch Preston Riley, descendant of Revolutionary War patriot Jacob Riley; learning that Preston’s father was T.J. Riley, a white man who had a relationship with a slave named Sally, petitioned the court to take care of their sons, and left land to her; feeling a deeper sense of patriotism and loyalty to her country because of her ancestors' fight for freedom for the United States; finding her place in history; deciding to follow Marian Anderson's lead of moving toward forgiveness by joining the Daughters of the American Revolution and representing women of color because "these are our ancestors too"; authoring the book Riley Road: Navigating the Path to Discover My 6th Great Grandfather, Jacob Riley, detailing her genealogy research methodology. Read Holly’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Paul Comfort is a veteran in the transportation industry, previously serving as CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration. He is currently VP of Business Development for the Trapeze Group, host of the Transit Unplugged podcast, and author of “The Future of Public Transportation” This conversation is quite a change from my typical episodes. We spend some time talking about public transportation and the technology trends impacting the industry, but Paul also supplements that with nuggets from his own life on leadership, communication, and the likes. Music credit: Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

It’s challenging enough to rally public interest around making costly improvements to public transportation … let alone during a pandemic and in the middle of civil unrest. But the ‘Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan’ timeline marches on, with a deadline hovering in the fall. Holly Arnold, Deputy Administrator and Maryland Transit Administration’s Chief Planning, Programming and Engineering Officer, tells us what the plan entails. And transportation advocate Taffy Gwitira, vice chair of the public advisory committee of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, talks about the equity of access to reliable transit that she feels is lacking in the plan. But she says one must play the long game when it comes to designing transportation around Baltimore. To live chat with Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan project designers on Tuesday June 16, from 4-6pm, and also to leave your comments on the plan, visit this link.

At the Employer Blueprint Podcast we love talking about team building. In this episode we’re going to break down a lot of information as we talk about building a team and what you do once you have the team in place. Today’s guest has experience in both the private and public sector and there are so many things that are transferable when it comes to team building and getting the right people around you. One of the things that becomes a common thread during this episode is communication. This includes the need to communicate and the ability to communicate at all levels. One thing that tends to happen to those in leadership roles is that communication tends to work its way down but fails to work its way back up to the leaders of the organization.  The Employer Blueprint Podcast is excited to present The VP of Business Development at Trapeze Group, Author of Full Throttle: Living Life to the Max with No Regrets, and Host of Transit Unplugged Podcast, Paul Comfort. For the last 30 years Paul has been serving by way of a career in Public Transit and government and most recently served as the CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration. Paul is also a keynote speaker with expertise in Leadership and Management, and Organizational Improvement. Through a career that started with running for public office and a chance meeting during his first step into politics, Paul was given the opportunity as a young man in his twenties to pursue public transportation. This was a very successful venture that lasted 30 years, and according to Paul, it was only possible through the people he had around him. This career in public transportation took Paul to many parts of the country, to achieving a Law Degree, and eventually back to public office. After running for State’s Attorney and losing, one more time Paul was presented with an opportunity. Paul was given the opportunity to become County Administrator, and he had the responsibility of overseeing the budget of the County Attorney’s office. Then in 2014 Paul ran for office again, when he ran for County Commissioner and won, before ending up where he is now, working for Trapeze as the the Vice President of Business Development. Through out his career, Paul has been very successful, and he attributes his success to the ability to build great teams, and in this episode of the Employer Blueprint Podcast, Kyle and Paul dive into the many areas of discussion regarding team building and development. Enjoy the episode and please subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes. 

On today's Midday on Transit, a check on how well the region is dealing with its transportation challenges, in Baltimore City and beyond. From Governor Hogan's controversial ----Traffic Relief Plan---- in the Washington suburbs, to a shake-up and critical oversight at the Baltimore Department of Transportation, what's working, what isn't, and how can we fix it? Transportation reporter Katherine Shaver with the Washington Post, and Brian O’Malley, president and CEO of the Central MD Transportation Alliance, join Tom on the line to discuss the governor's plan to construct express toll lanes on I-495 and I-270. Then, Tom discusses the challenges facing Baltimore's bus, subway and light rail transit systems, with guests Kevin Quinn, CEO and administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration, Samuel Jordan, president of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, Baltimore City Councilman Ryan Dorsey (D. 3rd Dist) and Klaus Philipsen, a Baltimore architect and urban planner and founding partner in the firm ArchPlan, Inc. .

At the Employer Blueprint Podcast we love talking about team building. In this episode we’re going to break down a lot of information as we talk about building a team and what you do once you have the team in place. Today’s guest has experience in both the private and public sector and there are so many things that are transferable when it comes to team building and getting the right people around you. One of the things that becomes a common thread during this episode is communication. This includes the need to communicate and the ability to communicate at all levels. One thing that tends to happen to those in leadership roles is that communication tends to work its way down but fails to work its way back up to the leaders of the organization.  The Employer Blueprint Podcast is excited to present The VP of Business Development at Trapeze Group, Author of Full Throttle: Living Life to the Max with No Regrets, and Host of Transit Unplugged Podcast, Paul Comfort. For the last 30 years Paul has been serving by way of a career in Public Transit and government and most recently served as the CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration. Paul is also a keynote speaker with expertise in Leadership and Management, and Organizational Improvement. Through a career that started with running for public office and a chance meeting during his first step into politics, Paul was given the opportunity as a young man in his twenties to pursue public transportation. This was a very successful venture that lasted 30 years, and according to Paul, it was only possible through the people he had around him. This career in public transportation took Paul to many parts of the country, to achieving a Law Degree, and eventually back to public office. After running for State’s Attorney and losing, one more time Paul was presented with an opportunity. Paul was given the opportunity to become County Administrator, and he had the responsibility of overseeing the budget of the County Attorney’s office. Then in 2014 Paul ran for office again, when he ran for County Commissioner and won, before ending up where he is now, working for Trapeze as the the Vice President of Business Development. Through out his career, Paul has been very successful, and he attributes his success to the ability to build great teams, and in this episode of the Employer Blueprint Podcast, Kyle and Paul dive into the many areas of discussion regarding team building and development. Enjoy the episode and please subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes. 

On April 27, 2015, the day of Freddie Gray’s funeral in Baltimore, police and youth clashed near the Mondawmin metro stop in a skirmish that would thrust the city into the international spotlight. For four years, police, youth and others there that day has shared their version of events, leaving unanswered questions. Who, in reality, initiated the confrontation? And who was responsible for shutting down the transit service that day, a decision that left many high school students stranded in the center of the clashes?Baltimore Sun reporter Kevin Rector has sought to review surveillance footage from that day to paint a clearer picture. The Maryland Transit Administration continues to deny that request. But for the first time, the MTA has released records related to the April 2015 unrest that provide new insights, and revive old questions, about one of the most controversial and consequential moments in Baltimore’s history. Rector sits down with Roughly Speaking host Pamela Wood to discuss the findings and provide insight into a four-year-long hunt for surveillance video that he and many others believe they are entitled to view.

Maryland's lawmakers approved legislation last year that requires the Maryland Transit Administration to lay out a long-term plan for the region. What does that mean? On January 29, we'll sit down with the Central Maryland Transportation to find out how this plan is progressing.

Take what life hands you and turn it around into something good. Today's featured author is the former CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration and brand ambassador to the transit industry, Paul Comfort. Paul talks about his background with serving as a local government official in Maryland, his newest book and tons more!   Key Takeaways From This Episode: Make great relationships with people while you are shooting for the top of your ladder of success. Find a way to use your time effectively. Seize the moments you are given in life. Don't manage and lead others by email. Mingle with your “troops”. Unplanned route changes might be the best thing that can happen in your life. Be aware of our surroundings a little bit more. Be around the things that align with your goal.   Be sure to share this episode if you enjoyed what you heard.

Take what life hands you and turn it around into something good. Today's featured author is the former CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration and brand ambassador to the transit industry, Paul Comfort. Paul talks about his background with serving as a local government official in Maryland, his newest book and tons more!   Key Takeaways From This Episode: Make great relationships with people while you are shooting for the top of your ladder of success. Find a way to use your time effectively. Seize the moments you are given in life. Don’t manage and lead others by email. Mingle with your “troops”. Unplanned route changes might be the best thing that can happen in your life. Be aware of our surroundings a little bit more. Be around the things that align with your goal.   Be sure to share this episode if you enjoyed what you heard.

Paul Comfort is an expert on leadership, public transportation, and government operations. He is currently Vice President of Business Development for Trapeze Group and former CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration, where, he led the 11th largest public transit system in America! We talk about the gems of wisdom from his new book Full Throttle – Living Life to the Max with No Regrets. Discover what it takes to become a true leader and master your destiny with confidence in every walk of life!Ways to reach out to Mr. Comfort:Website: www.paulcomfort.orgTwitter and LinkedIn: @comfortpaul Podcast:Transit Unplugged

High frequency buses, dedicated bus lanes, new routes--BaltimoreLink launched last June … a $135-million-dollar reboot of the city’s transit system. What is ridership like? Are buses running on time?Kevin Quinn, head of the Maryland Transit Administration, gives us an update on service and technology changes. And transit activist and blogger Danielle Sweeney describes her work tracking no-show buses and fostering rider feedback.

The Maryland Transit Administration may be the only transit agency in the country to have its own radio station. It's just one of the innovations the MTA uses to keep its riders informed. CEO Paul Comfort talks with Transportation Radio about the various methods it uses to keep the communication lines open.