Episode 52

The surprising things about being a public transit CEO in 2023

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 experiences, surprises, and insights about leading a transit agency.

They discuss how their work impacts the lives of their customers and what it means to them personally. They touch on all the things CEOs have to think about, plus some things you might not have thought about. It's a fascinating roundtable that showcases the passion and dedication of these transit leaders.

Also on the show in Elea Carey's Marketing Minute, Elea gives you practical tips for improving internal communications at your agency.

Next week is our sixth anniversary and the start of season seven! We kick off season 7 episode 1 (and our 278th episode) with Randy Clarke, CEO of WMATA. Randy talks about his first year on the job, what's gone well, what hasn't, and what a looming fiscal cliff means for his agency, his people, and riders.

If you have a question or comment, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.

00:00 APTA CEO Roundtable Stories from New CEOs

00:00 Making an impact on people's lives

00:45 About this episode from your host Paul Comfort

01:33 Discussion with five new Transit CEOs recorded live at APTA TRANSform Conference and EXPO

32:41 Marketing Minute with Elea Carey

35:05 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged

--

Season 6 : Episode 52

Links for this show:

Copyright: Modaxo 2024

Transcript
Speaker:

Coree Cuff Lonergan:

I had this aha moment.

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I had two of them actually.

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The first one was within the first

week or two of my, , joining, , BCT.

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And I was out, , meeting with customers.

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And, , we happened to walk

up to a gentleman who was,

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, waiting for one of our buses.

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And I introduced myself and said hello.

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And he shared with us

that he was in recovery.

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That he was from another state

and that he could come to Broward

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County to pursue his recovery and

that our bus system kept him sober.

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Now, if that isn't moving,

I don't know what is.

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But that's not the last

one of those stories.

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Paul Comfort: That's Coree Cuff Lonergan,

CEO of Broward County Transit from

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our recent Transit Unplugged Live CEO

Roundtable at the APTA Expo in Orlando.

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I'm Paul Comfort and this is

the Transit Unplugged Podcast.

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On this episode, we bring you part

one of the live audio from that CEO

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Roundtable with five of America's

leading new public transit agency CEOs.

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Each of them started their

position around about a year ago

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with plenty of gusto and plans to

improve their agencies and service.

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But there's been some

surprises along the way.

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They'll tell you about them and how

they've navigated and made decisions

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during their inaugural year on the job.

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Let's go to the CEO roundtable recorded

before a live audience at APTA Expo.

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transit Unplugged CEO roundtable.

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So you ready to start?

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All right, let's hear it.

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Come on, let's give our

CEOs a round of applause.

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We've got Corey Cuff Lonergan, my

new friend, who is general manager.

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A lot of you have heard

the city, Fort Lauderdale.

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The county is Broward County, Florida.

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Let's welcome her.

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And Dave Dech is the executive

director of what's commonly known

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as TriRail, but is the South Florida

Regional Transportation Authority.

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Let's welcome him.

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Dave and I did one of these as well

as a few of the others a few months

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ago at the ThinkTransit Conference.

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And then Dottie Watkins, the CEO

and President of Capital CapMetro,

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as it's commonly known, down in

Austin, doing an amazing job.

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I was just down there, I don't know if

you're aware, we'll talk about this a

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little bit, but they probably have, well,

they have a 7 billion capital program, so

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it's probably the biggest in the nation.

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Uh, and they're doing some

amazing things down there.

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And then our host, uh, for this week

in Orlando is Tiffany Hobler Hawkins,

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who's head of LYNX as it's commonly known

here in Orlando, the Central Florida

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Regional Transportation Authority.

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And then my good pal...

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Frank White, who is CEO and President

of Kansas City Area Transportation

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Authority in Kansas City.

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Let's welcome him.

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You all might remember Frank's

dad was a Golden Gloves and

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a Hall of Famer in baseball.

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Great guy.

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So he's come from great lineage

to run the transit system there.

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I told him he's got to bring a celebrity

when we do the barbecue tasting.

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He said is my dad count?

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I said absolutely.

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I can't wait to meet him.

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All right, so let's get started.

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First thing we want CEO kind of

tell us a little about themselves

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and their agency and how long

they've been in their position.

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So, do you mind starting?

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Coree Cuff Lonergan: No problem.

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All right, good.

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Good afternoon, everybody.

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I'm glad to be here.

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My name, again, is Coree Cuff Lonergan

uh, I'm with, uh, Broward County Transit.

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I've been on, in my role now

for just over seven months.

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It's been very exciting.

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We have, uh, over 1, 300 transit

professionals that work with us.

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We are the second largest transit

agency in the state of Florida, which

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we're particularly excited about.

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Um, we also have a very exciting program

that I'm gonna speak to in another part

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of the question, but the PRIMO program,

so when we talk about spending billions on

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transit, we're getting ready to do that.

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Uh, and so right now we're a bus company.

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Um, but we're going to be a multimodal

powerhouse in just a little bit.

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I'm glad to be here and thank you.

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Paul Comfort: Thank you so much.

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Alright, Dave, tell us about

yourself and what you do, my friend.

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David Dech: Good afternoon, my

name is Dave Dech um, I guess as

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soon as I figure out what I do,

I'll share that with everybody.

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But I am, uh, my title is the

Executive Director in South Florida.

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I've been there, I just celebrated a year.

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Uh, in South Florida.

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I spent the previous, uh, few

years in Austin with Dottie.

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Um, and then 20 something years

prior to that in freight railroading.

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So it's been a, it's been

a, uh, a whirlwind tour here

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at Learning, uh, transit.

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Yeah, I always thought rail

was rail was rail was rail.

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And I could not have been, uh, more wrong.

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But, uh, it's, it's been a great

ride and it's a great bunch of

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people and I am thrilled to be here.

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Paul Comfort: Very good, thank you.

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Alright, Dottie, tell us about CapMetro.

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Dottie Watkins: Alright, so I'm

Dottie Watkins, I'm honored and

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humbled to be the CEO of CapMetro

in my hometown of Austin, Texas.

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I've been at CapMetro for 29

years, um, so it's pretty much

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the only real job I've ever had.

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Um, rose to the ranks of bus

operations, um, I've been CEO

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full time for about 9 months.

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I served for a handful of months

before that as the interim CEO, um,

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and we've got a thing or two going on.

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we've got a lot of great stuff.

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This stuff, um, already on the ground and

coming shortly, uh, to help our community

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and really help our region, um, handle

the amazing growth that we keep seeing.

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Paul Comfort: Dottie and I were

on a bus last week, uh, riding

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out to, um, where were we going?

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Barton Springs.

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Barton Springs, right.

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Great, great, um, spring fed, 68 degree

year round, uh, place you can swim, but

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the driver on the bus just happened to be

somebody she started her, her life with,

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her career with as a driver so many years

ago, so it's just, I love seeing somebody

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who's moved right up the ranks like that.

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It's amazing.

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Congratulations.

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All right, Tiffany from Orlando.

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Let us know about you

and your, uh, agency.

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Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Thank you

all for being here and joining

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us in Orlando for APTA Expo.

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Um, we are honored that you all are here.

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Uh, a little over 1, 100 employees.

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My CFO, Lenny Antman,

is sitting right here.

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He'll correct me on any

numbers, um, as we move forward.

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1, 100 employees, 300 buses serving 2.

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5 million people in Central Florida.

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We serve Orange, Seminole,

and Osceola counties.

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It's about 2, 500 square miles,

but my lame joke is that about

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1, 000 of those square miles,

there's more cows than people.

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For now, in 10 years, we may have to

have another conversation about that.

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Um, LYNX, uh, I have been in this

role as CEO for a little over a year.

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Um, we are moving projects

forward that we have been talking

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about for a very long time.

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I think we all have lines on maps

for light rail projects, but, uh,

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over the next year we're going

to be focusing on our facilities.

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Um, LYNX Central Station will

be 20 years old next year.

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Um, LYNX, being known as LYNX, will be 30

next year, so:

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Paul Comfort: And she's got the job of the

CEO of the happiest place on earth, right?

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Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Absolutely.

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I want to see everybody smiling.

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Paul Comfort: That's right.

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I actually thought that

when I got to the airport.

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I'm here, the happiest place in the world.

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All right, Frank White, tell

us about Kansas City and

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your background, my friend.

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Frank White: Thanks, Paul.

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Good afternoon, everybody.

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Frank White, the third President

and CEO of the KCATA or the Kansas

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City Area Transportation Authority.

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We're a bi state authority created

by Congress with a broad set

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of cool powers and tools that.

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Um, we haven't used in 54

years, but we're using now.

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Um, we can do a, we do a lot of

what we call a transport development

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work, community work, um, stitching

things together, a lot of BRT work.

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Uh, seven counties that

really only one's been used.

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So, uh, very excited to be here.

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I've been here 14 months.

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Um, Interim, then permanent in January.

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And, um, having a lot of fun with the job.

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It's always better to be in charge

than not so's uh, absolutely brother.

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It's a good thing.

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So thanks for being here.

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And it's fun to see people that we

kind of all in the last year or so, our

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different journeys and different things.

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Like see Dottie smile.

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She's, last time I saw

her, she's like, uh, so

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So it is good to see her

smiling and happy, so thanks.

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Paul Comfort: That's good, Frank.

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So Frank, tell us about, um,

what surprised you most when

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you first, you 14 months ago?

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What surprised you most about being a CEO?

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Frank White: Um, the biggest surprise is

everyone thinks they're a transit planner.

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You know, everyone thinks they

know our jobs better than we do.

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Um, and they really

don't know Jack, right?

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Um, they assume that there's an endless

bucket of money and they think that we

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don't think about these things every day.

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Like we don't want more frequent service,

that we don't want more safety, that

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we don't want more broader service.

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Um, and, and really just the sheer

ignorance of the general public to

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how public transit really works.

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Um, and I've had to learn patience to

understand that you, you can't really

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criticize people because they don't know.

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But it's just, there's the

general person on the street.

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They just say, y'all, why

aren't you doing this?

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Or, you should do this.

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For example, we had Beyonce in

Kansas City, uh, last weekend.

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And it was just a traffic nightmare.

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And by Monday it was my fault.

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And I was like, well, they didn't ask us.

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To do anything.

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And there's, and really we couldn't

have done anything just because

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the way it was all laid out.

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But people don't care about that.

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That that's, that's been the

biggest thing is just trying to

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fight the, the ignorance, right.

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Of just people not understanding the rules

and FTA rules and charter rules, right?

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All these things that

we really don't control.

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So that, that by far has

been the biggest thing.

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Paul.

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Paul Comfort: And you have another company

that runs your light rail system, right?

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Or your.

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Frank White: Streetcar authority

is separate entity, and, and

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people get those two confused.

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And we do work very well with

Tom and his streetcar guys, but

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it's on the RideKC brand, but we

don't control what streetcar does.

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And so it's always like, well,

hey, 24 hour service, why not?

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Well, yeah, there you go.

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So, I mean, there's different,

you know, we got the free

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fare, that whole thingy, so.

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Paul Comfort: Oh, we'll

talk about that, yeah.

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All right, Tiffany, what, uh, you've

been on your job how long now as CEO?

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Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Uh, just

a little over a year between the

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interim and permanent, uh, CEO roles.

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Paul Comfort: So when you finally got

the desk where it says the buck stops

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here, what surprised you the most?

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Tiffany Homler Hawkins: That

it really does stop here.

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Um, no, I, one, you don't know what you

don't know going in and even though I came

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up through the agency, um, you know, there

were just things that I, I didn't know.

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Um, but one of the things I really didn't

know is the resiliency of the LYNX team.

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Over the last year, the LYNX team has, um,

they have dealt with the death of a CEO,

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two hurricanes, two major hurricanes in

central Florida, uh, union negotiations,

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a paratransit contract transition

that took 29 days instead of 120.

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Um, and they, they meet each challenge

with the same level of enthusiasm, and

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I really didn't know how resilient this

team was until, uh, the buck stopped here.

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So

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Paul Comfort: it's great.

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And you have another big, you know,

you have what Disney and all these

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other big companies that you're

working with constantly, right?

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And there is a lot of

politics involved in all that.

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And I mean, you've got

a lot going on here.

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Tiffany Homler Hawkins:

We do have a lot going on.

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And even though we have, uh, the largest

single site employer here, uh, in Orange

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County and Osceola with Disney, um, we

compete for the same workforce, right?

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We, we compete for the same workforce.

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Um, but it really is a community effort.

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And we're, we're trying to

move more people and put the

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mass back in mass transit.

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Paul Comfort: Oh, I love that.

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That's good.

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All right, Dottie, what

surprised you most?

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Dottie Watkins: Well, I think there were

a handful of things that were surprising.

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Having been in the organization

for so long, it was...

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It's weird how different it

felt to be the CEO, right?

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I had been on the leadership

team for a very long time.

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I felt like I knew all the people.

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I did know them, had been in the trenches

with them, but it just was different.

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All of a sudden, people look at you

different and talk to you different.

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But I think the thing that I found most

surprising as the year has worn on is how

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much I enjoy being the face of CapMetro to

the community, how much it really is kind

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of fun to go out and remind people in my

hometown, like, why we care about public

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transit and why it's worth the investment.

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Even if you don't ride, let's

talk about who does ride and how.

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Getting that person out of their car

actually helps you as you drive your car

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or, you know, the economic growth that

is necessary by getting our essential

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workers and our hourly folks to work,

like how all of that just fits together.

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And I've been surprised by how,

like, eager to hear what it is you

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do and why should I care about it?

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People are.

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People really do want to understand.

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I always just sort of presume

nobody cares about us.

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Um, because that's how they

behave most of the time.

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But like, if you really engage

with them, they really do care.

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And so, it's been a lot of fun to

really get out in the community

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and be able to spread that message.

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Paul Comfort: I think most of you

all know this, but I don't think

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a lot of people really understand

the role of a transit CEO.

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It's analogous to, I always say,

and I told her this when I was

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there, like a small town mayor.

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You have, you know, HR, finance,

IT, procurement, legal, just like

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a mayor would in an operation.

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You've got all your operations.

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You represent one of the key functions,

probably, you know, with the school

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superintendent and the head of the transit

system and maybe the head of the police

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department, the three most visible public

officials in the city along with the mayor

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and it is, uh, and you catch a lot of

flack and you don't get a lot of credit.

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So, it's a tough job and you guys are

doing phenomenal in your first year.

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Dave, how about you?

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Tell me about your surprise.

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You came from the outside.

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These three kind of grew

up in their agencies some.

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Tell me about what, uh, what it was like.

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David Dech: Well, um, I think, I

don't know how much of a surprise

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it was, but I guess I'll say I was,

I was surprised how little I know.

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Right, so, like, I know trains, and

I knew how to operate trains, I know

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how to, you know, contingency plan

for trains, but there's so much more

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to it, just like you just alluded to.

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Um, and then, you know, coming from

the outside, um, you know, you're

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generally there for, you know, you're

not new because things were going well.

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So, somebody wants a change, somebody

wants a change, so then you come in and

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you don't know anybody, so you have to

learn all the people in the counties,

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and you've got to figure out who, you

know, who's our friends, and who's,

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who do we need to have as our friends,

um, and then you have, I mean, quite

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honestly, a pretty terrified workforce,

who, here's this new person coming in,

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uh, that we don't know, uh, we don't

know if we can trust him, we don't know

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where he's coming from, we don't know.

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So that's, there's, there was

such a lightning fast having to

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establish relationships and build

trust, uh, because I don't know.

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And I need people who trust

me enough to disagree with me.

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And that's hard when they don't know you.

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So that, I think that was

one of the biggest surprises.

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Paul Comfort: That's good.

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I actually don't know a whole lot

of CEOs who have that attitude.

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That's a great attitude.

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You want people to tell you, I mean,

I'm sure we know this, especially when

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you're new on the job, you want people

to tell you stuff because the last

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thing you want is to be surprised.

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So you want people to tell you that.

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How about you?

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What was your, um, what

was your big surprise?

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Coree Cuff Lonergan: So, thanks Paul.

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Um, so for me, um, so in full disclosure,

I'm a continual adult learner.

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So the first thing I did as soon as

I got this job was to pick up a book.

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and read about what it takes to be a CEO.

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Um, and I also did some research with

other CEOs to kind of get a feel for

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what the expectations were going to be.

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And then I got this book that talked about

what to do your first 90 days, 100 days.

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If you've seen those books,

they're very interesting.

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And, uh, one of those books

said, whatever your plan is, just

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be prepared for it to blow up.

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Right, so what surprised me the most

was how quickly my plan blew up.

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And in all fairness, uh, what

ended up happening was we were

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charged with, uh, with pulling

together our capital, uh, investment

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program, um, for our PRIMO plan.

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Um, 200 miles of new transit

service to Broward County.

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Um, and that's going to be, uh,

commuter rail, light rail, uh, bus

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rapid transit, high frequency bus

service, an expansion of our bus fleet.

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And, uh, basically had to kind of

figure out what that looked like,

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put a package together, communicate

that to the public, and get buy in.

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And I had to do that in my first 90 days.

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and I had to get our commission to

agree that this was worth spending 4.

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3 billion dollars on.

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I'm happy to say that we got a

unanimous vote and a nod to move

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forward with our PRIMO plan.

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so that, that was huge.

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Paul Comfort: Did you hear all the, she's

going to talk about this in the next

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question, but it's like three modes, brand

new modes coming to her, to her county.

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Amazing.

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Coree Cuff Lonergan: So, so the biggest

surprise to answer your question and

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to close this out was that I had to

do that and had to do it so quickly.

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Um, and I think one of

the things in these roles.

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is, you know, the surprise is how you end

up spending your time, because you think

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you're going to spend it one way, and it's

never what you think it's going to be,

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and I think that was my biggest surprise.

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Paul Comfort: That's great.

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One thing, you know, if you want to

move up in your career to potentially

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be a CEO one day of a transit agency,

I think you can see one skill set

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demonstrated right across the board here.

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And that is verbal communication skills.

348

:

All of them are tremendous

communicators, uh, can, you know,

349

:

communicate with empathy and

explain to you what's happening.

350

:

Even if it's a complex idea,

they can break it down to

351

:

help anyone understand it.

352

:

And I'm very impressed, and it's

just, it made me think about

353

:

that, that as you continue to move

your way up, I'm telling you...

354

:

21st century leadership, it requires

good communication skills, so we've

355

:

got great examples of it here, and

I'm going to ask them to continue to

356

:

demonstrate that by telling a story.

357

:

Everybody loves a story, so I'm going

to ask each of you to tell me a story.

358

:

What's one thing about your

position or responsibilities that

359

:

most people don't know, and tell

us a quick story to illustrate it.

360

:

And I'm going to start with Dottie.

361

:

Are you, you ready?

362

:

You got one?

363

:

Dottie Watkins: So I think that, um,

one of the things, and I shared this

364

:

with some of my colleagues when we

were on this panel, a similar panel

365

:

back at the ThinkTransit Conference.

366

:

Um, one of the things that was a surprise

to me was how pervasive politics is

367

:

in the work that we do because we

are, such public facing organizations,

368

:

but I think the one thing that That I

didn't know, so I'm going to presume

369

:

most people don't know it, because

that makes me feel better about myself.

370

:

Is that, um, politicians are people too.

371

:

And that ultimately, it's all

about seeing people as people, and

372

:

meeting the people where they are.

373

:

Um, we had a difficult, um,

transition, um, shortly, right

374

:

after I was given my contract, or

right as I was given my contract.

375

:

Um, we got a new mayor, an almost new...

376

:

City Council, about half of them were

new, um, and then we had an ice storm.

377

:

Paul Comfort: I remember that.

378

:

Dottie Watkins: And, um, it was actually

kind of the weirdest, like, we were the,

379

:

it was the, literally the perfect storm.

380

:

It was like, just drizzly and icy

enough in central Texas where we

381

:

have a ton of live oak trees which

keep their leaves in the winter.

382

:

So then, they got really icy and heavy

and started literally cracking off the

383

:

trees and falling all over the power

lines and doing all of this stuff.

384

:

Um, and I think one of the things that...

385

:

that we kind of learned from that was

You know, not everyone is, is, is going

386

:

to be necessarily up for the task, and

our, our city leadership struggled with

387

:

communication during that time, and just

put out a lovely after action report if

388

:

you're really dying to hear it, um, but

I think really realizing that like, Oh,

389

:

wait, even these people who I have held

up as, you know, in high esteem for a very

390

:

long time in my career can also look up

one day and have an oh no moment, right?

391

:

We don't usually say oh no, but

we're recording this for the podcast.

392

:

So I'll keep it clean Um and and have

that moment where you realize like

393

:

This isn't going well, and, and really

be able to, to see that in them.

394

:

So, I think that, um, just realizing that

every, everyone has their faults, and

395

:

we never, nobody ever figures it out, I

think that has really been driven home

396

:

for me, um, in this, in this last year.

397

:

I was very proud of the way Capital

Metro responded in that crisis.

398

:

We were, um, We were fresh off of

two years before we had had what

399

:

we called snow apocalypse, where

we got six inches of snow, which

400

:

never happens in Austin, Texas.

401

:

And so we had learned a lot about

decision making and communicating with

402

:

our customers, and we were able to put

that into action, um, this past February.

403

:

So, um, yeah, it's,

everybody makes mistakes.

404

:

Paul Comfort: It's great story.

405

:

Tiffany, how about you?

406

:

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: And, and to

echo, uh, Dottie's story about elected

407

:

officials being regular people.

408

:

My husband is a former state legislator,

so they really are just people and,

409

:

and they all don't have seven heads.

410

:

So, um, I, and, and going to the

emergency response, um, I think that's

411

:

what people don't know the most about

transit is our role in emergency response.

412

:

Uh, LYNX obviously Florida hurricane

response, we do that in our sleep.

413

:

it is a machine.

414

:

It goes like clockwork,

uh, when it works well.

415

:

But what they also don't is when

there are dignitaries or events, they

416

:

use the buses as, um, uh, security.

417

:

Um, Secret Service will work through our

Emergency Operations Center and request

418

:

buses because they look better for

blocking off roads than garbage trucks.

419

:

Um, we are going to be having the, uh, U.

420

:

S.

421

:

Olympic Marathon Trials here in February

and LYNX is playing a significant role

422

:

in that time trial in blocking the route.

423

:

I think when they had the time trials in

Atlanta, they expected 250, 000 people.

424

:

Um, so we're going to have an

influx of 250, 000 people in

425

:

downtown Orlando in February.

426

:

Monster Jam is a very big event here in

Orlando and we, um, and, and you know

427

:

this, when there's a crisis, uh, like

Pulse, um, a major corridor was shut down

428

:

in downtown Orlando for over a week and

it was the heat of summer, it was June.

429

:

And cooling buses are the one thing that,

you know, we as transit agencies can

430

:

provide, um, in that emergency response.

431

:

So I think that's one of the biggest,

when, you know, I packed my bag

432

:

to go for a hurricane response,

you know, my husband's like, see

433

:

you in a week, you know, maybe.

434

:

And, but, look, they've been going faster,

so, you know, it's only been a day or two.

435

:

Paul Comfort: Yeah, that's good.

436

:

That's a really good, uh, analysis.

437

:

One of the things that made me think

about when you talk about politics, the

438

:

one thing I was most surprised about

when I became a CEO in Baltimore, was

439

:

that every week a politician called

and asked me to move a bus stop.

440

:

They wanted to put it here,

they wanted to put it there,

441

:

and you had to respond to that.

442

:

I couldn't, I was like, really?

443

:

Yeah, you know, they either

didn't want people coming to their

444

:

community or they did want more.

445

:

You got any of that, Frank, going on?

446

:

Or you got...

447

:

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Bus stop

placement standards are awesome.

448

:

Frank White: This is being recorded, so

I'm not going to actually say anything.

449

:

What's one of the, uh, what's

a fun story from you that's

450

:

something you didn't think about?

451

:

I don't know if it's fun.

452

:

I think in leadership,

people follow you, right?

453

:

And so, you know, normally, I think Dave

said, when you get this job, you don't

454

:

get it because things are going well.

455

:

So when I came in, uh, last August, uh,

it was, it was, it was a cluster, okay?

456

:

You know, leadership confusion,

board confusion, we had no contract

457

:

with the city, new union contract,

everybody's like, what's going on?

458

:

And the thing that struck me the

most was, you're now responsible

459

:

for 620 people and their families.

460

:

So any decision you make, good or

bad, you know, you're affecting lives.

461

:

And so, to navigate that, so I would

say to somebody, leadership is lonely.

462

:

Because you've got to make decisions and

you hope they're the right decisions, but

463

:

you've got to make decisions regardless.

464

:

And so I look back on it now and I

kind of laugh at it, Paul, but at the

465

:

time it was kind of hairy because,

you know, you have no controversy,

466

:

you have no funding, the federal

government is like, who's this guy?

467

:

Do we trust this guy?

468

:

What's his plan?

469

:

And you're like, well, I

think, I know I can do it.

470

:

Um, but at the same time, you've got

to show your staff and your employees

471

:

that you've got it figured out.

472

:

And, and they don't, because they're

looking at you like, well, if he's

473

:

freaking out, then we're in trouble.

474

:

and so, you learn to

become very mentally tough.

475

:

And, and you also become

somewhat isolated.

476

:

Because you have to make these

decisions dispassionately.

477

:

And they're not personal decisions,

because you think of the agency first.

478

:

And will the agency survive?

479

:

And so for me, I'm better now because

of it, but it was a very intense

480

:

period because you really don't know.

481

:

You think you got it figured out, but,

you're taking all these things I just

482

:

said, it's like this jambalaya of stuff,

and you're hoping it's going to work.

483

:

You add the political dynamic to it, all

the other stuff as well, um, and so you

484

:

really have to lean on and really learn

to believe in yourself, um, because people

485

:

don't want to see their leader weak.

486

:

Because, you know, it's

like you're on a plane.

487

:

If the flight attendants are

nervous, then you get nervous.

488

:

So, that's been the biggest thing.

489

:

It's not a really fun story,

but it's a proud story.

490

:

Because I'm still here.

491

:

And they're all still here, and

they still like me, I think.

492

:

At least they're getting

paid, so it's a good thing.

493

:

But at the same time, you can't

do it without your folks, right?

494

:

Everybody that's here from the

ATA, you know, they all stepped up.

495

:

Um, I think Tyler might have been

the person I hired outside, but

496

:

everything we've done Paul is by

the people who are already there.

497

:

So that's a testament to the

people that were already there.

498

:

Paul Comfort: The other thing that

you alluded to but didn't say it

499

:

is that, you know, if anything

happens, bad, it isn't something

500

:

that you personally did probably.

501

:

It's something that happens.

502

:

You know, a crash or a derailment.

503

:

It's your face on the cover of

the newspaper, on the front, uh,

504

:

story of the evening news, if it

bleeds, it leads, as they say.

505

:

I mean, it's a very personal, uh,

thing that people don't, don't

506

:

understand unless they're sitting in so

507

:

Frank White: you have to become

incredibly mentally tough.

508

:

You have to get a very, very thick skin.

509

:

Yeah.

510

:

And, and, and not take it personal.

511

:

And no one does, no one likes

being criticized, right?

512

:

But it's just part of the job.

513

:

That's right.

514

:

And we go in, so.

515

:

Um, everybody, you know, you find your,

your, your therapy, whatever that may be.

516

:

I prefer cigars and whiskey.

517

:

Um, and, and it's, it's a joke because...

518

:

Paul Comfort: Can't wait

to come to Kansas City.

519

:

Frank White: Oh, I got

some place we can go.

520

:

Paul Comfort: Alright, good.

521

:

I'm looking forward to it.

522

:

Paul wants to come too.

523

:

Frank White: You are more than welcome.

524

:

Um, but, but that's the biggest thing.

525

:

It's just, it's just...

526

:

You don't get to, you don't get

to like, have the self doubt.

527

:

Because if there's any sense of, like,

weakness, they will, people will see it.

528

:

And, and they will pounce on it.

529

:

So

530

:

Paul Comfort: that's good.

531

:

All right.

532

:

Tell your story.

533

:

Coree Cuff Lonergan: You know,

as transit professionals, we

534

:

know the, the, the passengers.

535

:

We know who our customers are.

536

:

We know who the people are that we serve,

and, and sometimes, you know, they are

537

:

some of the people that don't have choices

of whether they use transit or not.

538

:

Um, and quite frankly, society may

or may not been very kind to them.

539

:

And so they, they get to their critical.

540

:

activities, whether it's work or school

or doctor's appointments using us.

541

:

So, from, from my perspective,

I had this aha moment.

542

:

Um, I had two of them actually.

543

:

the first one was within the first, uh,

week or two of my, uh, joining, uh, BCT.

544

:

And I was out, um, meeting with customers.

545

:

And, um, we happened to walk

up to a gentleman who was, um,

546

:

waiting for one of our buses.

547

:

And, um, you know, I introduced

myself and said hello.

548

:

And he proceeded to tell his story, right?

549

:

And, you know, he said, how

are things going for you?

550

:

And he shared with us

that he was in recovery.

551

:

That he was from another state

and that he could come to Broward

552

:

County to pursue his recovery and

that our bus system kept him sober.

553

:

Now, if that isn't moving,

I don't know what is.

554

:

Because that made me feel like

this is where I need to be and I'm

555

:

doing the job I should be doing.

556

:

But that's not the last

one of those stories.

557

:

Shortly after that, I met a woman

on one of our express buses.

558

:

So we have express service that goes

from Broward County down to Miami.

559

:

And she shared with me her story.

560

:

And her story was that she

was a breast cancer survivor.

561

:

And she had recently, been,

through her treatment process

562

:

and was returning to work.

563

:

And part of her returning to work meant

that she had to drive from home every day

564

:

to Miami, which she was struggling with.

565

:

The stress was bothering her.

566

:

the physical, activity of actually

driving was bothering her.

567

:

And finally, somebody from her work said,

you should try the express bus service.

568

:

She said that she wouldn't even have

her job if it weren't for the bus

569

:

service that we were providing and how

she could get to work and how she could

570

:

be relaxed when she got to work and

that was part of her recovery story.

571

:

So, when I think about the

things that, um, we're able to

572

:

influence, we, we don't know it.

573

:

But, you know, again, that's what

makes me really want to come to

574

:

work every day and work with the

wonderful people that I work with who

575

:

are in the audience, many of them.

576

:

I'm glad you're here.

577

:

Um, but, you know, we all share that.

578

:

Paul Comfort: That's wonderful.

579

:

It came to me, uh, a while ago that

when public transit is going well, a lot

580

:

of times the CEOs don't hear about it,

um, and, uh, but if you do it, if we do

581

:

it wrong, it can ruin somebody's day.

582

:

Ruin maybe more than just their day.

583

:

You know, taking people

to dialysis and all that.

584

:

So those personal stories have a real

impact, I think, on people in the

585

:

agency that they understand the impact

they're having on people's lives.

586

:

That's a wonderful story.

587

:

Two, two wonderful stories.

588

:

Dave, do you have a story?

589

:

David Dech: I have a lot of stories.

590

:

Um, but it's um, you know, just to

piggyback on, I think the thing that

591

:

surprised me what people don't, you

hear it, you hear it's lonely, right?

592

:

It's lonely.

593

:

I don't want to say it's lonely, but

you need to, it's, before you get into

594

:

one of these positions, it's important

to have a network of people in place

595

:

that you can call and complain to.

596

:

It's been recorded, so

I will say complain to.

597

:

You know, my wife only wants

to hear so much of it, right?

598

:

Um, but, you know, I'm in a

fortunate spot where I have a couple

599

:

people who are really close to me

that are in the exact same spot.

600

:

So Corey and I will talk together, I

see Clinton over there, Eulois around.

601

:

Uh, people who are in a similar spot,

that you can complain to, you know,

602

:

or I can call Dottie because I'm not

to where, I, I, I don't know I'll ever

603

:

be where I don't take it personally.

604

:

You know, the criticism, I think

I will always, take it personally.

605

:

You need to have that functional

outlet, um, you know, I know who

606

:

both of my internet trolls are.

607

:

Like, one of these days, I'm going

to have more internet trolls, like

608

:

I have two, but and I, and my wife's

like, why are you reading those?

609

:

I'm like, because that's, I mean, you

have to hear the bad stuff too, right?

610

:

but it's so important to be able to

talk to people who are, because No one

611

:

at work wants to hear it, like, hey,

listen, you competed for this job, you

612

:

asked for it, you know, you got it.

613

:

Um, so no one wants to hear it.

614

:

And, uh, so it's important

to find that group of people

615

:

around you that you can trust.

616

:

Um, and that's what, you know, I always

kind of say what's special and different

617

:

about transit, where I came from a

class 1 railroad, where if I called

618

:

my buddy to cry, he would record it.

619

:

Put it on the internet, and that would

be, that would be the end of it, but

620

:

like, in this business, people care

about each other, and people share with

621

:

each other, and this is a, and, and

I say this, it's an absolute unique

622

:

business, where everyone is 100 percent

interested in everyone else's success.

623

:

So we should all be happy about

that, but build those networks,

624

:

and have someone to complain to.

625

:

Paul Comfort: That's good.

626

:

Yeah, it is interesting

about our industry, isn't it?

627

:

Because every transit agency...

628

:

It doesn't compete against the other city.

629

:

Let's get a big round of applause for all

five of our CEOs, Corey Cuff Lonergan,

630

:

Dottie Watkins, Frank White, Tiffany

Hawkins, and Dave Dech thank you so much

631

:

for being here as part of our Transit

Unplugged podcast live today for you.

632

:

And thank you for being here today.

633

:

Thank you.

634

:

I believe the number one skill set

required for a leader to move up in

635

:

the public transportation industry Now

in the 21st century is communications.

636

:

That's why we regularly bring you our

Our Transit Unplugged communications

637

:

expert, Elea Carey, explaining to you

ways you can improve communications in

638

:

your agency and your personal skill set

639

:

Elea Carey: Hi, I'm Elea Carey, a

communications consultant who loves

640

:

working with public transit agencies.

641

:

The way Paul talks with this panel about

their leadership trajectories and what

642

:

it means to be in the driver's seat of

a transportation organization got me

643

:

thinking about internal communications.

644

:

I was particularly struck by Dottie

Watkins saying one of her biggest

645

:

surprises upon becoming a CEO is

that people treat you differently.

646

:

Now Dottie doesn't say if that was

a good thing or a less good thing.

647

:

But one possibility is that if your

internal people are treating you

648

:

differently, you might not be getting

the information or transparency

649

:

that you need to do your job.

650

:

How can internal communications help that?

651

:

Internal communications are all those

things we do to communicate with the

652

:

people we work with on official channels.

653

:

A solid internal communications plan

will increase employee engagement, cut

654

:

down on turnover, and help you mitigate

interpersonal conflict on your teams.

655

:

Most organizations that function well have

healthy, active internal comms channels.

656

:

That means they're sending out regular

newsletters to employees, they're

657

:

celebrating their staff members for

achievements and milestones, they're

658

:

providing feedback mechanisms and creating

safe spaces for employees to talk about

659

:

their experiences without retribution.

660

:

Healthy internal communications means

sending out the same information in many

661

:

different formats and doing so repeatedly

to make sure that employees with a variety

662

:

of communication styles get the message.

663

:

And internal comms extends beyond just

communicating to include creating fun,

664

:

meaningful events, great reasons for

your team to get together and put their

665

:

focus on something other than work.

666

:

If you'd like to talk more about how a

healthy internal comms plan can help you

667

:

create a strong organization or anything

else related to communications and

668

:

public transit, look me up on LinkedIn.

669

:

My first name is spelled E

L E A, last name C A R E Y.

670

:

Tris Hussey: Hi, this is Tris Hussey,

blog, and podcast manager at Modaxo

671

:

and the editor of Transit Unplugged.

672

:

I'd like to thank our guests on this

week's special episode recorded live

673

:

at the APTA TRANSform Conference

and EXPO Coree Cuff Lonergan,

674

:

Dave Dech, Dottie Watkins, Frank

White and Tiffany Homler Hawkins.

675

:

Now coming up next week.

676

:

It's the start of season seven.

677

:

We kick off season seven,

episode one with none other

678

:

than Randy Clarke head of WMATA.

679

:

This interview recorded

in Randy's office.

680

:

Where Paul and Randy talk about the

challenges, WMATA has been seeing, how

681

:

Randy has solved them, but what the

fiscal cliff might mean for the agency.

682

:

While you're listening to the show.

683

:

We'd appreciate it.

684

:

If you could take a moment

and rate and review the show.

685

:

Rating and reviewing it helps other

people find Transit Unplugged and be

686

:

part of our transit enthusiast community.

687

:

If you have a question comment, or

I'd like to be a guest on the show.

688

:

Feel free to email

us@infoattransitunplugged.com.

689

:

Transit Unplugged is

brought to you by Modaxo.

690

:

At Modaxo, we're passionate

about moving the world's people.

691

:

And it Transit Unplugged.

692

:

We're passionate about

telling those stories.

693

:

So until next week ride

safe and ride happy.

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About the Podcast

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Transit Unplugged
Leading podcast on public transit hosted by Paul Comfort, SVP Modaxo.

Listen for free