Leading Transit on Three Continents: Graeme Legh on Growth, Innovation, and Kelsian’s Future

Paul Comfort: 00:01:21

Graham, welcome to the show.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:23

Thanks, Paul.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:23

Great to, great to be chatting.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:25

of course.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:26

I'm near Annapolis, Maryland.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:27

Where in the world are you?

Paul Comfort: 00:01:28

Are you at today?

Graeme Legh: 00:01:29

I'm in Adelaide, in, in Australia, so it's probably not one of

Graeme Legh: 00:01:33

the, the obvious cities that a lot of your listeners would've, would've heard of.

Graeme Legh: 00:01:36

But it's the, I think it's the fourth or fifth largest city in, in

Graeme Legh: 00:01:39

Australia, , down on the southern coast and the head office of, of Kelsey Group.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:44

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:45

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:45

As you and I were just talking about in the Green room, I was able

Paul Comfort: 00:01:48

to visit some of your operations there in Australia, and I was very

Paul Comfort: 00:01:52

impressed by them and with your group.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:53

So it's a real honor to have you on the show today.

Graeme Legh: 00:01:56

Excellent.

Graeme Legh: 00:01:56

Great, great to hear that.

Graeme Legh: 00:01:57

Looking forward to the discussion

Paul Comfort: 00:02:00

now.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:00

You had a fascinating international career, , from Australia to

Paul Comfort: 00:02:03

the uk to Singapore and to the US and now back to Australia.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:08

, tell us about, you know, that journey some, and tell us some

Paul Comfort: 00:02:11

about your, your company, Kelsey.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:12

I, I've learned, I've been been in the, the, the transit or bus

Graeme Legh: 00:02:15

industry now for, for over 15 years, so, you know, quite, quite a long time.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:19

And I, I've learned over that period, there's probably two types of

Graeme Legh: 00:02:22

people that end up in this industry.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:24

The, the ones that are born into it and, uh, , are in it for their

Graeme Legh: 00:02:27

lives and ne never want get out.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:29

And then the other ones like me who sort of fall into it, it was never.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:33

On my list to, to be a, be a transport or or transit industry specialist.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:38

But I happen to fall into an opportunity, , over 15 years ago now,

Graeme Legh: 00:02:42

uh, and been been involved ever since.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:44

And now the thing that has kept me, , involved in, in the business is over

Graeme Legh: 00:02:49

that 15 plus year journey, the number of opportunities we've had as a business,

Graeme Legh: 00:02:53

but also just a number of opportunities.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:56

In this space are, are huge.

Graeme Legh: 00:02:59

And, and we continue to see that today and that's why I'm really

Graeme Legh: 00:03:02

excited to take on, uh, this new role leading the calcium group.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:06

Um, as you mentioned, you know, we've got operations in Australia , where

Graeme Legh: 00:03:09

the businesses we we're, we're.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:11

Founded, um, founded, moved into the UK and Singapore, and then more

Graeme Legh: 00:03:15

recently with our acquisition of All Aboard America Holdings in the us.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:20

So we've got our presence in some really, really interesting markets, and

Graeme Legh: 00:03:24

each of those markets has significant opportunities, which I think is, is

Graeme Legh: 00:03:28

a great story for us moving forward.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:30

And something.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:31

I'm looking forward to capitalize on, uh, um, as I, as I step into the role

Graeme Legh: 00:03:35

in terms of the, what Kelsey and does.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:37

So fundamentally, we're, we're a transit operator.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:40

The largest part of our business is in Australia, running transit bus operations,

Graeme Legh: 00:03:46

but we are a multimodal operator.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:48

We also run Australia's largest.

Graeme Legh: 00:03:51

Ferry passenger and, and vehicle ferry fleet, um, run to some of the, uh, world

Graeme Legh: 00:03:57

renowned, , tourist destinations , in Australia, some of some of the great

Graeme Legh: 00:04:01

islands that Australia has, and then offshore in Singapore, we operate, uh.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:06

Bus transit, uh, under contract to the Land Transport Authority in Singapore.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:11

And we also operate transit operations in the UK and Channel Islands.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:15

And then where I've spent the last couple of years is running our All

Graeme Legh: 00:04:19

Aboard America business in the us uh, where All Aboard America One is one

Graeme Legh: 00:04:24

of the largest motor coach operators in the us So a little bit different.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:28

To the transit background of, of the rest of, , the Kelian business.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:33

, but again, in a, in a super exciting , space with huge amount

Graeme Legh: 00:04:37

of, of growth in front of us.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:39

, at the end of the day, you know, we run buses like we, like we do in Australia.

Graeme Legh: 00:04:42

So there's a lot of similarities between what we do, uh, in Australia and the us,

Graeme Legh: 00:04:46

which is, you know, why we think that was a great acquisition for us and has got

Graeme Legh: 00:04:50

huge opportunities for us moving forward.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:53

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:53

While we're there on that topic, tell us a little bit more about All

Paul Comfort: 00:04:56

American holding, uh, how it works and how it fits into the calcium group.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:00

It is a little bit different than the, than the work you do elsewhere, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:05:03

I.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:03

Yeah, and it's, um, I mean we, as I said, one of the largest

Graeme Legh: 00:05:06

motor coach operators in the us.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:08

Uh, but we do fly a bit under the radar.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:10

And the reason we do that is we really operate six separate brands in,

Graeme Legh: 00:05:15

in, in the various locations across the south and southwest of the us.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:19

, so the, the business, , is a combination of those six market leading brands,

Graeme Legh: 00:05:23

um, which are very well known in, in their , local geographies.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:27

, it was actually one of the things that really attracted us with the Kelsey

Graeme Legh: 00:05:30

and hat on to the all aboard business in, in originally in that, um, we like

Graeme Legh: 00:05:35

the model that they had set up of.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:37

The, , very strong local operating brands coming together , under

Graeme Legh: 00:05:42

common ownership and common direction of all Aboard holdings.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:46

It's a very similar structure to the way our business has grown and developed

Graeme Legh: 00:05:50

in Australia, where we also operate.

Graeme Legh: 00:05:52

A number of diverse brands, , with the leaders of tho those brands

Graeme Legh: 00:05:56

given, , a lot of power to control their destiny and, and take their

Graeme Legh: 00:06:00

business where they believe the best opportunities are in their local market.

Graeme Legh: 00:06:05

Under, , the single umbrella, umbrella and guidance of Calcium Group, but

Graeme Legh: 00:06:10

more specifically in the us the All Aboard America Holdings, uh, company.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:15

what's it like to take over a CEO of a major company

Paul Comfort: 00:06:18

like this in the first month?

Paul Comfort: 00:06:20

What's, what's it been like for you?

Graeme Legh: 00:06:22

It, it's obviously, you know, a big step up and, and a

Graeme Legh: 00:06:25

big learning curve as it is stepping into new role, into a new role.

Graeme Legh: 00:06:29

I think the, the benefit that I've got stepping into this role is, I think I

Graeme Legh: 00:06:33

know the underlying business pretty well.

Graeme Legh: 00:06:35

I've been involved over the last 15 years in a large number of,

Graeme Legh: 00:06:39

of the operations in Australia internationally, and more recently.

Graeme Legh: 00:06:43

Running, running our US business.

Graeme Legh: 00:06:45

So I, I do think I, I know the underlying business very well, which is a, a, a,

Graeme Legh: 00:06:50

a big headstart for me, but obviously stepping into, , the group CEO role

Graeme Legh: 00:06:55

comes with, , a number of challenges and responsibilities and everything

Graeme Legh: 00:07:00

else that, that comes , with a job like this, , um, you know, our, our business.

Graeme Legh: 00:07:04

Like, like any business, ha has got some challenges at the moment and getting

Graeme Legh: 00:07:08

my head around those and working out how we plot, uh, our best path forward

Graeme Legh: 00:07:13

really so that, you know, we are in a position to take advantage of some of

Graeme Legh: 00:07:18

the really great growth opportunities to.

Graeme Legh: 00:07:20

In the industry, in the jurisdictions that we operate, uh, it is really

Graeme Legh: 00:07:25

gonna be my focus, um, because, you know, some of these opportunities

Graeme Legh: 00:07:29

don't come around that often.

Graeme Legh: 00:07:30

And I think we, we've gotta make sure we're positioned internally

Graeme Legh: 00:07:34

in the best possible way to take advantage of those opportunities.

Graeme Legh: 00:07:37

, if and when they, they do come up.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:40

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:40

One of the things that I was, um, fascinated by during my trip there to

Paul Comfort: 00:07:43

Australia just prior to US Thanksgiving, was how that everything is contracted

Paul Comfort: 00:07:48

out, you know, fixed route rail.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:50

Uh, here in the United States we seem to focus heavily on contracting

Paul Comfort: 00:07:54

out paratransit van, service on demand, those kind of things, and

Paul Comfort: 00:07:58

a little bit of fixed drought.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:59

But very different there in Australia.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:01

Right?

Paul Comfort: 00:08:01

I mean, pretty much you're the operator of, of, of most of the transit services

Paul Comfort: 00:08:06

in the places where you're at, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:08:07

In other words, fixed route rail, light rail, all that.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:10

I.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:11

Yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:11

Um, I mean, Australia, like, like the us uh, big country with,

Graeme Legh: 00:08:15

with different states that like to do things different ways.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:17

Yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:17

So there is a bit of a, a diversity across the different states of Australia,

Graeme Legh: 00:08:21

but really, you know, the reason our business has grown to become, , one of

Graeme Legh: 00:08:25

the largest operators in Australia is.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:28

Through taking advantage of a wave of, , outsourcing and contracting that

Graeme Legh: 00:08:33

governments have gone through in a number of key jurisdictions , in Australia.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:37

, obviously it's in our interest to say this, but I think there's, there's

Graeme Legh: 00:08:40

also a, a bunch of evidence to, to, to support it, to show that, you know,

Graeme Legh: 00:08:44

governments, if they do this the right way, governments and transit authorities

Graeme Legh: 00:08:47

can get a really, really good outcome , through going down the contracting route.

Graeme Legh: 00:08:51

Regardless of, of the mode, it is a bit narrow minded to only focus

Graeme Legh: 00:08:55

on a small subset , of the overall transportation, , requirements as,

Graeme Legh: 00:09:00

as needing to be contracted out.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:02

You know, I think the key thing is for, for governments to get the

Graeme Legh: 00:09:05

model right and then, um, you know, follow through with that model.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:10

Uh.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:11

Not, not focused on the mode of the transportation, but focused

Graeme Legh: 00:09:14

on getting the best outcome for their, for their customers.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:16

And I think there are a number of jurisdictions in Australia

Graeme Legh: 00:09:18

that have done that very well.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:21

Tell us about some of the innovations you're seeing in

Paul Comfort: 00:09:23

the public transportation, , world.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:26

You know, from your perspective, what are some of the innovations

Paul Comfort: 00:09:28

in 2025 that you think are having an impact on the industry?

Graeme Legh: 00:09:32

Yeah, I mean in, in the Australian business at the moment,

Graeme Legh: 00:09:35

you know, we are not probably at the forefront like some of the business in

Graeme Legh: 00:09:38

Europe, but we are very rapidly moving to decarbonize, our transit bus fleets.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:44

Obviously, that, that technology in itself is, is a big innovation, a big change, and

Graeme Legh: 00:09:48

should, you know, make public transport networks, uh, obviously more sustainable,

Graeme Legh: 00:09:53

but hopefully, you know, more, more reliable and more customer friendly.

Graeme Legh: 00:09:57

Our big focus is, um, working out how we can best align with that new technology

Graeme Legh: 00:10:03

to deliver significant efficiencies for for our government clients.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:08

You know, ultimately the way we grow as a business is to show our

Graeme Legh: 00:10:10

government clients that we operate the network, , as efficiently as possible.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:15

And you know, one of the ways we generate growth for ourselves is by showing

Graeme Legh: 00:10:20

them that making certain changes.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:22

To, to look at how we operate things and better utilize our assets means

Graeme Legh: 00:10:26

they essentially get more value for money for every dollar that they need

Graeme Legh: 00:10:30

to, to take from taxpayers to put into the, the, the public transport network.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:34

So with the change in technology to, uh, to battery electric buses in the

Graeme Legh: 00:10:39

large part here in Australia, that does change the operating environment for us.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:44

You know, it comes with, um, charging requirements, which are

Graeme Legh: 00:10:47

different to the diesel fleet.

Graeme Legh: 00:10:48

But at the same time, it comes with a different maintenance profile to what

Graeme Legh: 00:10:52

we had with a diesel fleet, and we're very focused on using our technologies

Graeme Legh: 00:10:56

and our people ultimately to find the optimal solution to deliver the

Graeme Legh: 00:11:01

best value for money for our clients.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:03

Given now they are the ones generally who are making the very,

Graeme Legh: 00:11:06

very significant investments.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:09

Both the buses and the infrastructure as we move to a a

Graeme Legh: 00:11:12

zero emission, , transit fleet.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:14

So that's very much our, our focus in Australia is trying

Graeme Legh: 00:11:17

to be the forefront of that.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:19

And we are taking that focus, , elsewhere to, to our other operations.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:23

Now, our business in the US being being motor coaches.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:27

, is not gonna be on the same timeline like, , some of our transit operations

Graeme Legh: 00:11:31

into, in, in terms of moving to, uh, alternative powered vehicles.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:36

You know, the diesel motor coach I think is gonna be around for a very long time.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:39

But we are taking the learnings we're generating from the, the new technology

Graeme Legh: 00:11:44

and the shift we're seeing in some of our other markets and making sure,

Graeme Legh: 00:11:47

you know, when the shift does happen.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:49

We are in the best possible place to take advantage of it.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:52

Um, even in markets where, you know, that change is, is is further off.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:58

Hey, transit Unplugged listeners.

Graeme Legh: 00:11:59

This is Paul Comfort.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:00

Something big is coming.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:02

Transit Unplug has grown in ways we've never imagined.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:05

From in-depth conversations with top transit leaders to award-winning

Graeme Legh: 00:12:09

travel videos, reaching audiences of millions around the world, we've been

Graeme Legh: 00:12:13

on an incredible journey together.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:15

Now it's time for the next chapter, A fresh look, a bold, new vision.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:19

But don't worry, our mission stays the same, to inspire with

Graeme Legh: 00:12:23

meaningful stories, to spark industry conversations, and showcase the best

Graeme Legh: 00:12:28

in public transportation and mobility.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:31

This rebrand represents our growth, fresh energy and our commitment

Graeme Legh: 00:12:35

to you, our listeners and viewers.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:37

The countdown starts now.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:39

Stay tuned and let us know what's been your favorite transit unplugged moment.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:47

What are some of your other priorities as a CEO that you're

Paul Comfort: 00:12:50

hoping and your vision over the next 12 to 24 months there at Kelsey and group,

Paul Comfort: 00:12:54

you, you're publicly traded, right?

Graeme Legh: 00:12:56

Yeah, so we're a publicly traded company on the,

Graeme Legh: 00:12:58

on the Australian stock change.

Graeme Legh: 00:12:59

So, you know, that's one of the learning curves for me is, uh, getting in, getting

Graeme Legh: 00:13:03

the feel of of, of listening to our investors and, and hearing what they,

Graeme Legh: 00:13:07

what they have to say, uh, when we report.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:09

, and obviously, you know, that that message is important.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:12

I think we're in a really, really good spot.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:14

I think, you know, we're in a great, part of the market.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:17

There are significant opportunities and if we can get ourselves, um, in the,

Graeme Legh: 00:13:21

to set up, in the best possible light to take advantage of opportunities, I

Graeme Legh: 00:13:25

think, you know, delivering the growth that our, uh, shareholders would like

Graeme Legh: 00:13:29

to see is, is not gonna be a challenge.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:31

, so my focus over the short to medium term is to, to really focus on what we do best.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:37

, at the end of the day, you know, while all business is complicated,

Graeme Legh: 00:13:41

especially these days, you know, what we really do is simple.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:44

You know, we want to provide the best possible customer service for our,

Graeme Legh: 00:13:48

for our customers, and fundamentally we wanna deliver, you know, extremely

Graeme Legh: 00:13:52

reliable and extremely safe.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:54

Transportation.

Graeme Legh: 00:13:55

, so my, my message to the team is let's focus on making sure we do those

Graeme Legh: 00:13:59

simple things really, really well.

Graeme Legh: 00:14:02

'cause if we do those, that, those, well, no, the other, um, transformational

Graeme Legh: 00:14:05

changes and transformational growth and taking advantage of the opportunities

Graeme Legh: 00:14:09

that we're in front of us, you know, that'll take care of itself if we do

Graeme Legh: 00:14:12

the simple things well and deliver, deliver for our customers and clients.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:16

All right, let's have some fun with some fun questions.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:17

Now, uh, we've got through all the serious stuff.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:20

, um, like me, you travel a lot, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:22

You've been across Australia, the uk, Singapore, and the us.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:26

Uh, where do you get the best coffee?

Graeme Legh: 00:14:28

Oh look, Australia does a pretty good job of coffee.

Graeme Legh: 00:14:31

Yeah, Melbourne

Paul Comfort: 00:14:31

coffee is great, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:32

I think, uh,

Graeme Legh: 00:14:34

places, places like Adelaide and Melbourne, uh, hard,

Graeme Legh: 00:14:37

hard to beat, especially, uh, when, when you travel a lot, uh, it's one

Graeme Legh: 00:14:40

of the things I, one of the things I miss is, uh, is a really good, uh.

Graeme Legh: 00:14:44

Coffee from the local coffee shop back home in Australia?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:47

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:47

When I was there, uh, a couple months ago, every day we had, we had

Paul Comfort: 00:14:51

coffee at a different place every day and they were all amazing, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:54

Nice.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:54

It's,

Graeme Legh: 00:14:55

it's part of, it's part of everyday life here and part of

Graeme Legh: 00:14:57

doing business, so you've gotta, you gotta enjoy coffee if you, if you

Graeme Legh: 00:15:00

wanna do business in this country.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:02

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:02

So when did you come to the us?

Paul Comfort: 00:15:04

How long ago was that?

Paul Comfort: 00:15:05

And did you, did you have any culture shock when you came over?

Graeme Legh: 00:15:08

So Kelsey and acquired All Aboard America in June, 2023.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:13

So I was there just short of two years.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:15

, the original plan was to, to be there a bit bit longer than that.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:18

But, you know, there, there's this, there's a opportunity arose.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:21

Yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:21

Opportunities arise and you ne you never plan these thi things outside.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:24

And I'm spending just under two years.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:26

So moved, moved the family across, uh, we were based in Brisbane,

Graeme Legh: 00:15:29

in Australia before that, and moved the family across to.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:32

To Denver in Colorado where all a boards head office is.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:36

And we had an absolutely fantastic, uh, 18 months to two, two years.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:40

Uh, I got two little girls and they, they'd never seen snow before, so Oh yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:44

They got to learn pretty quickly what a, what a real winter was

Graeme Legh: 00:15:47

in, uh, the mountains of Colorado, which is, which is fantastic.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:51

And they've, they've come back to Australia now.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:53

American accents.

Graeme Legh: 00:15:54

So it's a, it's a very good reminder of our, of our excellent

Graeme Legh: 00:15:57

time that we had in, in the us.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:59

Yeah, Brisbane's amazing man.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:01

And the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:04

Well, we were in the Sunshine Coast for, we were there for the weekend.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:06

Remember we went to that zoo, uh, the Australia Zoo?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:10

Yeah, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:11

Go right in and pet the, uh, pet the animals in there that we, I, I mean,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:16

it was just such a relaxed, laid back.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:19

Um, I said I could live here, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:21

This place is great.

Graeme Legh: 00:16:22

Yeah, no, Colorado was great, but it is, uh, it's great being home.

Graeme Legh: 00:16:25

So, you know, we're, we're pretty lucky.

Graeme Legh: 00:16:26

We've lived in some, lived in some great places.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:29

What do you think the most, uh, understated skill

Paul Comfort: 00:16:32

is that a transit CEO needs today?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:36

, Graeme Legh: I mean.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:38

I always look at our business, as I said, you know, it's very easy to

Paul Comfort: 00:16:40

overcomplicate things and you know, we're a big business now and there

Paul Comfort: 00:16:44

are very complicated aspects for it.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:46

But at the end of the day, you know, what we, what we do is simple.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:48

And the thing that I always come back to is we are a people business in, in every

Paul Comfort: 00:16:53

way that you look at it in terms of, you know, we fundamentally move people.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:56

That's what we we're paid to do.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:58

But more importantly, you know, we are a people business in terms of our team and

Paul Comfort: 00:17:02

our employees and the frontline staff.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:05

We need to deliver for, for our customers.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:07

So, um, you know, in terms of the, the, the biggest skill is, is understanding

Paul Comfort: 00:17:11

how important the people are and really being able to connect with the, the

Paul Comfort: 00:17:15

very diverse range of people that we need as a business to, to be successful.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:21

Um, you know, right across.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:23

The, the operation, uh, and across the different geographies that we operate.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:27

So that, that ability to connect with people, I think is probably

Paul Comfort: 00:17:30

the, the, the key one for me.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:32

Um, having worked in both locations, what do you think

Paul Comfort: 00:17:34

the biggest difference is between working in the US and Australia?

Graeme Legh: 00:17:38

I.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:39

Um,

Graeme Legh: 00:17:40

you know, there, there are a lot of similarities, which is good

Graeme Legh: 00:17:42

'cause I think it makes, you know, us going to the US and, and, and guys from

Graeme Legh: 00:17:46

the US coming to Australia a a lot easier.

Graeme Legh: 00:17:48

'cause fundamentally there are a lot of similarities.

Graeme Legh: 00:17:50

Probably the biggest thing that I learned that I, I really want to try and bring,

Graeme Legh: 00:17:54

bring back to, you know, our Australian team, but also just, you know, how the

Graeme Legh: 00:17:58

people we, how, how, how we do business in Australia is now I think Americans

Graeme Legh: 00:18:03

doing business and the US doing business.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:05

Uh, come at things with a very optimistic attitude.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:09

, when I sat with my team and we looked at the opportunities in front of us

Graeme Legh: 00:18:12

when we're we're in, in the us, you know, it was very much, you know,

Graeme Legh: 00:18:16

what can we do to make this happen?

Graeme Legh: 00:18:18

As opposed to, you know, sometimes in, in other parts, parts of the world,

Graeme Legh: 00:18:22

it's, you know, these are the reasons, you know, we can't go and do this

Graeme Legh: 00:18:25

and this is why it's all too hard.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:27

And I think just.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:28

Attacking problems and attacking opportunities with that really

Graeme Legh: 00:18:32

optimistic, um, background, you know, makes a huge difference in terms

Graeme Legh: 00:18:37

of how you're ultimately successful in delivering some of those things.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:41

So I, I, I think that's one of the things that I was super,

Graeme Legh: 00:18:44

, impressed with in terms of.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:46

Our team in the us but just the US generally, you know, the opportunities

Graeme Legh: 00:18:50

that optimism they have to, to, to go after opportunities as opposed to, you

Graeme Legh: 00:18:54

know, sometimes seeing all the roadblocks come up as why we, why we can't do things.

Graeme Legh: 00:18:58

Um, we, so that, that's one of the big things that I would love to bring out of

Graeme Legh: 00:19:03

the US and bring back to our business.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:05

That's very

Paul Comfort: 00:19:05

interesting.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:06

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:06

I like that.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:07

, do you have a favorite mode of public transportation?

Paul Comfort: 00:19:10

You know, bus, ferry, train or something else?

Paul Comfort: 00:19:12

Do, are you, like, do you ride motorcycles or anything?

Paul Comfort: 00:19:14

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:15

Yeah,

Graeme Legh: 00:19:16

we, um, as I said, we run a lot of ferries and, you know, some of our

Graeme Legh: 00:19:20

ferry operations are pretty hard to beat.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:22

Uh, going to work on a ferry, uh, down the Brisbane River

Graeme Legh: 00:19:26

where I was from originally.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:27

Yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:27

Or another place in Australia, you know, to, it's a not, sometimes, not the most

Graeme Legh: 00:19:31

efficient way from a time point of view to get to work, but a fantastic way

Graeme Legh: 00:19:34

to arrive at work with a really good mindset sitting on a ferry, reading

Graeme Legh: 00:19:38

the paper or, or drinking a coffee.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:39

So.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:40

I think, I think ferry transport in, in the transit world is pretty hard

Graeme Legh: 00:19:44

to beat and, you know, hard for, hard for our, all of our bus operations

Graeme Legh: 00:19:47

to compete with some of the great ferry services we run in Australia.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:51

Yeah.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:51

One of the ones that I did get pretty close to, I.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:54

Is the, the Bustang Motor Coach Service in Colorado.

Graeme Legh: 00:19:58

So that's a service that we run, uh, under contract to the COR Colorado

Graeme Legh: 00:20:01

Department of Transport, running motor coaches, um, from Denver primarily

Graeme Legh: 00:20:06

to all the key locations in Colorado.

Graeme Legh: 00:20:09

And one of the big service that we operate is, is, uh, along

Graeme Legh: 00:20:13

the I 70 into the mountains.

Graeme Legh: 00:20:15

So, um, given I, I quite like.

Graeme Legh: 00:20:17

Skiing and having the opportunity to live in Denver and, and do a bit of

Graeme Legh: 00:20:20

skiing in Colorado, getting one of our bustang buses up into the mountains,

Graeme Legh: 00:20:24

um, was always a pretty good, pretty good transit experience as well.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:28

It is good.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:28

Yeah, that sounds fun.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:29

I love, uh, I love the long distance rails.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:32

Personally, I've done some amazing rail trips, , uh, even excursion rail, like

Paul Comfort: 00:20:36

in Denver, it was Denver to Moab , it's a great, , excursion train that's there.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:40

It's good times.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:41

Okay, a couple more questions, uh, just kind of fun stuff.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:44

Um, I don't often get a chance to ask fun questions, so I

Paul Comfort: 00:20:46

wanted to throw it in with you.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:48

, do you have a, well, lemme tell me about that island sum that you

Paul Comfort: 00:20:51

guys own over there in Australia and you've got service there.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:54

You've got bus service to it, and you've got ferries that go to it.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:57

It's like an eco island or something like that.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:59

, Graeme Legh: we've got a, a marine and tourism division in Australia that sits

Paul Comfort: 00:21:02

alongside our bus division and, and that division, uh, is fortunate enough to, to

Paul Comfort: 00:21:07

run the ferry services to some fantastic islands and, and, you know, absolutely

Paul Comfort: 00:21:12

beautiful places if, if people ever get to get a chance to, to come to Australia.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:15

So there, there's a number of key ones.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:17

There's Kangaroo Island, which is a service in South Australia from Adelaide.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:21

We run the ferry, but we also run a number of coach tours and other

Paul Comfort: 00:21:25

tourism opportunities on the island.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:28

And then, uh, in Queensland, again, we run, , the motor, , a vehicle ferry to,

Paul Comfort: 00:21:33

to Strat, broke island, but also then have the, the transit contract providing the,

Paul Comfort: 00:21:38

the bus transit, , services on the island.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:40

Some of these island destinations, we are, we really are.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:43

You know, fundamental to the people that call US Islands home, in terms of

Paul Comfort: 00:21:47

how they get to and from the mainland.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:49

Oh yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:49

Their transit are in the island.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:51

But also, and importantly, providing a great customer experience for, for all

Paul Comfort: 00:21:55

the tourists that, that travel to the islands and really drive those economies.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:58

So.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:58

Now we, we, we, we take that responsibility pretty seriously

Paul Comfort: 00:22:02

and know we, uh, a big part of what makes those communities tick.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:06

, and, and you know, that that's a good thing.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:07

And we hope, hope we're doing a good job.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:10

All right, let's get a little esoteric here then.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:12

Um, what do you think the best leadership advice is that you've ever received?

Graeme Legh: 00:22:17

Oh, that's a good one.

Graeme Legh: 00:22:18

Uh, I've worked for some, I've worked for some, I've worked for some great

Graeme Legh: 00:22:21

leaders and they, the, the, the ones that, uh, I've worked for always seem to

Graeme Legh: 00:22:25

have their, their sayings, which simplify things and, and yeah, make it clear, uh.

Graeme Legh: 00:22:30

I mean, one that I, I come back to pretty often is, is a, is a,

Graeme Legh: 00:22:34

is a pretty famous, famous quote.

Graeme Legh: 00:22:36

Um, you know, something along the, to the effect of, you know,

Graeme Legh: 00:22:39

if you cannot do great things, do small things in great ways.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:43

Oh, I like that.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:44

, Graeme Legh: in, in terms of the teams that I've led, I think.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:47

That's one of the things that I hope I've brought to the table in,

Paul Comfort: 00:22:49

in helping them see through some of the complexity and, um, some of the

Paul Comfort: 00:22:55

roadblocks that we're talking about.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:56

You know, sometimes when you're presented with a problem, you know,

Paul Comfort: 00:22:59

it all looks so big and complicated, it feels a bit insurmountable.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:03

Uh, and I think one of the key jobs as a leader, , is helping your team

Paul Comfort: 00:23:08

realize that you, every problem can be broken down into small things.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:12

And if you do those small things well.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:14

You got every chance of actually being successful in, in the big thing.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:16

So know as I said, you know, big focus of mine is, you know, let, let's look

Paul Comfort: 00:23:21

at the simple fundamental things we do and do them really, really well.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:25

And if we take that attitude into the problems we face and our teams face

Paul Comfort: 00:23:29

this day on a daily basis, you know, I think that's a good way to help them.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:33

, work through some of the big challenges that, that inevitably come up.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:37

. Paul Comfort: And final question, and you can add in anything you

Paul Comfort: 00:23:39

want to here, Graham, at the end.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:40

But I'm wondering what excites you most about the future of mobility?

Paul Comfort: 00:23:44

Both, you know, both where you operate, but even around the world.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:47

What, what is exciting you most as you look through the horizon?

Graeme Legh: 00:23:50

Yeah, I mean, I think it, it's an industry as

Graeme Legh: 00:23:53

you would know, Paul being.

Graeme Legh: 00:23:55

Been around it for a long time, you know, from the outside it

Graeme Legh: 00:23:58

doesn't look that exciting.

Graeme Legh: 00:23:59

And you know, everyone just says, you, you run buses up and down the

Graeme Legh: 00:24:01

street, you know what's going on there.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:03

But I think once you're on the inside and you see what's happening, you know,

Graeme Legh: 00:24:07

I think, I think I understand and I can see that there's huge opportunities.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:11

For, for this industry moving forward.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:13

You know, there's some really big macro themes around the world that the

Graeme Legh: 00:24:18

transport and transit industry are, you know, riding the tailwinds on.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:22

You know, I think urbanization around the world has been a big theme over, you know.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:27

50 years plus going back.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:29

And I think that's gonna continue, continue, um, uh, in, into the future.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:35

Uh, and alongside that now, the more recent theme of, of decarbonization

Graeme Legh: 00:24:39

and working out how we do things sustainably moving forward.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:43

And I think the, the transit and mass transport industry.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:47

Is really fundamental to making sure both of those things are successful.

Graeme Legh: 00:24:52

You know, we can't all, we can't all keep moving to cities and, and not get

Graeme Legh: 00:24:55

around and we can't achieve anything that, you know, politicians and other

Graeme Legh: 00:25:01

people wanna achieve in terms of doing things sustainably if, if, if we are

Graeme Legh: 00:25:05

not, uh, utilizing mass transportation as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:10

So, you know, what excites me is, is, is trying to work out.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:14

How our various mass transit opportunities around the place can really, one, take

Graeme Legh: 00:25:19

advantage of those, those themes, but two, you know, really be a key, uh,

Graeme Legh: 00:25:24

solution to what is gonna be an ongoing problem, you know, as far as we can,

Graeme Legh: 00:25:29

as far as we look at in the future.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:31

And I think that comes with huge opportunities.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:33

And if we can be the ones that can take advantage of that and solve

Graeme Legh: 00:25:36

some of those problems, you know, I think our business has got a, a long

Graeme Legh: 00:25:39

road of, of success in front of it.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:42

Well, I wish you great success, Graham, in your new role as

Paul Comfort: 00:25:44

CEO of Kelsey and group one of the largest, uh, transportation companies,

Paul Comfort: 00:25:48

not only in Australia, but the world.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:50

We thank you for being a guest with us today on Transit Unplugged, and

Paul Comfort: 00:25:53

hope to visit you again sometime in the next couple years in Australia.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:56

Maybe we'll come visit one of those islands.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:58

Yeah, no, definitely.

Graeme Legh: 00:25:59

Let me know when you're back here, Paul and I would be very happy to take you

Graeme Legh: 00:26:02

on one of those great ferry rides to one of the, one of the great islands.

Graeme Legh: 00:26:05

So thank thanks.

Graeme Legh: 00:26:06

Appreciate the to come on the show and uh, it's been a great talk.

Julie Gates: 00:26:14

Thank you for listening to this week's episode

Julie Gates: 00:26:16

of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.

Julie Gates: 00:26:18

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Julie Gates: 00:26:19

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Julie Gates: 00:26:21

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Julie Gates: 00:26:24

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Julie Gates: 00:26:27

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Julie Gates: 00:26:31

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Julie Gates: 00:26:49

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