Exploring Tucson's Transit Future with Mikel Oglesby

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On today's Transit Unplugged podcast, we take you in

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person behind the scenes to Tucson, Arizona with our special guest, Mikel

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Oglesby, who is the general manager of SunTran, the local transit system there.

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Uh, it is a great interview.

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We take it on the road, walking and getting on the, their, uh, street cars

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and taking some of it in his office.

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It's a fun, interesting interview that I recorded while I was there,

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uh, speaking at the Southwest Transit Association Conference.

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A great conference.

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Uh, that operates, uh, and represents eight states there

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in, uh, and they had their annual conference this year in Tucson.

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We take a look at the grants, the projects, the transit owner overviews

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with Mikel, and, uh, a little bit of his past history, which I think you'll

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find very interesting how, um, he got started off in his career with his

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father as a bus driver, a bus operator in Boston, literally, you know, sitting

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on the seat behind his dad kicking his legs, the little kid, and he grew up.

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To become, um, you know, a well-known, well-respected

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leader in our transit industry.

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We also take a look at their alternative fuels, and this podcast is

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a complimentary episode that matches along with our Transit Unplugged TV

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episode where everything you hear on today's episode, you can see it on our

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Transit Unplugged TV show on YouTube.

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This is the in-depth interview.

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We'll show you some of these things on the program on YouTube airing now.

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Now let's dive into this great interview with my friend Mikel Oglesby.

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We're in Tucson, Arizona, for the SWATA Conference 2025,

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and it is gorgeous outside.

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And Mikel Oglesby and I are walking down to one of your, train, your, Light rail

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stations, but you call 'em streetcar.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:44

They're street cars.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:45

That's right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:46

We're gonna

Paul Comfort: 00:01:46

What's the difference between a streetcar

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and a light rail to you?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:48

Well, a streetcar, the rail is actually physically on the street.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:52

Light rail can also have, ballasts underneath it and stuff like that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:01:55

Right,

Paul Comfort: 00:01:55

like a train.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:57

Yeah.

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That's good.

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I love your streetcar, by the way.

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It's beautiful.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:59

Well, thanks for welcoming me here and for, we're doing a TV show

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plus a, a podcast at the same time.

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How's it going, man?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:05

Everything's perfect.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:07

I mean, we're here at the SWATA conference.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:08

I'm here with you, and we're just excited to show off our system.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:12

Well, you've got quite a system to show.

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We've already been here about a day and a half, and I've seen so many cool things.

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Tell us about your system in general.

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You know, the modes and people and budget and all that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:22

Sure.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:22

So, we're about a 92 million budget.

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we have, We have three different modes.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:27

It's SunVan, SunTran, and SunLink, so it's basically fixed route,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:31

paratransit, and streetcar.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:34

And, we're really excited to provide this service to three transit centers.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:40

All right, and which one are we going to now?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:42

Well, right now, we're going to go to, 4th and 9th and get

Mikel Oglesby: 00:02:45

on the train and go over to SunLink.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:47

That's great.

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So we're going to take this podcast recording.

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While we're on his vehicles, we're going to, he's going

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to tell us what we're seeing.

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It's going to be one of these live in person podcasts, that we've done a few

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times before that people find so popular.

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and, you work, you're the general manager.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:01

That's correct.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:02

I'm the general manager of all three modes and, oversee it and report to the city..

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We're back here.

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And, Mikel, we're going to hop on one of your streetcars here.

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Where are we headed?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:13

We're heading to our SunLink facility and, to go see

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our staff and kind of walk around and show you what we're all about.

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Let's talk about the organization structure.

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You know, a lot of people that listen to our show work in transit, so I think

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your structure here is very interesting.

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Tell us about how it works here in Tucson.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:29

It's very unique.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:30

So, the city of Tucson hired a contractor, which is RATP DEV,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:35

to oversee the entire system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:38

It's four positions.

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Mine is one of them, and I have control over all 900 employees.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:44

Most places do the same thing, but it reports to a transit system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:48

The transit system is knocked out, and I'm directly to the city.

Paul Comfort: 00:03:51

Gotcha.

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And I met the guys that you work with from the city.

Paul Comfort: 00:03:55

They seem like sharp guys, too.

Paul Comfort: 00:03:56

They're really into what we're doing here, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:03:58

Yeah their support is 100%.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:01

They were instrumental to getting me here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:03

And I support them 100%.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:06

A unique, you might be the biggest fare free system left in America.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:11

Yeah, it's fare free, I mean, when you have paratransit, fixed

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:15

route, and the rail system, fare free.

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And when you have a rail system, basically streetcar coming from the U of A and

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these students are depending on this, free fare, it has been extremely successful.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:26

That's awesome.

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And, and so the city is, the city council is really behind transit, obviously.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:32

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:32

100%. They're supplementing the, additional costs and it's been going

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on all for about five years now.

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So, you also have something great coming.

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What?

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Let's first talk about what you've got, then I want to talk about your BRT, which

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is what you're hoping to bring in here.

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Yeah.

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So, tell me about your bus system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:48

So, our bus system is a unique system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:04:50

We have, a hundred and eighty five, buses, and we service, approximately

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three hundred and twenty three, square miles of, of service.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:59

It's a big area.

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We were driving around today, driving for fifteen, twenty minutes,

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and you're still in the city.

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It's, it's big.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:05

It's big.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:05

And it requires a lot of service.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:08

Not only are we free, but we're efficient.

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So we make sure people can get to where they need to be,

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when they need to get there.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:14

And then tell me about your streetcar system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:16

So the streetcar system is a 3.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:18

9 mile loop, but it's jam packed with innovation.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:22

It's jam packed with the ability to go shopping, go to places

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that you have to, go eat.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:28

There are so much things you can do.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:29

Yeah, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:30

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:31

And then your paratransit.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:32

So our paratransit service is the same, square area,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:35

and we actually service some a little bit outside of that area.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:39

And one of the great things about our paratransit service is that we

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:42

still stand behind the leave nobody behind, technique with it being free.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:47

And we are really doing that simply because we have the best employees.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:05:53

That's the reason why.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:54

That's awesome, man.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I've been working with Cindy Gleason from your staff and

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a couple of the other folks.

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They're top notch.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:00

Oh, yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:01

Cindy, she's with our marketing group.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:03

I have Davida with our planning group.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:05

I mean, I could go on and on.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:06

The ones you've dealt directly with, it was a dream for you to come here,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:10

and especially during the SWATA event, during our 50 year anniversary,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:15

during a time where the rodeo was celebrating their 100 year anniversary.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:20

And then last year we celebrated 10 years Sunlink.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:24

That's beautiful.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:25

Yeah, 50 years of transit, and tomorrow we're going to go to your museum, which

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has all the vehicles from the last 50 years, like a different one of each kind?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:33

Oh, that's correct.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:34

It goes, it has paraphernalia, it has articles, there's even a person there

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that carves out buses, hand carves them.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:45

He'll be right there, hand carving them, and he can talk you through

Mikel Oglesby: 00:06:49

the fact that he does it to spec.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:51

The other day, one other thing I want to mention was, you and I got

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on a bus the other day, the number three bus, which was, from the Ronstadt Center.

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Tell us about that.

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Linda Ronstadt's family's from here, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:02

Yeah, absolutely.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:02

The Ronstadt Center's very popular.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:04

We have, three centers, that's one of them, and we went

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:08

from there over to El Charro.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:10

it's so popular, that it's hard to keep up cleaning it, but we are there just working

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feverishly to make sure it looks good.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:16

Yeah, and if you want to see what he's talking about,

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tune in to our YouTube channel.

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Our Transit Unplugged TV show on YouTube from Tucson and the

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food at El Charro last night.

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The owner and the two chefs came out, described each meal.

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They brought us platters of their best everything and drinks

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and what a fantastic story too.

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Started by his grandmother and his mother, each of them had it for 50 years.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:39

they have it still in the original house, I mean, and the current

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president, what an amazing guy.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:44

He's grown it to 18 different restaurants now.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:46

Yeah, it's amazing.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:48

It's amazing.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:48

And the fact that they have carne seca and they dry it with

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:52

the sun on the roof in a cage.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:56

I'll tell you, I don't know what it sounds like it tastes, but I

Mikel Oglesby: 00:07:59

can tell you that it tastes good.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:01

And wow, he gave us some of the Chimichangas.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:03

They actually invented them here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:05

Yeah, the myth is that, they dropped, food into the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:10

fryer and when they pulled it out, it ended up being a chimichanga, but,

Paul Comfort: 00:08:13

It was like magic!

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:13

Yeah, yeah, voila!

Paul Comfort: 00:08:15

Yeah, yeah, no, that's great, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:16

Alright.

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So, while I was out with some of your guys, we went over to one of the other

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stations and you guys are working on a new bus rapid transit project, BRT.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:24

Tell me about that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:25

Yeah, so we're working on bus rapid transit going

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:27

along Stone and it's the first step.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:29

So, if this is successful, then there are other corridors that

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:32

we would like to implement.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:34

I'm really excited because when I came here, I have experience with BRT.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:37

So, when they said this is the path we're moving in, I think that's the way to go.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:42

sort of extend our rail that we currently have.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:45

So people may say, are you going to extend the streetcar?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:47

Well, not necessarily, but we can extend it another way, which is the,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:08:52

some people say poor man's version of rail with bus rapid transit.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:55

I was just over in Brisbane.

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Jaime and I were over there.

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We were filming for our shows and Brisbane is, is, they

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have, it looks just like rail.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:04

It's called their Metro, but it's going to, it's BRT.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:07

I mean, it's fantastic.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:08

And he was, you know, all the reasons why everybody from Curitiba to Brisbane.

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and now Tucson is wanting to do bus rapid transit.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:14

I'm a big proponent of it.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:15

It's like, what, a third of the price of rail and you can move it if you need to.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:20

Absolutely.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:20

I mean, bus rapid transit's proven.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:22

I had, was instrumental in getting BRT, the Silver Line in Boston,

Paul Comfort: 00:09:27

so

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:27

I'm familiar with it, but what you're talking about is a

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:30

60 foot articulated vehicle and it even has a little hub over the wheel.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:34

That's right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:35

You know what I'm talking about.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:36

That covers it and makes it look like our actual train.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:39

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:39

It's on the cover of our Brisbane episode.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:41

We took a picture of it.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:42

It's just one of the coolest looking buses I've ever seen.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:44

That's cool.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:45

Yeah.

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So, tell me, tell me about, how you got here and, and how long you've

Paul Comfort: 00:09:49

been here and all that kind of stuff.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:51

You've got quite a, quite a history.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:53

Well, well, well, I will say, I mean, though I've only been here

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:56

eight months, I've been in transit over 30 years and I've run various systems,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:09:59

large and small, different locations from Boston to Florida, to California.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:05

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:05

but I will tell you, this is my favorite.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:08

I mean, I'm very happy because I can take a lot of the skills that I've,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:12

I've learned and hone them, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:15

And then apply them here and help the city.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:18

And it is working just perfectly.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:20

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:21

Well, we're getting ready to get on your streetcar.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:23

It's going to be pulling up here in just a minute.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:24

We'll see if your estimated arrival time signs are working right.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:29

It says it's going to be here in three minutes.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:31

All right.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:31

So, yeah, I'll be here.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:33

I'll be the judge of that, as they say.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:34

No, I'm just messing with you.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:36

All right.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:37

So, once we get on there, I want you to tell me the story of your dad.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:40

And, I want to wait until we get on the streetcar to do that.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:43

So, let's talk a little bit more about what's here.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:45

One thing that is fantastic, I was here last year for a Trapeze,

Paul Comfort: 00:10:48

Vontas conference, and I noticed it then, I'm noticing it now.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:52

Your weather here, man, it's like my dream weather.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:54

I love it here!

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:55

Yeah, it's great.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:10:56

A lot of people say, Oh, you're in, you're in Arizona, isn't it hot?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:00

Well, there's three months of hot.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:01

But then, the rest of the time, it's cool in the morning, it's nice

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:05

in the day, it's cool at night.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:06

Yes.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:06

The same people that are saying that are in places like Detroit, where I'm

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:11

saying, okay, well, you don't like Tucson, but you don't, three months,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:14

you don't mind three months of, snow.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:16

Right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:16

So, the only And the freezing.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:18

Right, so to tell you the truth, I'd rather complain about wearing

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:21

shorts than a t shirt myself.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:23

Absolutely, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:24

I love it here.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:24

This is great weather.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:26

Your system is amazing.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:27

What else is happening, in the world of transit here?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:30

We've talked about the BRT potentially coming.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:32

Tell me a little bit more about that.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:33

what is the next phases?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:35

You're in the planning phase right now?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:36

You're seeking funds?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:37

Or where are you at?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:38

Well, right now, we're solidifying.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:40

So we're identifying the funds for the first phase of the BRT, but one of the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:43

things we're really stretching out on is really taking a look at our alternate fuel

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:47

technology and the direction that we're going, and I'm glad that we're going in

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:51

the direction of a CNG electric split because we can provide transportation.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:55

Some people go all in on electric.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:58

And they've been burned.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:11:59

We were able to work with the city to say, even though your goal is 90 percent

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:04

zero emissions by 2030, if you want to provide transportation to people, let's

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:08

ease into it until the technology's there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:11

So I think it's a match made in heaven.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:13

That's interesting.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:14

And you have a lot of CNG here anyway, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:12:16

I mean, underground.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:18

Right, exactly.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:19

So Yeah,

Paul Comfort: 00:12:19

you're like Fort Worth and there's other places

Paul Comfort: 00:12:20

that say, Paul, we just pump it up.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:22

Kansas City, Frank does too.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:23

They, they have CNG right there and it's, it's very clean.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:26

Right, it's very clean and we're in the process of And you'll see it

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:29

when we go to the North Yard, we have a CNG facility with more that's being built.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:34

And really the goal is to combine the two, facilities eventually once we get that

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:39

built to house everything in one location.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:41

Ah, very good.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:42

All right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:12:43

look at that.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:44

Look at the time.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:44

What time is it?

Paul Comfort: 00:12:45

We're gonna hop on.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:46

It's right on time, baby.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:47

Good job.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:48

Don't even try it.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:50

Cars are pretty quiet though.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:51

Alright, we'll see how quiet these vehicles are.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:53

They're coming up now.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:54

It's right on time.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:54

It's actually a second or two early.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:57

So that's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:58

But it won't leave early, I'm sure.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:59

Here it comes.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:00

Beautiful.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:04

Got it, George.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:06

Alright, Mikel, now we're on your, now we're on your, streetcar here.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:10

This thing is awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:11

it's, it's keeping us plenty cool, even though it's hot outside.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:13

That's why you, you hear the air conditioners back here.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:16

That's right.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:16

this thing is ten years old now?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:18

It's ten years old, but the air conditioner's brand new.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:20

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:20

We just replaced it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:22

But it's ten year, it's ten years old, and we are, it's ten years young, actually.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:27

Yeah, there you go.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:27

And pretty soon, we'll be looking at, moving forward with additional vehicles,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:31

but right now we're doing pretty good.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:33

We'll wait till you see.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:34

The, layout and the format you'll see.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:36

Oh, that's awesome, man.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:37

We're doing very well.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:38

How many, how many, buses do you have?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:40

total buses, like 200 something?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:42

Oh, total buses?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:43

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:43

We have 185 total buses.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:45

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:13:45

We have eight trains.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:47

Eight trains.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:47

Okay, very good.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:48

All right, looks like it's almost time for us to hop off.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:51

So, one more, one more stop.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:53

One more stop.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:56

Great to have with us on a special insert edition of the podcast, Rebecca Klein

Paul Comfort: 00:14:01

and Keith Scott, my friends from Tall Small Productions and Communications

Paul Comfort: 00:14:05

and today we're talking about how people who want to move up in their career,

Paul Comfort: 00:14:09

sometimes you have to be resilient, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:10

You have to spring back during challenges.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:12

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Exactly, Paul.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:13

Thank you for having us.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:14

The key is to be able to spring back and not to get stuck in the past.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:21

And that happens by using clear language and messaging that builds trust.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:28

None of the fluff, but clear, direct language.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:32

And in that language, you want to avoid things that can trigger

Paul Comfort: 00:14:36

other people's walls to come up.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:38

Such as in a challenging time, if you tell someone, No offense,

Paul Comfort: 00:14:42

but Or, can I be honest with you?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:45

They're going to know that you want to offend away and that you're a liar.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:49

And, and uh, what about body language?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:51

What's the importance there?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:52

I'm just reading a book from an FBI guy on body language, so

Paul Comfort: 00:14:55

this will be interesting to me.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:56

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Well, body language is, as you know,

Paul Comfort: 00:14:57

Paul 70 percent of communication.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:59

Every time we walk out in public, when we leave our homes, we're being watched.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:04

We always tell people, stay paranoid.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:07

And you project trust and authority through your body language, you have to

Paul Comfort: 00:15:12

always realize that someone's watching you and someone's making an opinion about you.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:17

And a big part of resilience is connecting with other people.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:21

And with your body, if you cross your arms the moment the challenging

Paul Comfort: 00:15:24

conversation happens, It's going to show that you are closed off and shut down.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:29

You want to have your palms open, show people, Hey, I'm receptive

Paul Comfort: 00:15:32

to what you have to think as well.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:35

And um, what about like a, the team feedback culture?

Paul Comfort: 00:15:38

What can you tell me about that?

Paul Comfort: 00:15:39

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: One of the key things for feedback is open and

Paul Comfort: 00:15:44

honest feedback, not the fluff, not the compliment sandwich, but making sure

Paul Comfort: 00:15:48

the feedback helps strengthen the team.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:52

Feedback is a gift in encouraging and developing a culture where feedback

Paul Comfort: 00:15:56

is a gift to become a better person.

Paul Comfort: 00:15:58

Because if we're all told all the time, hey, you're doing a great job,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:02

there's no room to develop further.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:05

And with feedback, as Keith said, too many times when you have the

Paul Comfort: 00:16:08

compliment sandwich, you hear that good part, and all you know is what's

Paul Comfort: 00:16:12

coming, and you're getting ready for it, and your defenses are climbing.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:15

Instead Save the worst for first.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:19

Really?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:20

That's interesting.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:21

So, so if I was going to have a talk with someone, uh, how would that work?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:25

Just let them know right up front what the issue is?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:27

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Exactly.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:28

Well the problem,is people say, Hey, Bob, or Hey, Sally, you're doing a great

Paul Comfort: 00:16:32

job and we really love having you here.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:34

But, no

Paul Comfort: 00:16:35

one,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:36

true.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:37

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: No one hears anything after the,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:40

you know, before the but, Right.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:41

So start out.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:42

Here's what's going on.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:43

Here's what I need to see change.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:45

And here's how we're going to do a follow up to make sure the change occurs.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:48

Interesting.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:49

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:50

And then, so, let's, let's say, in this communication, uh, exchange,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:55

there become some tensions.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:56

How are you going to de escalate those?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:58

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Sometimes it's knowing when to

Paul Comfort: 00:17:00

stay silent and to walk away.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:02

If somebody becomes visibly emotional.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:05

Step away.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:06

Say, I'm going to give you a moment, or I'm going to go grab some water

Paul Comfort: 00:17:09

because otherwise too often people keep on talking, that person's garage

Paul Comfort: 00:17:14

door has closed, and they are not receiving anything you are saying.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:17

It's very rare that you can reduce tensions with words.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:21

It's very rare.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:23

In couples, in the workplace.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:26

Words never work.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:27

I'll throw that in there.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:28

I'll add that.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:29

Taking time.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:30

Everybody needs time to simmer down.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:33

So, how does that work?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:33

What, what, what do you say?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:34

You just, you just say, I need to get away for a minute?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:38

Like,

Paul Comfort: 00:17:39

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: What we usually say is, I

Paul Comfort: 00:17:41

need to use the restroom.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:42

I'm gonna get a cup of water, want some.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:43

Do something, if you can, to remove yourself from that situation.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:48

It's hard to de escalate when someone's just staring at you.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:51

Yeah, and I guess when people are, uh, tense and emotional, uh,

Paul Comfort: 00:17:56

your words, I mean, whether it's between spouses or co workers, huh, it's not

Paul Comfort: 00:18:00

really going to work because it's almost like an open wound and every time you

Paul Comfort: 00:18:03

touch it, it's an ouch, it's an ouchie.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:05

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Exactly.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:06

And too often all people do is poke at it by saying things like, calm down, relax.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:11

This isn't a big deal.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:13

When it's a big deal to the other person, all they're doing

Paul Comfort: 00:18:15

is getting even more tense.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:17

I've never had the situation with a spouse, Paul, but in the

Paul Comfort: 00:18:19

workplace, I think that's with a spouse, how many have it?

Paul Comfort: 00:18:21

Of course, of course, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:23

So, um, so in summary, uh, when we communicate, uh, when we are, um, When

Paul Comfort: 00:18:29

we're actively engaged with people at the workplace or in home, we have

Paul Comfort: 00:18:33

to, there are challenges that pop up.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:35

So give me kind of a wrap up summary of, of what we're talking

Paul Comfort: 00:18:37

about to be a resilient leader.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:39

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Be direct.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:41

Don't be afraid to tell the truth.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:43

And don't be afraid if it doesn't land well right away because the

Paul Comfort: 00:18:45

other person has to process it.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:47

Be confident in your body language.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:49

Don't walk up with your head down or the type of body language that says,

Paul Comfort: 00:18:53

Oh, I'm sorry to talk to you about this.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:55

Or, you know, I hate to tell you this because people feed on that.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:58

And guess what?

Paul Comfort: 00:18:59

They start to build that wall defense as soon as they see it coming.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:03

Feedback is worthless without an action to move forward with,

Paul Comfort: 00:19:07

a defined, specific action.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:09

And you will never get out of a situation with words once the tension occurs.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:13

Get out of the room, do something different, change the channel.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:17

. Paul Comfort: Wow.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:18

Great advice, guys.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:19

That is awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:20

Rebecca Klein, Keith Scott, thanks so much for that impactful thoughts on resilience.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:25

Rebecca Klein & Keith Scott: Thank you.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:29

Well, we're on part two of the podcast today with Mikel

Paul Comfort: 00:19:31

Oglesby, who's general manager of SunTran here in Tucson, Arizona.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:37

And, Mikel, we just, we're in your administrative and

Paul Comfort: 00:19:39

maintenance facilities here.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:41

I just took a tour.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:42

Jeff gave me a tour of your AGM.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:44

Dude, I, I have been, I think, close to a hundred.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:47

Bus garages around the world and I'm gonna tell you this is top 10.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:50

I'm not kidding.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:51

The way it's organized.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:52

It's clean.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:53

It's safe And it's you got plenty of property here 11

Paul Comfort: 00:19:57

acres on this one facility.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:59

It's beautiful, man.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:00

Yeah, absolutely First of all staffs fantastic They're very

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:04

clear and concise on what we want to do moving forward But did you

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:08

notice you could almost eat off the floor in that maintenance garage?

Paul Comfort: 00:20:10

I commented on it I was like this thing is What 14 years old

Paul Comfort: 00:20:14

and it looks like it's five or you know seven years old or something.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:17

We pride ourselves on keeping it clean and that brings up morale

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:21

People are really excited to be able to move forward and work every day and know

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:26

what they're they're coming to work to do

Paul Comfort: 00:20:28

Speaking of coming to work.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:29

So you've been here about eight, nine months now.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:32

But you have, you and I have been friends for a while, and you have

Paul Comfort: 00:20:35

a long and storied history in the public transportation industry.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:39

But I'd like to take you back to the beginning.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:41

How did you get started in transit?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:43

Well, you know, this, this one's a little different, but, a

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:46

lot of people say that when they start in transportation, especially as an

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:51

operator on the front line, they say they cut their teeth on the wheel.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:55

My father used to take me around on the bus, so I actually

Mikel Oglesby: 00:20:58

really used to chew on it.

Paul Comfort: 00:21:00

And your dad was a bus operator, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:02

Yeah, yeah, my father was a bus operator.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:04

He drove for 34 years in Boston for the MBTA.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:08

and they didn't have babysitting back then, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:11

It was the early 70s, so he used to actually take me on the bus.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:15

I remember my feet wouldn't even reach the ground and he'd take me on the bus.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:18

I learned everything about a transit and even during the breaks, they'd

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:24

sit me on the pool table and the supervisors would babysit me.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:27

So I've been in transit for a long period of time.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:30

here's the, here's the crazy part though.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:32

Fast forward.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:33

I go to college, I get out of college, I get a job.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:36

I'm an analyst at the MBTA lower level position, but I got my way in.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:42

I start working my way through the ranks.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:44

I become number two in the system for Bob Prince.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:47

A lot of people know who he is.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:49

And, together we ran the MBTA while my father was still driving a bus.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:56

And, you could imagine what that did.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:21:58

A couple of things that did is since he was a high rider.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:02

It gave them some serious trash talking rights.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:04

I used to get

Paul Comfort: 00:22:06

You see my boy over there?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:08

I'd get a call from a supervisor.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:09

Your dad's down here and I'd have to say, leave him alone.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:13

so, so thinking back, my father told me one thing and I really

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:17

didn't know what he was saying.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:18

I was probably about eight.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:20

But he said, I'm driving a bus, so you won't have to.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:24

And I never knew what that meant.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:26

Fast forward now, I've been general manager, CEO, executive

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:29

director in public transit, so I guess he did a pretty good job.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:32

That's amazing.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:34

The bus drivers though, they really are the backbone of our operations.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:36

They and the mechanics.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:37

Absolutely, and that's one of the reasons why I'm glad

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:40

that I'm where I'm at, because when you get to general manager stage

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:43

the way that I have, you have an appreciation for the frontline employee.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:47

So I've learned to treat the frontline employee the same way.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:51

Or the janitor, the same way that I would treat a mayor or a governor.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:55

And it's been very successful for me so far, and that's why I like to keep in

Mikel Oglesby: 00:22:58

contact with all employees, especially the operators and the mechanics.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:03

Take us through the Oglesby Trail now.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:04

Alright, so you, you get promoted to AGM of MBTA.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:08

Yeah, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:08

One of the, the fifth or sixth largest transit system in America.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:10

Yeah, at the time it was the fourth.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:12

Wow.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:12

Yeah, yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:13

6, 500 employees, 29 unions, light rail, heavy rail, paratransit,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:18

ferry service, and locomotive.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:20

We had our own police department.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:21

So, everybody who, in their early stages, went through Boston, it

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:26

was like, we call it, boot camp.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:28

You did everything.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:29

So from there, when you go out to like a smaller system, you can utilize the skills

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:34

that you acquired from each discipline.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:36

And where did you go from there?

Paul Comfort: 00:23:37

How long were you there and then where did you go?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:39

Oh, I was there about 12 years or so.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:41

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:41

I left there, did a little consulting, but went to Sunline Transit Agency after that.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:47

Which is?

Paul Comfort: 00:23:48

Coachella.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:49

That is in the Coachella area or Palm Springs, people say.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:52

Right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:53

And we ended up being the leader in alternate fuel technology there and that's

Mikel Oglesby: 00:23:56

where I learned about hydrogen and CNG.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:58

Before Loren Skyver got there.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:00

You got it set up?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:01

That's correct.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:01

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:02

So I created the American made fuel cell bus.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:04

It's the first American Made bus with American made parts with the fuel

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:10

made on property in America to get away from the use of foreign oil and

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:13

the FTA administrator gave me five million dollars to create the project.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:17

I didn't know that, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:18

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:18

That's awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:19

So that West Coast Center of Excellence on the hydrogen.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:21

I've been there.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:22

I've seen the hydrogen plant.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:23

I toured it.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:24

That's fantastic, brother.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:25

Yeah, we did it then with a hieratics reformer and electrolysis

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:27

process with steam reformation.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:30

I'm not sure if the education building's still there, but it

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:32

created a hydrogen education format.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:35

And what we did is we moved forward all CNG vehicles, and then I was on

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:40

my 7th generation hydrogen vehicle when others were just starting out.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:44

So we were very popular.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:45

And now they're selling in hydrogen back into the general market.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:48

Trucks come buy fuel up there.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:49

It's amazing.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:50

It's amazing how times have changed and different colors of hydrogen.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:53

At the time, we were making it the, you know, through the electrolysis

Mikel Oglesby: 00:24:57

process, where you take the, oxygen goes in the air, hydrogen

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:01

goes in the tank, and you pump it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:02

But now it can be made out of

Paul Comfort: 00:25:03

Water comes out the tailpipe.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:04

Water comes out the tailpipe.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:06

A quick, quick story about that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:07

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:07

So, my maintenance guy, was watching me and I was being interviewed

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:11

on television, and I said water can drip out the tailpipe, so he

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:15

put a flower with a vase there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:17

The water's dripping out the tailpipe.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:19

And the person interviewing me said, they said it's so clean you can drink it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:23

Will you drink it?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:24

I said, absolutely.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:25

And I turned to my maintenance guy, I go, Tommy, take a sip.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:30

Oh, he was not happy, but he did.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:32

I mean, ultimately it goes, through all types of metals.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:35

So, I mean, it tasted like metal, but yeah, he talked

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:37

about that for quite a bit.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:38

I'm sure he did.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:39

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:40

So, it's funny, the, the naming nomenclature.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:43

You were at SunLine and now you're at SunTran, but what'd

Paul Comfort: 00:25:46

you do between those two?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:47

So, after SunLine, I went, I ran rail from Miami to West Palm Beach.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:51

TriRail?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:52

TriRail.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:53

South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:55

You got it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:56

Yeah, I was,

Paul Comfort: 00:25:56

I Where Dave Dech is now.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:58

Yeah, Dave's there now.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:25:58

Yeah, I was a deputy, there for quite some time and did a lot of great things,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:02

positive train control, the Irish crossover, getting into downtown in the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:07

early stages, created and developed that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:10

I heard they recently executed it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:12

That's great.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:13

and then, uh, I did something that I didn't think I'd do.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:17

Yeah, tell me about it.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:18

I know what it is.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:20

I, I got talked into it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:22

going to Detroit, running to Detroit, the Motor City, at first I was very

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:26

hesitant but, everybody there was really positive and based on my

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:32

background, they really needed my help.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:34

So I went there with my heart, not necessarily my brain, but

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:39

it ended up being fantastic.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:40

I created, a comprehensive operational analysis.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:43

I did a bunch of great stuff to move the needle forward, but I

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:47

promised I'd be there for three years and on that third year, I left.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:52

I, no, I actually said I'm, I'm, I'm, it's at three years.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:26:55

I stayed another six months to train somebody and left and now I'm here.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:59

So, when you were in Detroit, I know they were having a lot

Paul Comfort: 00:27:01

of, a lot of, there was even news, what was going on up there, that you could

Paul Comfort: 00:27:04

see regular news, not just transit news.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:06

So, which, there's three agencies there, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:27:08

There's the RTA, there's SMART, and there's DDOT?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:10

Yeah, there's the RTAs, a overseeing agency that kind of does the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:13

funding, but it's really DDOT and smart.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:16

DDOT is more downtown inner city smarts, the suburbian portion.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:21

And there's a lot of pressure, Robert and,

Paul Comfort: 00:27:22

and, Dwight.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:23

Oh, they're there now.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:24

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:24

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:25

, that's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:25

I know, I know them both.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:26

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:27

Yeah,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:27

I know them both.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:28

Robert's a great, great guy.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:29

As a matter of fact, I hired Robert, to run people mover.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:33

So, it's great that he's moved in that position.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:35

He well deserves it.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:36

We're going up there, in a couple months to film

Paul Comfort: 00:27:38

an episode of our TV show there.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:39

And we're already prepping with them.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:41

My boss, Rod, is from there, so I think he's going to come with us.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:43

It's going to be great.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:44

It seems like a great system.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:46

It's a great system, We worked hard on making sure we had

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:49

the fleet replaced, but there was a lot of things that needed to be

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:52

fixed, after the pandemic and there were issues before the pandemic.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:27:57

We put in a safety plan that wasn't there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:00

There's a lot of great stuff that's, the bones are there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:04

it's just, it's just what they do with it.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:05

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:05

So you go from super cold weather in Detroit.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:08

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:08

And the Detroit Lions.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:09

Down here, to super warm and actually in the, in the, it's, this is

Paul Comfort: 00:28:13

like perfect weather for me, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:14

It's cool, like in the evenings.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:16

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:16

And gets moderately warm.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:18

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:18

I know I'm not here in the hottest time, but you know, we're, right

Paul Comfort: 00:28:21

now we're here in February.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:22

This is awesome.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:23

Yeah, you know, I think about it like the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:26

Coachella Valley area and sun.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:28

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:28

Sun, line, in a way.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:30

And the reason why is because the weather's the same.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:32

It's the desert.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:33

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:34

if you want to go to a place that's high end, there's Indian Wells

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:37

here, there's Catalina Foothills.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:39

I mean, it's identical.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:40

I truly think the only difference is one has palm trees, the other one has cactus.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:44

That's good, that's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:45

Alright, so, last kind of question, let's do a future question.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:48

what do you have planned here?

Paul Comfort: 00:28:50

you know, what's in your pipeline that you want to do?

Paul Comfort: 00:28:52

And then I want to get your take on the industry, where you think we're going.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:55

So, but first let's do what you're doing here in Tucson.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:58

So, so I'm here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:28:59

I'm here to stay this is it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:01

I'm very happy.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:02

the format and layout fits my skill set.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:06

it's multimodal experience.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:09

so I'm really working with the team to develop a vision moving forward.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:13

it's going to include focusing on alternate fuel technology

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:17

and making sure we focus on it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:19

Because after we do a pilot, a test program, basically we have ten vehicles.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:23

But it's 10 vehicles is like a pilot program.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:26

and if those don't work, we have to look at other alternatives

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:29

that is zero emission if we truly have to go down that road.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:32

Given recent events, I don't think we're going to be going anywhere near that, but

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:36

that'll be one thing we have to set out.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:39

The other is, we're going to focus, with that, then we'll focus

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:41

on the fleet replacement plan.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:42

You have your basic fleet replacement plan, then you have your alternate

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:45

fuel fleet replacement plan.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:46

That includes infrastructure along the way, and then we start matching

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:51

the grants to go down that road.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:53

I believe grants will, when they, when they do come out,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:57

it'll be a lot of low no grants.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:59

Right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:29:59

And the low no grants are

Paul Comfort: 00:30:00

It'll be more with low than no, I bet you.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:02

Yeah, exactly.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:03

Yeah, yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:04

But here's the great thing about a low no grant compared

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:06

to an old fashioned FTA grant.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:09

You call the shots.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:11

They basically say, this is, you say how much you want.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:14

You say what type of technology you want.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:16

You say Who you want.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:17

This is unheard of.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:18

I mean, you know, you're supposed to just be real general.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:20

You could put who you're talking to.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:22

You put in the infrastructure.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:23

You make sure that's in there and then you make sure the

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:26

labor, everything's in there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:27

So when you get it, you can afford it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:29

The old FTA grants wasn't like that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:31

You'd get it and then you realize there are additional costs

Mikel Oglesby: 00:30:34

and we'd scratch and scrape.

Paul Comfort: 00:30:35

So, speaking of FTA, they've written some big changes coming

Paul Comfort: 00:30:37

out of Washington just the week that we're here, where a lot of the, newer

Paul Comfort: 00:30:41

employees that were on probationary period were let go and many of the

Paul Comfort: 00:30:45

employees, 20 I hear is the number, took the buyout that was there.

Paul Comfort: 00:30:48

So, it appears as if FTA staff levels have been dropped by about 10

Paul Comfort: 00:30:52

percent, from the 760 or so employees, maybe 80, are no longer there.

Paul Comfort: 00:30:57

So, we have the federal government and how they are involved in transit.

Paul Comfort: 00:31:00

Then you've got all the state governments, then you've got

Paul Comfort: 00:31:02

cities like this, and counties.

Paul Comfort: 00:31:04

It's it's a rich tapestry, our industry is.

Paul Comfort: 00:31:06

And not everything is dictated from Washington.

Paul Comfort: 00:31:08

A lot is still dictated locally.

Paul Comfort: 00:31:10

It's just, you know, like, like Nixon said, you gotta follow the money, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:31:14

So, so, but what do you see for our industry going forward?

Paul Comfort: 00:31:17

What new technologies do you see coming here?

Paul Comfort: 00:31:19

Do you think that cities and states will step up and fill any gap of

Paul Comfort: 00:31:22

funding that may come out of Washington?

Paul Comfort: 00:31:24

Do you have any predictions for us?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:25

No, but I can tell, well, I have a few, but I will tell

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:28

you this, we have been affected by the FTA movement, as a matter of fact,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:32

the recent people who were either laid off or left, one of those people

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:37

were our representative and bringing in our next set of hydrogen vehicles.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:42

So we were going, we're going electric.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:44

So we're going stage by stage, everything's fine.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:47

Then we call and that person's no longer here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:49

That's as of today.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:50

So we have some work to do to make sure that we can move forward and

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:54

accomplish what we've already set.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:31:56

So I think our focus should be getting what we already have

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:00

in the pipeline for grants.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:01

We have other grants.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:02

If we can make the deadline there, we're in pretty good shape

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:06

because we have a young fleet.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:07

For Our fleet's only averaging seven, after we do this replacement,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:11

it's averaging seven years.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:12

I just talked to, some other people at other agencies, and

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:16

they're talking about their 22 year old buses, and I feel guilty.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:19

I'm like, well, you come over here, we have seven years, we, we, we

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:22

may be able to weather this storm.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:24

but then, the city support is sort of in the mode of business as usual.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:29

Keep plugging forward as if you're getting the grants.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:31

Keep, keep plugging forward with your vision moving forward.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:35

And I think if we just stay in touch with the city's goal of, you know, Hold steady.

Paul Comfort: 00:32:42

And you're fare free.

Paul Comfort: 00:32:43

They're subsidizing the entire service.

Paul Comfort: 00:32:45

You're not getting any through fares.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:47

That's right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:47

At this time.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:48

You know, now that all of this is going on, things could change, but

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:52

again, that's above my pay grade, so I'll eat popcorn and be told what

Mikel Oglesby: 00:32:56

to do when it comes to that point.

Paul Comfort: 00:32:58

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:32:59

What about technology?

Paul Comfort: 00:33:00

Do you see a role for autonomous vehicles and, you know, VTOLs and all that

Paul Comfort: 00:33:05

kind of stuff in the public transit?

Paul Comfort: 00:33:07

you know, cornucopia of options that we're offering people.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:10

honestly, for me, I don't think so.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:11

Okay.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:12

and the reason why is because they've been talking about

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:14

autonomous vehicles for years.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:16

I know a few agencies that have tried autonomous vehicles.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:18

I know, in Jacksonville, Dan.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:20

Yeah, a lot of money.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:22

I know Nat very well.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:22

They put a lot of money in, and it was quite some time ago.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:25

I'm not sure where it is now, but I mean, the amount of money invested is so big.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:30

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:31

Like when you go back, hindsight's 20 20.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:33

Is it worth it?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:34

Is it not worth it?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:35

And I'm just at a point with autonomous vehicles to watch my good friend Nat be

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:40

successful and then tell me how he did it versus being on the bleeding edge.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:45

So we're going to sit back and see what's going on with autonomous vehicles.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:49

Eventually, I think we'll be there.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:33:51

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:33:52

And lastly, let's talk about the Southwest Transit

Paul Comfort: 00:33:54

Association Conference that was here this week that you hosted and

Paul Comfort: 00:33:57

I think you spoke a couple times.

Paul Comfort: 00:33:59

Tell us about the conference and what it's mean to you to have them

Paul Comfort: 00:34:01

here and what you told the audience.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:03

Well, it's an honor to have it here, especially

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:07

during our 50 year anniversary.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:09

I mean, you couldn't plan this out any better.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:12

We just came off the heels of our 10 year anniversary with SunLink and then we go

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:16

into our 50 year anniversary, the rodeo's here, and it's a 100 year anniversary.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:21

It was a perfect storm.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:23

So I was very proud to be able to show Tucson off and to say,

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:27

listen, you don't know about Tucson?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:29

A lot of people were saying, oh, you know, I've never been here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:32

I thought it was Phoenix.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:33

And I said, well, it's not Phoenix, but I mean, the Beatles sang about it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:36

I mean, he was telling me that today, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:38

Yeah.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:38

Right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:39

So, right.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:39

So, so they're going around and people saying, I'm coming back.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:42

This is incredible.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:43

This is amazing.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:44

And that's really what we wanted.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:46

We want to make sure that we as a transit agency were a good host and, and, and made

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:52

everybody smile by putting our vintage bus out there for people to look at.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:34:56

I saw a lot of pictures on LinkedIn with that.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:00

All the way to us speaking and just telling our story.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:03

I did an alternate fuel technology discussion similar to what we're talking

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:06

about, stating that we're going to go towards, compressed natural gas.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:11

People appreciated it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:13

People appreciate someone that's in there that's, you know, That's going to do

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:17

something different or state the facts.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:19

I'm very straightforward.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:20

So I just state the facts, right?

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:22

And when it, when I just left, the conference, I see the people

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:26

walking around and smiling.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:28

They want.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:29

Paraphernalia from here.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:31

They want the bag.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:32

They want, and a lot of conferences, smaller conferences aren't like

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:36

that, but the energy is still going towards the end of this conference.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:40

So yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:35:41

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:35:41

Rich Sampson and Amanda do a great job putting this together every year.

Paul Comfort: 00:35:44

It was great to be here with you.

Paul Comfort: 00:35:46

Thank you for hosting us and for showing us your amazing transit operations.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:51

I appreciate it.

Mikel Oglesby: 00:35:52

It's a pleasure.

Julie Gates: 00:35:53

Thank you for joining this edition of the Transit Unplug podcast

Julie Gates: 00:35:57

featuring Mikel Oglesby, general manager of RATPdev for the City of Tucson.

Julie Gates: 00:36:03

And who oversees Sun Tran, Sun Van, and Sun Link.

Julie Gates: 00:36:07

My name is Julie Gates.

Julie Gates: 00:36:08

I'm the executive producer of the podcast and I wanna thank

Julie Gates: 00:36:11

you for listening to this show.

Julie Gates: 00:36:13

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Julie Gates: 00:36:17

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Julie Gates: 00:36:22

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Julie Gates: 00:36:25

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Julie Gates: 00:36:28

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Julie Gates: 00:36:33

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