Taking The RIDE: How Michele Stiehler is Elevating Paratransit at MBTA

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Welcome back to Transit Unplugged, where we go inside the minds

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of the people moving the world.

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I'm Paul Comfort, your host and today's guest is a true

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force in public transportation.

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It's Michelle Styler, she's Chief of Perran Services at the

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Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or MBTA in Boston.

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Michelle manages $162 million budget and leads a team delivering over

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1.5 million trips a year in one of the top 10 paratransit or on demand

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paratransit systems in the country.

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And she's driving real change in paratransit.

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Uh, she just renegotiated frontline wages to boost retention, and she does

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something that I think is very important.

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She gets all of her staff.

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To ride the service.

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It's actually called the Ride.

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So she's getting them, you know, whether you're hr, finance, it, procurement,

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legal riding, the service that they're delivering the back office services

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and support for, but being out there on the front line, uh, seeing the

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passengers and the drivers, it's key.

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I think they make it your, everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction, and

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that's what she's making sure of there.

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She's.

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Raising the bar on service and innovation.

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Not only that, she's been there for three years at MBTA, but she

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spent a full career, 35 years at New Jersey Transit, NJT.

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Uh, she did finance policy planning there.

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She started off her career thinking she wanted to go into social work

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and like we talked about off camera, she kind of ended up doing that and

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working in paratransit, leading two state agencies, paratransit operations.

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I don't know anyone else that's done that.

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And, um.

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Off the clock.

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She's an avid traveler, a volunteer, an outdoor adventurer, and she told us that

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her entire family has been involved.

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Her husband, her kids, they've all had jobs in public

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transportation, a real family affair.

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So today with her, we're gonna dive into, you know, her philosophies,

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uh, what she's learned over the years, some, some nuggets of wisdom,

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uh, over a long career in trans.

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I think you're really gonna enjoy this conversation just

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like I did with Michelle Styler.

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Let's get into it.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:05

Great to have with us today as our guest, Michelle

Paul Comfort: 00:02:07

Styler, who is Chief of Paratransit Services at MBTA in Boston.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:12

Michelle, thanks for being on the show.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:14

Happy

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:14

to be here.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:15

Thank you.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:16

Yeah, absolutely.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:17

So, Michelle, you have one of the toughest jobs in the transit

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industry if you ask me, which is leading a big paratransit system.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:23

, So first off, kudos to you for the work you've done there and

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also at New Jersey Transit.

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Uh, let's kick it off with a little bit about, tell us a little about

Paul Comfort: 00:02:31

your background and, uh, how you got to where you're at, your story.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:35

Sure, happy to.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:36

So I've been in transportation my entire career.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:39

, I started at 18 years old.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:41

, I picked up a part-time ticket agent position in New Brunswick while

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:46

attending Rutgers my freshman year.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:48

, One of the most.

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:49

Interesting job shortly after that that I held, uh, was as a rail

Michele Stiehler: 00:02:54

block operator where I operated the, , hx, , tower, , switches and signals.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:01

, And from there I ended up moving into the planning department.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:07

, Had a lot of great mentors that persuaded me that my place was not

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:11

as a social worker, , and that I should remain at New Jersey Transit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:15

And I hopped around quite a bit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:16

From planning to policy, finance and budget, and ended my career at

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:22

New Jersey Transit and Paratransit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:23

And,

Paul Comfort: 00:03:24

and, uh, you were managing the paratransit

Paul Comfort: 00:03:26

system for the state, right?

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:28

I was, uh, general manager of Paratransit for

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:32

New Jersey Transit and New Jersey Transit does cover the entire state.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:35

, Paul Comfort: So you did what, 20, 25 years there and then

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:37

you went up to, uh, Boston.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:38

I. Something like that.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:39

You don't, you don't have to reveal your age, but

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:43

I guess I should correct that.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:44

So yes, I will fess up.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:45

Uh, I retired after 35 years at New Jersey Transit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:48

Uh, I was contacted by a recruiter I had never envisioned, , leaving New Jersey.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:54

, But it was an incredible opportunity, uh, and we were really excited.

Michele Stiehler: 00:03:57

And I often say that, , in New Jersey.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:00

We kept a close eye on what was going on at the M-B-E-T-A and they had done

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:04

some unique and innovative things.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:06

So the idea of moving or ending my career, uh, at, at the

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:10

M-B-E-T-A was really exciting.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:12

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:13

Now, do you mind if I bring up your husband that he's in transit

Paul Comfort: 00:04:15

too, and how you guys met?

Paul Comfort: 00:04:16

I think that's a great love story.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:18

Uh, you know, sure.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:19

Uh, a little bit more background.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:22

Uh, we were both hired and now I'm really going into dates.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:24

In 1987, uh, I was a ticket agent and he was in law enforcement and

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:29

there had been an armed robbery, uh, and he was actually assigned to

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:33

investigate, and that's how we met.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:35

Oh, wow.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:36

Married seven years later, and both of our children,

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:41

, actually interned at New Jersey Transit, and my son is still working

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:44

there as a bus service planner.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:45

So definitely a true transportation family.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:48

Isn't that something?

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And he spent his whole career in public transportation, law

Paul Comfort: 00:04:52

enforcement, that kind of a thing.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:54

He did.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:54

He moved from, uh, New Jersey Transit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:04:57

He spent a few years at the MTA is when the chiefs of police, I

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:01

think it was chief of Operations, uh, and then like, like the New

Paul Comfort: 00:05:04

York City MTA.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:05

, Michele Stiehler: Yes.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:05

New York City, MTA Manhattan.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:07

Okay.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:07

Wow.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:07

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:07

Yeah.

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His office was in, uh, grand Central.

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Uh, and then he ended up in San Diego and we had an interesting bicoastal

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relationship for a few years.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:17

Oh wow.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:18

But now you're back together up in Boston, huh?

Paul Comfort: 00:05:20

We are reunited, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:21

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:22

That's what I got.

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A good friend that lives up there now.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:24

Who runs Kolas, who used to run First Transit, he's in Boston now with Kolas.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:28

He's the head of Kolas.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:28

He tells me he loves Boston.

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:30

It's a small industry.

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:32

Uh, and how can you not love Boston?

Paul Comfort: 00:05:34

Yeah, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:35

I'm looking forward to coming up there for the after conference, uh, this September.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:39

Uh, I think my wife might come up with me too.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:41

It's uh, she's never really been to Boston.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:42

I said, well, we can ride the train up there, take Amtrak, and it'll be great.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:46

Yeah, well we're,

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:46

we're planning a paratransit

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:48

technical tour, so hopefully, uh

Paul Comfort: 00:05:50

oh, that's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:51

Maybe I should do that.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:52

Yeah, that'd be fun.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:54

All right, , speaking of MBTA and all that, by the way, congratulations.

Paul Comfort: 00:05:56

How long have you been there now at MBTA?

Paul Comfort: 00:05:58

Uh,

Michele Stiehler: 00:05:59

just over three years here at the MBTA.

Michele Stiehler: 00:06:00

Okay,

Paul Comfort: 00:06:01

gotcha.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:02

So talk to us about the MBTA.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:04

What are some of the big challenges you've had there?

Paul Comfort: 00:06:06

What's been happening in Perran?

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And I know you kind of came, covid was still a thing right when you got

Paul Comfort: 00:06:10

there and it kind of became less or so.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:12

Yes.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:13

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:14

, Michele Stiehler: So when I first started, , I joined January of 2022.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:17

I think I took a week off in between jobs.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:19

, There were a few people in the office.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:21

There were three people on the floor when I first started.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:24

, It was an interesting time and some of what I was taxed with was emerging

Paul Comfort: 00:06:29

from Covid, uh, and how we recover.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:32

, So some of what we did here was, , through that period of time.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:37

, Invested in employees and I think that it's important, , to

Paul Comfort: 00:06:40

acknowledge, , how necessary it is to, , recognize employees, but also

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to make sure that they are, are paid a decent wage and that morale is high.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:51

, So we did two things.

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, We revisited the contracts and increased wages.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:57

For our contracted employees.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:00

Uh, and that's to address a, a, a, an industry staffing shortage.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:05

I think we were at some point between 20 to 30% understaffed with drivers.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:09

, We did the same for our call center where we were understaffed, and then I

Paul Comfort: 00:07:13

nearly doubled, , the team from 14 to 25.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:18

, The team of MBTA employees that oversees our contracts.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:22

. Paul Comfort: We should explain that too, that pretty much

Paul Comfort: 00:07:24

everything is contracted out.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:25

Right?

Paul Comfort: 00:07:26

, Michele Stiehler: That actually, that's a great point.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:27

So if I were to take a step back.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:29

Yes.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:30

, We contract out all of our services.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:32

So we have our dedicated service providers which drive, , MBTA owned vehicles.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:37

We have our non-dedicated service providers that we use to operate,

Paul Comfort: 00:07:41

uh, the Ride Flex program, which is the same day demand service.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:45

, And we contract at our operations center, which is a combination of

Paul Comfort: 00:07:48

call center, , and true operations with dispatch and scheduling.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:52

And, and also, uh, did you mention the other day that you

Paul Comfort: 00:07:55

also outsource, a DA certification?

Michele Stiehler: 00:07:57

Oh, yes.

Michele Stiehler: 00:07:58

Thank you.

Michele Stiehler: 00:07:58

Yeah, thank you.

Michele Stiehler: 00:07:59

Keeping me on track.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:00

Yes.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:00

That's all right.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:01

So we

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:01

outsource and, and this is interesting and novel.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:04

, And another reason why it was exciting to come to the MBTA, , because just

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:08

before I arrived, , we partnered with the system wide accessibility team.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:12

, To build, , the mobility Center where we're doing both eligibility

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:18

and, uh, travel training.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:20

So that to me is exciting.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:21

It feels like a one stop shop.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:23

I just visited one of those out at, , Vegas, RTC mj Maynard

Paul Comfort: 00:08:27

has it there, and it's actually in our Las Vegas TV show that's

Paul Comfort: 00:08:30

airing right now on, on YouTube.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:32

We show inside that, where they do their training and, and all that.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:36

It's amazing.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:36

So you guys are building one.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:38

We are indeed.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:39

So RTC is our inspiration.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:41

Uh, okay.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:41

And one of our directors actually travel out to Vegas, uh, to see family,

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:45

but made sure to do a site visit.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:48

, So that is our inspiration.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:50

There is an opportunity.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:51

The MBTA purchased a building 200 Newport Avenue in Quincy,

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:56

and we are going to consolidate.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:57

Our transit operations there.

Michele Stiehler: 00:08:59

Track will move there this weekend.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:01

That's our operation center and then we're doing a significant

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:04

build out for the mobility center.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:06

And what's exciting about that is it will be on the ground

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:09

floor, it will be accessible.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:11

, We are not going to have to retrofit anything we're gonna build out, uh,

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:14

as needed, but we hold that picture of RTC, uh, up as our example.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:20

Oh, that's

Paul Comfort: 00:09:20

great.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:21

Yeah, they do a wonderful job out there.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:22

MJ iss amazing.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:23

, I've got another friend who runs mva, which is just outside of Boston.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:27

His name is Noah Berger, and he runs, , a , fair free system there.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:31

Do you guys interact with all the ones around the city or you just

Paul Comfort: 00:09:34

service Just the service area of MBTA.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:37

Well, you know, that, that's another great question.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:38

So we do do transfers to the other RTAs, but I think it's important that

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:43

we build out those relationships.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:44

And recently, uh, at apta, uh, I had met with, , a representative from

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:49

Ttra, , and we're setting up a site visit to observe their electric vehicles.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:54

Okay.

Michele Stiehler: 00:09:55

Um, so we're, we're kind of looking forward to that as well.

Paul Comfort: 00:09:58

Yeah, so you guys contract out everything at Paratransit and like I

Paul Comfort: 00:10:01

was mentioning Brad Thomas with Keolis, I know they run the commuter rail.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:05

Mm-hmm.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:05

I had a good talk with, uh, Ryan Callahan, your boss, the COO there.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:09

Uh, also we talked about that.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:11

By the way, Ryan's amazing isn't, he drives his own train

Paul Comfort: 00:10:14

to work every day, or just

Michele Stiehler: 00:10:15

it's,

Paul Comfort: 00:10:16

I mean, you don't get many guys who are the COO who

Paul Comfort: 00:10:18

keep their engineer's license.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:20

Huh.

Michele Stiehler: 00:10:21

No, he is fantastic.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:22

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:23

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:23

And you, and, uh, there's a couple other guys on your team

Paul Comfort: 00:10:26

that I've been good friends with.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:27

Uh, David Gerstel was your Chief Digital Officer.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:29

He was in the show a couple years ago.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:30

He's still there, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:10:32

, Michele Stiehler: David's still there.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:32

And we did a really fun project, uh, with him, , recently we called it Ride

Paul Comfort: 00:10:37

Along, which was, , an app, I would say an app, a link to track the, , vehicle

Paul Comfort: 00:10:42

progress in real time, uh, that the customers were really happy with.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:46

Good.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:47

And, and you just went through a big, long process on improving

Paul Comfort: 00:10:50

your technology too, right?

Michele Stiehler: 00:10:52

We did, , after two years, , we awarded a new software

Michele Stiehler: 00:10:55

contract, , and we're really excited what that brings, uh, to our customers.

Michele Stiehler: 00:10:59

Particularly.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:00

There's a lot of customer facing, , improvements.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:04

How many like, uh, people ride a day?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:06

Give us a side of the scope.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:07

'cause you have a pretty big pair of transit service there.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:10

So daily we're looking at about 4,000 trips a day.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:13

Okay.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:13

Uh, and we continue to see an increase year over year.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:17

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:17

And the costs for some reason just don't come down, do they?

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:22

Well, as somebody, yeah.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:23

That's familiar with the paratransit industry.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:25

Uh, we know that, , the cost per trip is expensive and more expensive than any

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:29

of the other modes of transportation.

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:31

And, you know, it's related to the, the way we, um, deliver our

Michele Stiehler: 00:11:35

customers that personalized nature.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:37

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:38

So, um, what are you doing with regard to all that?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:40

I mean, are you working on new innovations, new efficiencies,

Paul Comfort: 00:11:43

those kind of things?

Paul Comfort: 00:11:45

, Michele Stiehler: Yes, actually.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:45

So we're doing a, a lot of fun things.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:48

, We're exploring alternate ways, , to deliver trips.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:52

Uh, you know, again, coming right out of that APTA conference, uh, there's a

Paul Comfort: 00:11:56

lot of discussion about micro transit.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:59

, , we like to get to a point now that we have sufficient drivers where we

Paul Comfort: 00:12:03

can explore options about providing, uh, paratransit same day service.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:08

one of the other items is, uh, electric vehicles.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:11

We're really interested in electric vehicles.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:13

Uh, we're tracking and trending that we're in touch with our sister agencies.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:17

Uh, and it said we're gonna do a site visit, but we, we have an electric

Paul Comfort: 00:12:21

vehicle, uh, study underway right now.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:24

So, we're with Michelle Styler.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:25

She is the, uh, chief of Paratransit Services at MBTA.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:28

And when we come back right after this word, we're gonna dive into

Paul Comfort: 00:12:31

her approach toward leadership

Julie Gates: 00:12:35

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Thanks for being on this journey with U.S.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:15

And we're back with Michelle Styler.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:17

She's the chief of Paratransit Services at MBTA, one of the largest

Paul Comfort: 00:13:20

paratransit systems in the country.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:22

Uh, Michelle, do you know where you're ranked, like number

Paul Comfort: 00:13:24

wise and the top systems?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:25

I know when I was in Washington, DC managing that, I think we

Paul Comfort: 00:13:28

were ranked fourth or fifth.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:29

We had about seven or 8,000 trips a day at the time.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:33

And then of course, it all.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:34

Went off the maps during Covid and now people are building back.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:37

Where are you guys at?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:38

Do you know?

Paul Comfort: 00:13:38

Rank wise?

Michele Stiehler: 00:13:39

So I would wanna say, uh, top 10.

Michele Stiehler: 00:13:41

Yeah.

Michele Stiehler: 00:13:41

I couldn't use a specific number, but I know we're up there with respect

Michele Stiehler: 00:13:44

to the, the trips that we provide.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:46

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:47

And we're gonna dive into leadership in just a minute, but let's talk

Paul Comfort: 00:13:49

about the nature of paratransit, uh, which you and I care a lot about.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:53

You know, you, you have spent a lot of your career.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:54

I was just telling you yesterday, I was going to visit.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:57

My old digs here in Queen Anne County, Maryland, meeting with the Director

Paul Comfort: 00:14:01

of transportation there, Steven and, uh, Kathy Willis, who's head of the,

Paul Comfort: 00:14:04

used to be the Department of Aging.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:05

Now it's community services, but I started my career working for a

Paul Comfort: 00:14:09

Department of Aging, working with elderly and people with disabilities,

Paul Comfort: 00:14:12

and it's always been a passion of mine.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:13

It's been a, uh.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:15

Kind of a, a string, a red string through my whole career.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:19

Uh, and I know you care, passionate, but talk to us some about your passion

Paul Comfort: 00:14:22

and, and why perran is important.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:23

It is expensive, but to me, and I think you probably agree with

Paul Comfort: 00:14:27

this, I mean, these are the people that need it the most.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:29

So we really have to make sure we give them the best service, in my opinion.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:32

I.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:33

Uh, you know what, and, and thank you, uh,

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:35

for, for an asking that question.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:37

I can't think of anything more important.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:39

Uh, the, it's a, uh, customers that are underserved and it's challenging

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:44

and, um, it's really important.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:46

The power transit service.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:47

We, we talk, talk about it as a safety net, uh, for people

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:51

that can't use fixed root.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:52

Um.

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:53

Ideally, you know, to me, if you were to ask what my goal is, it's

Michele Stiehler: 00:14:57

to render paratransit, virtually obsolete, um, by ensuring that

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:02

all of the systems are accessible.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:04

The reality is, I know we can't do that, uh, but it's, uh, the service.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:09

Itself, we, the customers will book reservations.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:12

It's a door to door service, so customers get additional assistance

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:16

to and from the doors that they will be help with packages.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:18

They will be help helped boarding, , and exiting, uh, the vehicle as well.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:23

, I think it's more important than anything to, , promote paratransit and to let

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:29

customers know, uh, that that's an option.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:32

, Also I think it's important for people to understand, , that this isn't, I.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:38

Automatically provided that there's an eligibility process and the eligibility

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:42

process is in place to make sure the right customers have access to that service.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:48

, We're doing some great things here with, uh, working collaboratively with some of

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:52

the local advocates and advisory boards, and heavily focused now on the customer

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:57

experience, which I think is exciting.

Michele Stiehler: 00:15:59

, There's nothing more important to me than listening.

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:02

, To our customers and to the public about what their needs are, but we're, we're

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:06

really doing some fun things here and, and happy to incorporate the customer feedback

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:11

into our decisions moving forward.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:14

Let's talk about, , your approach toward leadership and

Paul Comfort: 00:16:17

passion you have behind what you do.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:18

Obviously, you're very passionate about it.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:20

You've, you've now led two state agencies, uh, paratransit.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:24

I don't know actually anyone else who's done that, by the way.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:26

Michelle, who, you know, you were the head of the whole state paratransit

Paul Comfort: 00:16:29

and now MBTA is a state agency, even though just like MTA in Baltimore was,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:34

we're a state agency even though we primarily serve the Baltimore region.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:37

, What drives you?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:38

What motivates you?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:39

You know, when you get up in the morning, what do you, what are you feeling like,

Paul Comfort: 00:16:41

yeah, I want to go into work today.

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:43

You're really asking some great questions here.

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:46

So I, I can tell you that, , the team and the service we provide motivates me and I

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:51

think it's a, a really unique department.

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:54

, And we're more connected to our customers through the nature of our service.

Michele Stiehler: 00:16:58

I. , We know our customer's names, we know their addresses, where they travel to.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:03

We can connect directly with them.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:04

We often interact with them.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:06

, So I think that the nature of our service keeps us really engaged and connected.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:11

, I'm going to overlap a bit here, but with respect to leadership, um,

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:16

I believe in leading by example.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:18

I get out there, I take trips, I interact with the customers.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:21

I push every team member, they're all required to get out in the field

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:25

and interact with our customers.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:27

Oh, that's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:27

Yeah,

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:28

it, it's, it's really important and I find that sometimes,

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:32

, team members can get bogged down in meeting their numbers and their goals and

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:37

forget that connection to our customers and the service we're delivering.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:40

I think our team is really good at doing that.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:42

So when I wake up every day, I am eager to get in and, and just.

Michele Stiehler: 00:17:47

Be better than the day before.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:49

My next book is gonna be on finding your X Factor, which is, uh, where

Paul Comfort: 00:17:53

your interests and abilities intersect.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:55

And that, I believe is the sweet spot to kind of reach your highest

Paul Comfort: 00:17:59

potential and to wake up every day with a fire in the belly.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:01

And I remember as we were talking about my first job as a transportation

Paul Comfort: 00:18:06

coordinator for the Department of Aging, we only had 15 vans, you

Paul Comfort: 00:18:09

know, a small service in this county.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:11

But I went home, I remember my twenties every day.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:14

Feeling like warm inside my heart is the only way I can describe it, because I,

Paul Comfort: 00:18:18

I knew what the work I did today meant.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:21

And actually it was because, and I've talked about this a lot in my speeches.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:25

It's because I was closest to the customers I. That job put me the

Paul Comfort: 00:18:28

closest to the customers in any job I've ever had the rest of my career.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:31

And I love the fact that you say that's key, getting you not only you out there,

Paul Comfort: 00:18:36

but your staff, people who are in it, finance, procurement, legal, pr, they

Paul Comfort: 00:18:40

all need to, I believe, and I'm wonder, it's wonderful that you're doing this.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:44

Uh, they need to experience what it is the service you're providing.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:47

Do you agree?

Michele Stiehler: 00:18:48

I absolutely agree.

Michele Stiehler: 00:18:49

, And more often than not, when I, I take a trip, I will ride anonymously.

Michele Stiehler: 00:18:54

I think it's important that nobody knows who is on board that vehicle

Michele Stiehler: 00:18:57

and then provide discreet feedback.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:00

, And sometimes, uh, I ride, uh, and simply acknowledge that, just the

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:04

incredible work that those drivers do.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:06

That frontline,

Paul Comfort: 00:19:08

yeah, let's talk about that.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:10

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:10

Talk about the difference.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:11

I mean, you know, I've run.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:12

You know, big agencies, MTA, the 11th, largest in the country.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:15

And, um, I've seen the fixed route drivers, the train drivers, but

Paul Comfort: 00:19:19

man, the paratransit drivers talk to us about what a paratransit

Paul Comfort: 00:19:22

driver actually does, what their job description is, the reality of it.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:27

You know what, it, it definitely takes a special kind of person.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:31

, And being out there with the drivers is a lot of fun because more recently, I

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:35

think it was about three weeks ago, I was on board, uh, and we took the time

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:39

because the driver had time available in their schedule to park and chat about what

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:43

their best day looked like, what their worst day looked like, why they loved it.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:47

It was somebody that was on the job for over 20 years.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:50

They loved helping people.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:52

They enjoyed seeing the same customers day to day.

Michele Stiehler: 00:19:57

They enjoyed the exchanges with the customers about their,

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:00

their, their family members.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:02

Uh, the doctor's appointment, they're going to the groceries.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:05

They like helping them to the door.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:07

, But I really find that, um, what I hear and, and it echoes my feeling,

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:12

which is it's a very fulfilling job.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:14

Yeah.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:14

You build a connection.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:16

Hey, I want to jump into a little bit of a leadership

Paul Comfort: 00:20:18

approach, uh, and as a leader, what's been your biggest lesson from

Paul Comfort: 00:20:22

the past few years, would you say?

Paul Comfort: 00:20:23

And and what advice would you give to others navigating

Paul Comfort: 00:20:26

change in public transportation?

Paul Comfort: 00:20:27

Because clearly change is afoot in the industry out of Washington and,

Paul Comfort: 00:20:32

and with technology and with all the, all the different priorities now

Paul Comfort: 00:20:36

that we have to, to serve the public.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:38

What are some of the lessons you've learned and what are

Paul Comfort: 00:20:39

some advice you would give?

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:41

Wow.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:42

Okay.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:42

Well, when I think about, uh, the long career.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:45

Uh, I've seen all types of leadership, , and I think that that allowed me

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:50

to refine and define who I am and what type of leader I want to be.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:55

Uh, and from my perspective, it's certainly about empowerment.

Michele Stiehler: 00:20:59

Uh, there is nothing more exciting to me than being surrounded by.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:03

My talented and brilliant team and brainstorming and creative problem

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:08

solving, , I like having a comfortable space where everybody can contribute.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:14

, That being said, I don't have a problem making those hard decisions.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:18

, And.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:18

Certainly supporting my team as far as navigating changes.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:23

, I've been in the industry a long time and, uh, with administrations there often

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:28

come a lot of changes, uh, as for their, their patients as we work through this.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:33

Um, as for, uh.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:36

Agility and nimbleness to adapt quickly based on, on new requests.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:40

And it's also because I've been in the business a long time, you can almost

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:44

anticipate, uh, what direction we're headed in so I can prepare the team.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:49

Uh, I know this is going to be coming, there's going to be an ask for data.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:52

Let's get ahead of this.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:54

Let's develop , a deck to explain what it is we do and what our needs are.

Michele Stiehler: 00:21:58

, But I really feel that my, , career has come full circle here.

Michele Stiehler: 00:22:02

And I'm a far better leader now, uh, having learned from the past.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:08

That's wonderful.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:09

You know, it reminds me of that story, uh, of a, a ship at sea.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:13

There was a ship at sea and the engine went down with all the

Paul Comfort: 00:22:16

passengers on it, and so no one on board could fix the engine.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:19

They called for help.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:20

They brought in a guy by helicopter who landed.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:23

He went down, he checked the whole engine out.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:25

He took out a small hammer.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:26

He looked, and then he.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:27

Tapped in a certain spot and the engine came on and they, uh, they

Paul Comfort: 00:22:31

said, wow, you know, it's wonderful.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:32

How much do we owe you?

Paul Comfort: 00:22:33

He said, $10,000.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:35

And they were like, $10,000.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:37

How could it be so much?

Paul Comfort: 00:22:38

It only took you five minutes and you just tapped in one place?

Paul Comfort: 00:22:41

He said, well, it's $5.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:43

, For the tap, it's $9,995 for knowing where to tap.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:47

And that is what comes from the wisdom and experience, I think,

Paul Comfort: 00:22:50

of working in the industry of, uh, making decisions like you've had

Paul Comfort: 00:22:55

to do in your leadership positions.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:57

Absorbing the blow back because we know there's a law of thermodynamics

Paul Comfort: 00:23:00

that says, you know, for every action there's equin opposite reaction.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:03

And then learning to adjust the thrust so that you minimize the Perry and all that.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:08

And, uh, these are the, the wisdom that is forged in the crucible of

Paul Comfort: 00:23:12

thousands of smaller decisions.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:14

Talk about that some.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:17

You're right.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:18

So I, I actually, my role, I see my role as, uh, an advocate for the

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:23

team, , to ensure that they have the resources that they need to do the job.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:28

, I think of myself also as, , the pitch person.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:32

You know, that we, we group together determine what we need and I have to shop.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:37

That hitch.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:39

, And also to your point, and I couldn't think of a better story.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:42

I really enjoyed that.

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:44

, But to your , point is that they have to do it without worrying, without the

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:47

concerns that they have to know that I'm there, that I support them, and there will

Michele Stiehler: 00:23:51

be no blowback that I will address it.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:54

Interesting.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:55

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:23:55

So, so you allow your employees as long as they keep you informed and have

Paul Comfort: 00:23:59

their heart in the right place and, uh, to make mistakes without kind of

Paul Comfort: 00:24:02

sawing off the limb underneath them.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:05

Yes.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:05

And again, it's, I, I think it's having been in the industry a long time and,

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:08

and refining, , and improving on what I have learned and what I have experienced.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:14

But I do think it's important that they have a safe place that they can think.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:18

, It's important that I'm always informed, , and I believe in building consensus.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:23

But, , certainly when decisions have to be made, uh, I'm

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:25

quite capable of making those.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:27

But I really think it's important, uh, that we have individual contributors

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:30

as well as team contributors.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:33

That's wonderful.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:34

Well wrap it all up for us.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:35

Give us some closing thoughts you might have about where you think we're

Paul Comfort: 00:24:37

headed as an industry, , especially the paratransit industry, where

Paul Comfort: 00:24:41

you think we should be headed.

Paul Comfort: 00:24:42

Where are we headed?

Paul Comfort: 00:24:42

Give us kind of a forward looking vision.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:45

Hmm.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:46

Well, um, that, that's a great question.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:48

So again, I had mentioned that I was away at a conference, uh, and

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:51

I saw some truly inspiring things.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:53

One of the things I was excited about , were, , autonomous vehicles.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:56

Which we're in Austin.

Michele Stiehler: 00:24:58

, Where do I think we're headed?

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:00

Uh, I think, uh, I, I feel very positive about, uh, the focus on

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:04

accessibility, building new systems, retrofitting existing systems.

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:09

I would like to believe that we're going to shift from, , shift more into

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:15

a training and education and information mode in paratransit, , because there

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:21

will be more accessible transportation.

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:23

Okay, so we're thinking more along the lines of transportation as a service, uh,

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:28

where a customer identifies, or a member of the public identifies where they wanna

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:31

travel, uh, based on their preferences.

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:35

Uh, and the best options are, are put together, uh, and, and posited

Michele Stiehler: 00:25:40

to the customer for them, uh, to make the, to select the best option.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:44

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:44

That is an exciting future, isn't it?

Paul Comfort: 00:25:46

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:46

I think we have a lot.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:47

A lot of exciting things in our future.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:49

I'm always an optimist.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:50

I see the glass half full.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:52

I think that we have an opportunity now, no matter what happens in Washington.

Paul Comfort: 00:25:55

To focus on the core essentials of creating the wonderful transit system,

Paul Comfort: 00:25:58

which in my mind, the four cornerstones are safety, efficiency, reliability,

Paul Comfort: 00:26:03

and world class customer service.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:04

And I think if we focus everything in our agencies and our services

Paul Comfort: 00:26:08

around those core essentials, we're gonna be successful.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:11

We're gonna make people understand the value that we bring, you know,

Paul Comfort: 00:26:14

commercially, environmentally.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:17

Uh, the personal services that we provide, the economic development, uh, and we

Paul Comfort: 00:26:22

have the opportunity, I think, to do that even more so now in the future.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:26

I think you've got a great example of it there, Michelle, and I appreciate

Paul Comfort: 00:26:28

you, uh, being our guest today on the show and sharing with us some of your

Paul Comfort: 00:26:31

passion, , for providing outstanding paratransit to people with disabilities.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:35

Thank you for being on the show.

Michele Stiehler: 00:26:37

Thank you, Paul.

Michele Stiehler: 00:26:37

It was a pleasure.

Julie Gates: 00:26:39

Thank you for listening to this week's episode

Julie Gates: 00:26:41

of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.

Julie Gates: 00:26:43

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Julie Gates: 00:26:44

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Julie Gates: 00:26:46

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Julie Gates: 00:26:49

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Julie Gates: 00:26:52

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Julie Gates: 00:26:56

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Julie Gates: 00:27:00

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Julie Gates: 00:27:08

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Julie Gates: 00:27:12

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Julie Gates: 00:27:14

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