Why would a transit CEO pick up 500 tons of trash as his first priority on the job?

Paul Comfort: 00:00:03

Why would a brand new leader decide to pick up 500 tons of

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trash as one of his first priorities?

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Welcome to Part 2 of our special CEO Roundtable recorded live at APTA Expo.

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Hi, I'm Paul Comfort, host and producer of Transit Unplugged.

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In Part 1, these CEOs talked about what their first year on the job has been

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like, what surprised them, and what inspires them to keep doing this work.

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Look for the link to Part 1 here in the show notes.

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And now, in part two of this program, we rejoin Dave Dech from TriRail,

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Coree Cuff Lonergan from Broward County Transit, Dottie Watkins from CapMetro

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in Austin, Tiffany Homler Hawkins from LYNX in the host city of Orlando, and

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Frank White from KCATA in Kansas City, talking about what are the top tech

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trends they'll implement in the next few years, and the best or most fun project

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going on right now at their agency.

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Let's jump back into the conversation where we left off in part one, and

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make sure you stick around to the end for Elea Carey's Marketing Minute.

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Enjoy the show.

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Alright, we're going to shift up and now talk about, I'm going to ask each of them

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to tell us about one really cool project they're working on right now, and I've

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got one for Dave that I want him to talk about because it was so impressive to me,

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and that is, he's got miles and miles of track, and you know what was on the track?

Paul Comfort: 00:01:26

Trash.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:27

Tell us about what you did.

David Dech: 00:01:28

So yeah, we, um, I was, I was a little stunned, I guess,

David Dech: 00:01:32

when I took the first train ride.

David Dech: 00:01:33

I was, uh, I was accustomed to a different level of railroad, uh, in Austin.

David Dech: 00:01:39

but we hit the ground running.

David Dech: 00:01:40

We've, um, we've really tried to, be a good neighbor.

David Dech: 00:01:44

And by being a good neighbor, that means we need to take, like, we

David Dech: 00:01:47

need to take care of our backyard.

David Dech: 00:01:49

So we've...

David Dech: 00:01:50

Uh, along with our contractors.

David Dech: 00:01:51

Like, I didn't go out and pick any.

David Dech: 00:01:52

Well, I have picked up some.

David Dech: 00:01:53

I will say, yeah.

David Dech: 00:01:55

Uh, but we've removed about five to six hundred tons of debris.

Paul Comfort: 00:01:59

Did you hear that?

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Five hundred tons of trash from his train tracks.

David Dech: 00:02:03

From our right of way.

David Dech: 00:02:04

And, uh, and, cause really, I mean, there's selfish interests as well.

David Dech: 00:02:08

So we want, we have, you know, we have transit oriented development.

David Dech: 00:02:10

We want people to invest near our tracks, and no one wants to invest next to that.

David Dech: 00:02:15

So we've, uh, we've gone through a tremendous effort and we're working with

David Dech: 00:02:18

the counties on, on helping with, uh, with some of the encampments that are

David Dech: 00:02:22

near the tracks to find better places and safer places for, for people to

David Dech: 00:02:25

be and that's a benefit for all of us.

David Dech: 00:02:27

Um, so we are continuing to, you know, to try to clean and harden our railroad

David Dech: 00:02:33

and be a good neighbor and then we're gonna, we're gonna take that and

David Dech: 00:02:36

we're gonna turn left and we're gonna drive into this beautiful station.

David Dech: 00:02:39

Uh, right in the Brightline station in Miami, and uh, and

David Dech: 00:02:42

we are exceptionally excited.

David Dech: 00:02:44

We are rounding third, I think, on that project.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:47

That's great, man.

Paul Comfort: 00:02:48

Alright, Dottie, tell us about your big project.

Dottie Watkins: 00:02:50

So I think the thing that is most exciting that

Dottie Watkins: 00:02:53

we have going on right now is, um, the construction of a new station.

Dottie Watkins: 00:02:57

It'll be the first station on our rail line since we

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:01

opened the rail line in 2010.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:03

And we are in partnership with the owners of Q2 Stadium, where the Austin

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:08

FC soccer team plays, um, building a station literally on their back door.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:13

Um, they have a beautiful kind of...

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:16

Outdoor amphitheater, kind of, uh, terrace that comes down toward the

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:21

rail line and previously a fence.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:25

And now it will be a station, so we're really excited about that.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:29

We are closing in.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:30

We're rounding third on that one, too.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:32

We're closing in on getting that construction done.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:34

Um, we will open that in February.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:37

Um, and are very excited to have that station in place for

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:40

the upcoming soccer season.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:42

And I love it.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:44

It's going to be a beautiful station at a beautiful stadium, um, but

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:47

it really helps us kind of, uh, evangelize the value of transit.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:52

Because a lot of people who otherwise would not use our service,

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:57

use our service to that game.

Dottie Watkins: 00:03:58

We have standing room trains already and the current station is

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:02

a 15 minute walk from the stadium.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:04

Um, so I'm a teensy bit worried operationally what's going to happen

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:07

when, um, we get, Get the station open and we're right there, but I'm

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:12

confident in our rail ops teams.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:13

They are fantastic and will be able to handle it, but just being able to get

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:17

people onto transit who aren't necessarily our normal demographic and have them

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:22

talking about how great it was to be able to use the train to get to this event

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:26

and have such a positive experience.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:28

When you're riding transit to an event, you're often having a good time, right?

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:32

The intent, even if your team loses, the intent was to go out and have a good time.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:38

And so, to be able to associate that with our public transit investments,

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:42

I think is really important.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:43

So, I'm looking forward to continuing to use that as an opportunity, um, to

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:47

teach new people how to use the system.

Paul Comfort: 00:04:50

And then just give us a brief highlight of the whole program.

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:52

Yeah, so the rest of the Project Connect program includes Those

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:55

two BRT lines, um, we already have two in service that have been in service

Dottie Watkins: 00:04:59

for about a decade, but we have our next two coming, and, and these two will

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:03

actually serve the eastern side of our service area, um, which is an area that

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:07

has traditionally been, um, underserved.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:10

Um, and so, we are very excited to be starting up those lines.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:13

They will start up in about a year.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:15

About a year.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:16

I'm looking at my capital guy over there and he's smiling like,

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:19

yeah, sure, Dottie, about a year.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:20

Um, we're, we're in the, we're, we're not quite round in second on that one.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:24

Um, we're, we're getting there, but we also, um, are launching our fourth...

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:29

Pickup Zone.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:30

So Pickup is our microtransit service.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:32

It's a zone based service where you can hail or ride anywhere within that zone

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:36

to anywhere within that zone for the 1.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:39

25, which is our base bus fare.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:40

Um, and so we're launching, um, in kind of southeast Austin, one of those

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:45

underserved, traditionally underserved areas where we'll be investing in BRT.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:50

We're launching a neighborhood connector and really helping

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:53

those pockets of neighborhood connect to the transit system.

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:56

There are some places that...

Dottie Watkins: 00:05:58

I'm sorry, no matter how hard I try, I'm never probably going to be able to run a

Dottie Watkins: 00:06:03

bus route frequently enough through here that it would really drive people to get

Dottie Watkins: 00:06:07

out of their cars and get to transit.

Dottie Watkins: 00:06:09

But if I can say, we'll just go to this app and within 15 minutes we'll pick you

Dottie Watkins: 00:06:13

up and take you to the bus stop, then that actually makes a big difference.

Dottie Watkins: 00:06:18

And so, we're very excited about that, to be launching that this coming January.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:22

Awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:23

Tiffany?

Paul Comfort: 00:06:24

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Well, I, uh, somebody at LYNX said that, uh,

Paul Comfort: 00:06:27

LYNX is, we are elegant adopters.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:29

Uh, we'll let you all be guinea pigs and innovators.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:33

Um, but we are moving forward to contactless fare payment.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:36

I, it sounds, you know, like the duh factor, but we're

Paul Comfort: 00:06:41

moving in that direction.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:42

We are finally implementing an ERP system for our administration team, and these are

Paul Comfort: 00:06:49

the things that, have needed to be done for a very long time, and we are, again,

Paul Comfort: 00:06:54

these are the projects that are finally moving forward to make us more efficient.

Paul Comfort: 00:06:58

Um, and so we, we took some time during COVID, we installed the,

Paul Comfort: 00:07:03

uh, uh, bus shields, uh, for the drivers, for their safety.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:08

Um, they had been asking for that for many years, uh, changed out our fareboxes.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:13

So, now we're focused on our facilities, um, and what else can we do to

Paul Comfort: 00:07:18

enhance the passenger experience?

Paul Comfort: 00:07:20

And going to David's point about the trash, it is a never

Paul Comfort: 00:07:25

ending battle with the trash.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:27

Um, and so we're looking at innovative ways to, how do we

Paul Comfort: 00:07:32

zone out the contractors for that?

Paul Comfort: 00:07:34

How do we, and we want our passengers to take pride in our system.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:38

So, and that, that means doing our part too, so.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:41

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:42

I'm excited on Wednesday we're going to go film for Transit Unplugged TV all around

Paul Comfort: 00:07:46

the LYNX system to show some of their facilities for our episode for next month.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:51

I think it'll be our November episode.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:52

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Yeah, and I was remiss in talking about our

Paul Comfort: 00:07:55

public private partnership with BEEP.

Paul Comfort: 00:07:57

We are doing a mixed traffic autonomous vehicle demonstration with BEEP.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:02

The Swan Shuttles, um, somehow the City of Orlando as well as

Paul Comfort: 00:08:07

the City of Altamont have named their BEEP Shuttles after birds.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:10

Uh, we have the crane shuttle and we have the swan shuttle, um, but in

Paul Comfort: 00:08:15

reporting back to, um, FTA on this demonstration along with the NHTSA

Paul Comfort: 00:08:20

waiver, how do we, how do we make the unions not afraid of autonomous vehicles?

Paul Comfort: 00:08:25

If you look at, if, if you have ATU, the first three, um, of their

Paul Comfort: 00:08:33

legislative priorities is to protect the jobs from autonomous vehicles.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:37

So we want to, we're always going to have attendance, we're always

Paul Comfort: 00:08:40

going to have an ADA issue.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:42

What we are doing is introducing new types of jobs into the LYNX

Paul Comfort: 00:08:47

system with this demonstration.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:49

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:50

Thanks, Tiffany.

Paul Comfort: 00:08:50

Alright, Frank, what are you, what's a fun project you're working on?

Frank White: 00:08:53

Oh, yeah, so you know, Paul, I came from the TOD side KCATA.

Frank White: 00:08:57

So, um, we've done about 300 million dollars in projects

Frank White: 00:09:01

before we got, I got in this role.

Frank White: 00:09:03

And now we've really kind of doubled down on TODs.

Frank White: 00:09:05

We just finished a project, about $85 million corridor project.

Frank White: 00:09:08

Um, and what we're now doing is really trying to own corridors.

Frank White: 00:09:11

So we're now, like I say, Prospect is a 10 mile corridor that we have.

Frank White: 00:09:14

Um, we have through what we call our four pillars of access to

Frank White: 00:09:17

education, employment, healthcare, and housing through transit.

Frank White: 00:09:19

And so the question becomes, when you get off our bus, where do you go?

Frank White: 00:09:22

Where do you eat?

Frank White: 00:09:23

Where do you live?

Frank White: 00:09:23

Where do you play?

Frank White: 00:09:24

Where do you go to church?

Frank White: 00:09:24

What are all these things that you do?

Frank White: 00:09:26

And so we work very closely with the City of Kansas City, through the land bank

Frank White: 00:09:29

properties, the brownfield properties.

Frank White: 00:09:31

To acquire the land and the corridors to basically control those, those,

Frank White: 00:09:34

those properties, own those properties, stage those properties to really say,

Frank White: 00:09:37

okay, let's really become a community development asset, um, to our region.

Frank White: 00:09:41

One, that builds density, which builds ridership, but also density is safety,

Frank White: 00:09:45

uh, brings culture, diversity, and really builds a city back to life.

Frank White: 00:09:48

Um, we feel like, feel like Kansas City is a city that was built for

Frank White: 00:09:51

transit over 100 plus years ago.

Frank White: 00:09:53

Um, we've got a city audit that we did that really identifies

Frank White: 00:09:56

about 4, 000 different zip codes.

Frank White: 00:09:58

That if within a mile or half mile from our bus lines currently, which we know

Frank White: 00:10:02

if we're intentional about the type of stuff we build, single family apartments,

Frank White: 00:10:05

duplexes, over the next 10 years, we can probably build another 100, 000

Frank White: 00:10:09

residents to Kansas City, Missouri, and another 30 to 40 million dollars in

Frank White: 00:10:12

property tax revenue all through transit.

Frank White: 00:10:14

Um, I like to say that the ATA is an economic development

Frank White: 00:10:17

agency that operates transit.

Frank White: 00:10:19

Um, we make, we matter, we make it happen, and really trying to reframe how we view

Frank White: 00:10:23

public transit as an economic driver.

Frank White: 00:10:25

Um, and a community brings value to a community, a value add,

Frank White: 00:10:29

what we're considering necessary.

Frank White: 00:10:30

And so, we are really doubling down on TOD, or we call it transit

Frank White: 00:10:36

communities, um, that's kind of my jam.

Frank White: 00:10:37

And I think it's really, again, if we show we bring value as an authority,

Frank White: 00:10:41

then people kind of want it to the table.

Frank White: 00:10:43

At the same time, with these projects, we create operational revenue that

Frank White: 00:10:47

is not dependent on a sales tax, a ballot initiative, and allows us

Frank White: 00:10:51

to really control our own destiny as an authority moving forward.

Paul Comfort: 00:10:54

That's, as you know, that's what they do in Hong Kong with MTR and

Paul Comfort: 00:10:56

other places around the world where the transit company, uh, is able to increase

Paul Comfort: 00:11:02

property value so much that the taxes kind of cover the cost of the operation.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:06

Uh, or they have rents on the properties they own where

Paul Comfort: 00:11:08

they rent them out directly.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:10

And it's a great way to reduce our dependence on tax revenues.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:14

So that's brilliant, Frank.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:15

Thanks, ma'am.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:16

All right.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:17

Tell us what you got, Coree

Paul Comfort: 00:11:17

. Coree Cuff Lonergan: Thank you.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:18

So, um, from my perspective, I just want to switch the narrative

Paul Comfort: 00:11:22

just a little bit and talk about it from an initiative perspective.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:26

I'm going to and one of the things that's really deeply important to me, and I've

Paul Comfort: 00:11:31

shared this with my team when I started, was the intent to create a just culture.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:36

Um, I've always wanted to do that.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:38

I really believe in it.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:39

I think that's the best way to manage people, um, is to

Paul Comfort: 00:11:43

have a just culture in place.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:45

So that's one of the initiatives that we're moving forward.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:48

And just to give you an example of, um, of one of the things that we've been

Paul Comfort: 00:11:54

working on in that space is building a stronger relationship with our union.

Paul Comfort: 00:11:59

Um, and quite frankly, we have been quite successful in doing that.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:03

Um, we just, uh, completed our latest round of contract negotiations.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:09

Um, my understanding is that they sometimes would take

Paul Comfort: 00:12:11

years, uh, to bring to closure.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:14

Um, but we were able to do it, um, I would say, uh, Angelica, who's, who's with me?

Paul Comfort: 00:12:20

About four months, so something that typically would take years to do,

Paul Comfort: 00:12:23

we were able to do in four months.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:24

Why did, why did that happen?

Paul Comfort: 00:12:26

It happened because we put a lot of value on our workforce.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:30

And, and when I say that, I mean in terms of putting that value on

Paul Comfort: 00:12:33

there, we realized that for us to be competitive and to attract talent.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:39

We need to have wages and conditions that do, do that and recognize

Paul Comfort: 00:12:43

the dynamics and the changing and the diversity in our workforce.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:46

Um, we have a lot more, um, um, women, uh, bus operators joining us now.

Paul Comfort: 00:12:51

Um, and so that creates an interesting dynamic, um, not only for women, but

Paul Comfort: 00:12:55

for all of our employees in terms of responsibilities outside of work.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:00

Which shows up, um, from the perspective of having schedules that allow them to

Paul Comfort: 00:13:04

take care of those responsibilities.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:06

Although, you know, we are 24 7, we all know that.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:09

But there are schedules that can be put in place to, to help manage that.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:13

Um, and so now we're, we've got wages that match, um, what we need them

Paul Comfort: 00:13:17

to be to make us more competitive.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:20

Outcome, just the first outcome, is we had a job fair a couple of months ago.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:25

So we've been working really hard in our retail, talent acquisition space.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:30

And we were able to, hire on the spot.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:34

About 64, bus operators and, um, COAs.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:39

And we actually had, of those 64, 57 of them show up to work last Monday.

Paul Comfort: 00:13:47

So, I mean, and that is all, um, response to the initiatives that we've taken to

Paul Comfort: 00:13:54

build those better relationships with our, you know, frontline workforce

Paul Comfort: 00:13:58

and have wages that match the demand that we need in South Florida.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:03

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:04

Yeah, it is interesting about our industry, isn't it?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:06

Because every transit agency...

Paul Comfort: 00:14:08

It doesn't compete against the other city.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:10

So they're not competitors, they're actually trying to

Paul Comfort: 00:14:12

share best practices, and that's actually the next question I have.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:15

So we're in the rounding the third base here, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:17

Two more questions.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:18

First off, I just want, if you could, don't mind, a show of hands, how many

Paul Comfort: 00:14:21

of you are moving into electric buses?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:24

Just about, well, not you, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:28

How about electric trains?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:30

Not yet, okay.

Paul Comfort: 00:14:31

And anybody doing hydrogen?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:33

Anybody up here doing hydrogen?

Paul Comfort: 00:14:34

You are moving, tell us about that.

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:36

Yeah, so we have been battery electric bus to date.

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:40

Um, and my biggest piece of advice on battery electric buses is, it's not about

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:44

the bus, it's about the infrastructure.

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:46

So, don't think about what it's going to take to buy the bus.

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:48

First, think about what it's going to take to basically fuel that bus, right?

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:52

We already have tens of millions of dollars worth of most of us

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:55

diesel or CNG fueling infrastructure built into our facilities.

Dottie Watkins: 00:14:58

So that infrastructure piece has been huge.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:01

Um, as we have looked through that...

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:04

Um, we are concerned about the ability of range on a battery electric bus to be able

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:09

to serve 100 percent of our transit needs.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:12

And so we are starting to look at hydrogen fuel cell enhanced battery electric buses.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:19

Um, and we'll, and hope to be testing a handful of those

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:22

out in the next little while.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:24

I think we have to be willing to change the way we do business, but to

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:28

the extent that changing the way we do business makes it extremely more

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:31

expensive, like there's a real balance.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:33

And so how much more infrastructure do I want to put out in the world?

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:37

It's one thing to put a million dollar opportunity charger at the park and

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:40

ride, but what if that one goes down?

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:43

So do I now need to put two one million dollar chargers at the park and ride?

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:48

And now I have to maintain them, and I've never maintained high voltage.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:52

Like, I, it's just a whole world, um, that as transit operators, we

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:57

hadn't really had to work in before.

Dottie Watkins: 00:15:59

Um, so, it's, it's still a lot.

Dottie Watkins: 00:16:01

I think we're all still learning from one another.

Dottie Watkins: 00:16:04

Um, so if anybody has horror stories about running hydrogen buses, I want to

Dottie Watkins: 00:16:07

hear them before I get the first one.

Dottie Watkins: 00:16:09

I'd love to hear from you.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:11

Modaxo is the world's largest transit technology company, so

Paul Comfort: 00:16:14

I've got to ask you a technology question.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:17

Tell me about one piece of technology that you see that's going to most impact your

Paul Comfort: 00:16:21

agency in the next one to three years.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:23

We'll start with you in Orlando.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:26

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: I think the contactless fare payment.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:28

Okay, yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:29

Uh, that along with the integration of, uh, SunRail is our commuter

Paul Comfort: 00:16:33

rail system here in central Florida.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:36

The funding partners will be taking it over next year.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:38

Um, it's currently run by the state, the Florida Department of Transportation.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:42

So, as we take on what is a commuter rail system, but how do we enhance

Paul Comfort: 00:16:49

that with, great technology to make that seamless transition?

Paul Comfort: 00:16:55

as we bring two systems together, over the next year or so.

Paul Comfort: 00:16:59

Oh, that'll be great.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:00

Yeah, people love that.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:01

They want ease, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:02

Ease of, uh, fare collection.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:04

That's good.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:04

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: If I can't explain it to you in 30 seconds,

Paul Comfort: 00:17:07

we're not doing something right.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:08

Um, because that's how our society is.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:11

We want it easy.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:12

We want it quick.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:13

Um, and so that's our marketing team, our IT teams, finance, sit

Paul Comfort: 00:17:18

together, and how can we make it.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:21

It's a 30 second elevator speech.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:22

That's really good.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:24

Frank, how about you?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:24

What piece of technology is coming for you?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:26

TransitMaster.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:28

Boom!

Paul Comfort: 00:17:29

I didn't pay him to say that.

Frank White: 00:17:31

Go ahead.

Frank White: 00:17:32

No, seriously.

Frank White: 00:17:33

I mean, we've got a World Cup coming in 2026, and so how we communicate with our

Frank White: 00:17:37

vehicles is going to be crucial for us.

Frank White: 00:17:39

So you didn't pay me for this, but that is the truth.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:43

Thank you.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:43

How about you?

Paul Comfort: 00:17:44

Coree Cuff Lonergan: So for me, the, the two technologies I think that are going

Paul Comfort: 00:17:48

to affect us the most, or at least I hope they do, is in the training space.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:52

So, I really want to see us leverage virtual reality more for

Paul Comfort: 00:17:56

training, particularly in mechanics.

Paul Comfort: 00:17:58

I think that is a, a strong opportunity to use virtual reality

Paul Comfort: 00:18:02

to create environments where...

Paul Comfort: 00:18:04

Our mechanics can be stressed and understand, um, some of the challenges,

Paul Comfort: 00:18:09

uh, in the learning environment on, um, on fixing equipment.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:14

And also, you know, from an operator perspective, doing the same thing, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:18:18

So that they feel those challenges in a traffic environment before

Paul Comfort: 00:18:21

we put them in one, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:18:22

So, I would love to see...

Paul Comfort: 00:18:25

Um, our simulation capability moved from the traditional simulators to

Paul Comfort: 00:18:29

a virtual, virtual reality world.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:32

The other one that I'm particularly excited about is AI, and I know there

Paul Comfort: 00:18:35

was some conversation this morning about that, um, but I'm very curious

Paul Comfort: 00:18:40

to understand how AI can improve our relationships with customers and how

Paul Comfort: 00:18:45

we respond to customers and how we respond in real time to customers.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:49

So, those are the two things that I think, from a technology

Paul Comfort: 00:18:53

perspective, I can't wait to do.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:55

Yeah.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:55

And there are those that I don't even know about yet, but I'm game, for

Paul Comfort: 00:18:58

sure.

Paul Comfort: 00:18:59

That's exciting.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:00

We just did a, uh, I just did an interview last week with Eve Machol

Paul Comfort: 00:19:03

from Microsoft Corporation and, um, A person from the Eno Center for

Paul Comfort: 00:19:08

Transportation who wrote an article this last week on ai, and it's gonna

Paul Comfort: 00:19:11

be on our podcast transit unplug coming up, but it's about just what you said.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:15

We've even got the video on it of, uh, them turning a piece of equipment to go

Paul Comfort: 00:19:20

into a bus, but it's not really there.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:22

They're wearing glasses.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:23

It's virtual reality, and they're, that's showing them how to put it

Paul Comfort: 00:19:26

into the, uh, the engine of the bus.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:28

Really cool stuff.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:29

I'm glad you're, you're doing that.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:30

That's awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:19:32

Alright, alright, Dave?

Paul Comfort: 00:19:33

Oh, uh,

David Dech: 00:19:33

Coree hit it right on the head.

David Dech: 00:19:34

I mean, AI is, we are so excited to see where we can leverage it.

David Dech: 00:19:39

Like, I don't even understand it fully enough, and I know

David Dech: 00:19:41

that it's gonna help me, right?

David Dech: 00:19:43

So, um, you know, but it can help me as far as, uh, you know, scheduling and work,

David Dech: 00:19:47

you know, where can we build our capacity?

David Dech: 00:19:49

Where can we put our people?

David Dech: 00:19:50

I mean, just the limits are endless.

David Dech: 00:19:53

Um, and then we, so we, you know, we're trying to embrace that as we can,

David Dech: 00:19:58

uh, but we're also, you know, I don't want to say step backwards, but we're

David Dech: 00:20:03

trying to bring us to the present.

David Dech: 00:20:04

So we have, you know, this beautiful neighbor of ours that's bright yellow and

David Dech: 00:20:08

black and they just ran to Orlando and it's a beautiful service, I wrote it up

David Dech: 00:20:12

here, and they have amenities that I want.

David Dech: 00:20:16

Bright line.

David Dech: 00:20:16

I won't always be, you know, I won't have, you know, the fundings are different.

David Dech: 00:20:19

My ticket prices are different, but like, why can't my people

David Dech: 00:20:22

have some of those amenities?

David Dech: 00:20:23

Like, why can't I have better public information system?

David Dech: 00:20:26

Why can't I have better wifi?

David Dech: 00:20:28

Why can't I have better connectivity?

David Dech: 00:20:30

You know, it shouldn't be, you know, it's, it's public transportation.

David Dech: 00:20:33

It's good enough.

David Dech: 00:20:34

It's not good enough.

David Dech: 00:20:35

Yeah.

David Dech: 00:20:35

It needs to be better.

David Dech: 00:20:36

And that's the only way we're gonna get the choice riders to come in

David Dech: 00:20:39

and who want to go to the airports and want to go different places.

David Dech: 00:20:42

Uh, and we need that.

David Dech: 00:20:43

So, we're trying to bring our level of customer service and, and customer

David Dech: 00:20:48

amenities as, as much as we can.

David Dech: 00:20:50

And we have to do it, obviously, within some budget constraints,

David Dech: 00:20:53

but, uh, I really, I really think our people deserve better than

David Dech: 00:20:56

what they're getting right now.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:57

I'm glad you're focused on that.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:58

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:20:59

Dottie?

Dottie Watkins: 00:20:59

Yeah, I think, um, the real opportunity we have in the next

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:04

three to five years, I still don't know how we're going to solve it, is to

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:07

really lean into the idea of mobility as a service and have a seamless way

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:12

for our customers to plan their trips, pay their fares, do the whole thing.

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:16

Um, you know, I was bellyaching to one of the vendors earlier today about how I have

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:21

four apps, um, to use my various services.

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:25

They all kind of come with their own app, which is great.

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:28

If you're only going to use that service, but if you want to use our bike share

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:34

service, we can plan a trip that shows you how to use a bike to the bus, but

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:38

actually if you're going to pay the fare, it's a little different, and we

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:42

have the pickup microtransit service that isn't exactly integrated as well.

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:47

So really figuring out how to crack that nut, um, and get it all on the same page.

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:52

We've made all of these great advancements in our ability to deliver service, but

Dottie Watkins: 00:21:56

if people don't understand it, if you can't explain it to them, or if they

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:00

have to physically call your customer service call center to figure it out,

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:04

then you've missed the boat, right?

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:06

God love the customer service call center folks who solve all those problems for

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:10

our customers every day, but that's...

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:12

That just shows that we hadn't figured something out that they were not

Dottie Watkins: 00:22:16

able to figure it out on their own.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:17

That's great.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:18

Great technology.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:19

All right.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:20

We're ready for the last question.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:21

And, uh, it's a fun one and you can say, you know, this will, this will

Paul Comfort: 00:22:25

give you a broad palette to paint on.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:27

What's one of the best things happening right now at your agency?

Paul Comfort: 00:22:30

And if you want to tell a story about it, that's great too.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:32

So we'll start with Frank.

Frank White: 00:22:34

We got the World Cup in 2026.

Frank White: 00:22:37

And so, um, just preparing for that from a federal state,

Frank White: 00:22:41

global piece is just an exciting project, uh, gives us a chance to

Frank White: 00:22:45

really put the ATA on the world stage and show off how great we really are.

Paul Comfort: 00:22:49

That's great.

David Dech: 00:22:50

So, there's a couple things I'm really excited about is, um, you know,

David Dech: 00:22:55

the first one is Miami Central Station.

David Dech: 00:22:56

I mean, it's such a beautiful station.

David Dech: 00:22:59

It's going to be really a game changing event for us when we take the first

David Dech: 00:23:04

revenue train into the station.

David Dech: 00:23:06

And it's been a long time coming.

David Dech: 00:23:09

The people of South Florida have been infinitely patient.

David Dech: 00:23:12

And, and I think that lends into the next thing I'm excited about is that, you know,

David Dech: 00:23:16

we're, we got kicked around in the press a little bit in the last couple years, you

David Dech: 00:23:19

know, it's, you know, there's no hiding it, I guess, but, uh, so we're, you know,

David Dech: 00:23:23

we're starting to get momentum, and we're starting to get some small victories,

David Dech: 00:23:27

and some small wins, and so, you know, we're, we're, we're crawl, walk, run, You

David Dech: 00:23:32

heard, we've heard that before, right?

David Dech: 00:23:34

Um, but we, uh, we're starting to get some momentum, so people are starting

David Dech: 00:23:37

to, you know, they're starting to see that it's working, and we're starting,

David Dech: 00:23:39

that, that, then that positive attitude comes through in the workforce.

David Dech: 00:23:43

You know, we've got, we're gonna be into Miami Central.

David Dech: 00:23:45

We, we were awarded a grant for rolling stock.

David Dech: 00:23:47

We're gonna go out and buy some, some, a significant amount of, At least for

David Dech: 00:23:50

us, rolling stock, uh, so that is, I mean, just having that nice new cadence

David Dech: 00:23:56

of momentum where people start to have, there's good news stories that are coming

David Dech: 00:23:59

out in the press and when people, you know, they come to work, they're proud

David Dech: 00:24:01

to come to work, they're happy to come to work, we're doing good things, um, and,

David Dech: 00:24:05

and I just want to keep building on that.

David Dech: 00:24:07

So that is just what I'm absolutely proud of right now

David Dech: 00:24:10

and we just got to keep building

David Dech: 00:24:11

on it.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:11

Awesome.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:12

Dottie?

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:12

I think one of the things I'm most excited about is the, the energy we are

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:16

putting into supporting our workforce and developing the workforce of the future.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:20

Um, much like Coree we had to have a real moment of clarity coming out of the

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:25

pandemic as to what is the value of the work that our frontline employees do and,

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:29

and how are we going to set a wage that will attract talent in the current market.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:34

Um, and so having made that pivot, that's step one.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:38

But it's also a really hard job to work the shift work that is required of many

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:43

of our frontline employees to deal with the general public who, by the way, have

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:47

completely lost their sense of decorum and common sense since the pandemic and

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:52

are just not Just awful nasty people on a regular basis to these folks.

Dottie Watkins: 00:24:56

And so how can we support them better because fundamentally our customers aren't

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:01

going to get a great experience if the workforce that is serving them isn't

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:05

satisfied with their work and doesn't feel they have the support that they need.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:08

And so we're really leaning in on training and retention.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:12

But then also developing the workforce of the future.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:15

We have this significant capital program that right now is all about

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:19

construction, but when it's all constructed is going to require a lot of

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:23

people who don't currently exist, right?

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:26

You know, I, there, the light rail signal maintainer that I probably need in a

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:30

decade is currently in the 8th grade.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:32

And I I can guarantee that he or she does not know that light rail signal

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:37

maintainer is something that they might want to be when they grow up.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:40

They just know they like to tinker with this stuff, right?

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:43

They like to take stuff apart and put it back together and see how it works.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:46

I need to find that kid, they need to find me.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:48

And so we're actually partnering with our local workforce board to do a study

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:53

of all of the mobility and mobility infrastructure jobs that are needed

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:56

in the next decade in our region.

Dottie Watkins: 00:25:58

So that we can get that pipeline going, um, so that I can go find that eighth

Dottie Watkins: 00:26:02

grader and make sure that they know what path to be on to have all the skills that

Dottie Watkins: 00:26:06

are necessary so that when they're ready for work, I've got a career for them.

Dottie Watkins: 00:26:10

So really investing in the workforce.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:12

That's a great vision.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:13

Really good.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:14

Tiffany.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:16

Tiffany Homler Hawkins: Yes.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:16

Career and technical education is so important.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:18

I, we have all these medical pipelines and construction pipelines.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:22

Here in the state of Florida, but we don't have auto shop in high schools anymore,

Paul Comfort: 00:26:27

and we, we need to create that pipeline.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:30

Mayor Demings announced it, uh, this morning, um, he has a 100

Paul Comfort: 00:26:35

million initiative, accelerated safety transportation program.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:39

Uh, LYNX will be a recipient of 6 million a year in additional

Paul Comfort: 00:26:42

operating funds from the, from Orange County for increased service.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:47

As well as 264 new shelters over a five year period.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:52

Um, Mayor Demings is one of our staunchest advocates for, uh,

Paul Comfort: 00:26:57

uh, sales tax in Central Florida.

Paul Comfort: 00:26:59

So, we'll see where he goes with it in 24 or 26.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:03

Um, but, uh, two of our biggest congressional, um, champions are

Paul Comfort: 00:27:09

gonna be starting their panel.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:10

Uh, uh, they started a minute ago, Congressman Frost and Congressman Soto.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:15

Uh, there's never been a better time to, uh, have a champion in Congress like we

Paul Comfort: 00:27:21

do with those two for Central Florida.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:23

So, that's what we're excited about.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:24

That's awesome.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:25

And thank you for being such a great host for us here in Orlando.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:28

Really appreciate it.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:29

All right, Coree bring us home.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:30

Coree Cuff Lonergan: Okay, thank you.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:31

there's so many things that I'm incredibly excited about that's

Paul Comfort: 00:27:35

coming forward for us at, um, BCT.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:39

Um, you know, namely the fact that we have the PRIMO plan coming forward.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:43

Um, that's huge.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:44

But, I'm excited about the possible, right?

Paul Comfort: 00:27:48

Like, what we can grow to, what we can be, what we will be,

Paul Comfort: 00:27:51

that excites me incredibly.

Paul Comfort: 00:27:53

And I'm also excited about the fact that I've got a great team to work

Paul Comfort: 00:27:58

with, and I'm excited for the future that we're going to build together.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:01

And in the audience, I've got Gia, I've got Chai, I've got Ripton, and,

Paul Comfort: 00:28:06

uh, Michael, and Omar, and, um, Nikki, and Lynn, and Angelica, and Kalila,

Paul Comfort: 00:28:13

uh, over there somewhere in the back.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:15

I saw you.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:15

There she is, waving.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:17

I'm excited, truly excited about continuing to work with you guys

Paul Comfort: 00:28:20

and I know we're going to bring it

Paul Comfort: 00:28:22

home together.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:23

Way to go.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:25

Let's get a big round of applause for all five of our CEOs, Corey Cuff Lonergan,

Paul Comfort: 00:28:31

Dottie Watkins, Frank White, Tiffany Hawkins, and Dave Dech Thank you so much

Paul Comfort: 00:28:35

for being here as part of our Transit Unplugged podcast live today for you.

Paul Comfort: 00:28:39

Thank you.

Elea Carey: 00:28:43

Hi, I'm Elea Carey.

Elea Carey: 00:28:44

I'm a communications consultant who loves working with public transit agencies.

Elea Carey: 00:28:49

Coree Cuff Lonergan talks in this segment about giving a shout out to your team.

Elea Carey: 00:28:53

We all know that team appreciation is vital to keeping the lifeblood of our

Elea Carey: 00:28:56

systems moving in the right direction.

Elea Carey: 00:28:58

There are lots of ways to show people they're doing a great job.

Elea Carey: 00:29:01

Driver or Staffer of the Month awards, employee appreciation events,

Elea Carey: 00:29:05

holiday parties, and halls of fame are all good and necessary ideas.

Elea Carey: 00:29:10

But you know what makes people feel really great?

Elea Carey: 00:29:14

Actually being heard, especially by the senior members of your team.

Elea Carey: 00:29:18

Letting your team know they're heard can take several forms.

Elea Carey: 00:29:21

Just a good ol anonymous comments box is a helpful start.

Elea Carey: 00:29:24

You can also make time for feedback during your regular meetings.

Elea Carey: 00:29:28

Set aside time on the agenda and make appropriate apologies and

Elea Carey: 00:29:31

follow up if you don't get to everyone who wants to say something.

Elea Carey: 00:29:35

There will often be someone who has more to say than you'd like, so delegating

Elea Carey: 00:29:38

a spot on the agenda and a discreet amount of time for comments is key.

Elea Carey: 00:29:43

I also encourage leadership to set up annual meetings with

Elea Carey: 00:29:45

as many employees as possible.

Elea Carey: 00:29:47

If you've got a huge team and it's not possible for everyone to meet with,

Elea Carey: 00:29:51

say, your GM or chief of staff, direct the top tier of senior staff to the

Elea Carey: 00:29:56

executive suite and provide time for lower tiers to have annual, off the record

Elea Carey: 00:30:00

time to check in with senior managers.

Elea Carey: 00:30:02

If you'd like to talk more about supporting your team or anything else

Elea Carey: 00:30:06

related to communications and public transit, look me up on LinkedIn.

Elea Carey: 00:30:10

My first name is spelled E L E A, last name C A R E Y.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:18

Hi, this is Tris Hussey, editor of transit unplugged.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:21

Thank you for listening to this week's episode and a special

Tris Hussey: 00:30:24

thank you to our guests.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:26

Cory Cuff Lonergan, Dottie Watkins, Tiffany Homer Hawkins,

Tris Hussey: 00:30:30

Dave Dech' and Frank White.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:33

Now coming up on next week's show.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:35

Paul is talking with Adam Hill.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:37

Editor in chief of ITS International Magazine about high speed rail

Tris Hussey: 00:30:42

in both the UK and north America.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:44

ULEZ, ultra low emission zones.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:48

They're being set up around the UK.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:51

To reduce pollution from cars.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:54

It's a really interesting discussion.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:55

And I think you'll really like it.

Tris Hussey: 00:30:57

But before next week, show Transit Unplugged TV comes out.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:02

And it features Orlando.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:05

Home of Tiffany Homler Hawkins and Brightline trains.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:10

Once Paul is he tours through APTA expo.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:13

It gets a tour of Brightline and LYNX and BEEP autonomous vehicles.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:18

It's going to be a really good episode.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:19

Watch for it.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:20

Thursday, November the ninth.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:23

If you have a question comment, or I'd like to be a guest on the show.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:26

Feel free to email us anytime@infoattransitunplugged.com.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:31

Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:35

At Modaxo, we're passionate about moving the world's people.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:38

And at Transit Unplugged.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:40

We're passionate about telling those stories.

Tris Hussey: 00:31:42

So until next week, ride safe and ride happy.