Director and General Manager
Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation
Chair, APTA Security Affairs Steering Committee

How many people do you employ?
1,200 employees and a police force of approximately 180, and about 200 contract employees.

How long have you worked in the industry? 34 years

How long have you been an APTA member? As long as I can remember.

What drew you to a career in public transportation?
I received my master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, specializing in transportation and land use planning. Since then, public transportation has always been of interest to me.

I have been extremely fortunate in my career to have worked at four of this nation’s largest properties. I was blessed to get a job in public transit right out of graduate school at Southeastern Philadelphia Transportation Authority, where I held a number of different positions in the areas of planning, project management, maintenance, and operations.

After there, I went to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston, followed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in Oakland, CA. Then I came to the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) in the New York/New Jersey region, and I have been here as its director and general manager for the past 16 years.

What have you found to be the most valuable APTA benefit or resource—that helps you do your job?
I think it is attending and participating at the various workshops and conferences, including the networking that takes place. I really learn a lot from attending the meetings, especially interacting with my fellow chief executive officers and general managers.
 
Please explain why or how this has helped.
I’ll give you an example. When we were getting ready to move forward with our integrated rail car and signal system replacement program, I had an opportunity to meet and discuss with other GMs and professional experts about all the trials and tribulations of changing to a new technology—such as communication-based train control and advance design rail cars. Learning from others was a tremendous opportunity for us to fashion a program to reduce risk and ensure success. It was also a cost and time saver in that we were able to learn from others and avoid mistakes already made!

What do you like most about your job?
I think there’s a great satisfaction in knowing that the service you provide is so valuable to the people who use it, and for all the regional population who—even though they may not use it—can benefit from public transportation.

It is gratifying that PATH carries over 250,000 people a day who rely on us to provide safe, efficient, quality service. And knowing that we do just that—is really satisfying. It’s also great working with such a terrific, dedicated group of people who I can count on to succeed on a day-to-day basis, even under the most adverse conditions—whether it be blizzards, hurricanes, or terrorist attacks.

What is unique about your agency?
PATH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and is really a critical link in the regional transportation network. We provide the intermodal connection between New Jersey Transit and MTA New York City Transit—and such other rail providers as Amtrak and MTA Long Island Rail Road.

In 2011, PATH set a ridership record in its 50-year history with 76.6 million passenger trips, surpassing the previous 2008 record by 1.7 million trips.

Last year, the Port Authority completed its three-year phase-in of 340 new rail cars, a $744 million program that gave PATH one of the nation’s newest railcar fleets after years of being one of the oldest. Our new $580 million Signal System Replacement Program will replace an aging, mechanized system with a state-of-the-art Automatic Train Control System that will allow PATH to increase system capacity by permitting trains to run closer together while maintaining safety requirements.

Something else unique: We are the only heavy rail rapid transit system in the country that falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration. This is an historic connection, leading back to when the system was called the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad over 100 years ago.


Make sure you see Michael DePallo's video, now that you've read this!