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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis January 25, 2013
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MEET THE APTA STAFF
Meet Susan Berlin!

Susan Berlin
Senior Editor
Passenger Transport
Communications and Marketing Department

What are the job elements you focus on the most (your primary responsibilities)?
My primary job is to prepare each biweekly issue of Passenger Transport (PT, as we call it). This includes both the print and electronic versions of PT.

I’m the only APTA employee who devotes the majority of my time to writing and editing PT. This means that I have full responsibility for a story from the initial contact though interviewing sources, the editing process, and ultimately placing it on the page.

I also edit and proofread all stories from other contributors: APTA staff, association members, and news releases APTA receives for publication.

Do you have direct contact with APTA members? If so, please talk about the two most recent times you’ve helped out a member.
Following major APTA meetings, members sometimes call me to get copies of photos for them. I’m always happy to send them out.

I also help members trying to track down a PT story that might have run months—or even years—ago.

I’ve worked at APTA since 1994, so I’m the “institutional memory” for the Communications and Marketing Department. People can ask about something that happened years earlier and chances are I’ll remember it. For example, I was present in 1997 when APTA honored Rosa Parks with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.

Readers might see a Passenger Transport story—perhaps on a timely topic such as green technology or public-private partnerships—and contact me about a similar situation at their own system or company. Public transit agencies also let me know about issues of importance to them: ground breakings, system openings or extensions, and acquiring vehicles that feature innovative operating systems or run on alternative fuels.

What initiatives, projects, or programs have you worked on at APTA that you have taken particular pride in completing?
I maintain APTA’s photo files—both hard copy and electronic—along with an online database of photos and, separately, photos taken during major APTA meetings. Each issue of PT may use 15 to 20 photos.

Our historic files go back decades, meaning that they contain many thousands of photos.

How did you “land” at APTA? How long have you worked here?
I previously worked for another association in Washington, DC. That association decided to balance its budget by letting some people go. I was one of them. I was glad to find APTA and discover that it was a good fit for me. I knew very little about public transportation when I started, but I’ve been learning ever since!

I will have been an APTA employee for 19 years in March. This is the second APTA office location in which I’ve worked.

Have you held other jobs in the public transportation industry (besides working at APTA)?
No, but I’ve come to really value the role of public transportation. It’s a service that people really need. There’s a direct connection to the public. I like knowing that I’m helping to inform people about something they really can use.

I’m more aware of public transportation when I’m in other cities, even if I don’t use it during my time in that city.

I always take Metro to get to work. Before I started working at APTA, I never really thought about the mechanics, logistics, financing—all the things that keep public transit agencies going.

The longer I work here, the more people I’ve met who have worked for decades in public transportation and talk about the changes they’ve seen.

What professional affiliations do you have?
I have been a member of Women’s Transportation Seminar and Association Media and Publishing.

Could you tell us something about yourself that might surprise us?
In my spare time, I see a lot of plays and movies. Often I see one to three plays a week. I write theater reviews for a nationwide website. My husband is an actor in his spare time, so I see the acting work he does. Otherwise, I enjoy doing counted cross-stitch and spending time with my cat.

I also know how to jumpstart a car. I learned this skill from a former co-worker—a woman, seven months pregnant at the time—when I lived in a small town in the winter.



Make sure you see Susan Berlin’s video, now that you've read this!

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