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APTA MEMBER PROFILE |
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Meet Richard Maxwell! |
Richard Maxwell
Assistant Vice President, Marketing
Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T)
Member, APTA Board of Directors
Chair, APTA Marketing & Communications Committee
How many people do you employ/how many people at your agency?
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) is a medium-size multimodal system established in a 1983 sales tax initiative that evolved from the city of Fort Worth’s bus system, “CITRAN” (City Transit).
Today we operate a compressed natural gas-powered (CNG) fleet of some 200 bus and paratransit vans, a downtown circulator rubber-tire trolley, and we partner with Dallas Area Rapid Transit as joint owners and operators of Trinity Railway Express
commuter rail, which began serving the Fort Worth area in 2000. The T is developing a second commuter rail, TEX Rail, scheduled to begin service from Fort Worth to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 2016.
We employ 569 full- and part-time employees who operate and maintain our bus and paratransit service, as well as professional and administrative employees in planning, finance, marketing and communications, and support services. We transport more than
800,000 monthly passengers across our services. Last year, T ridership exceeded 9.6 million boardings, an increase of 9.4 percent over the previous year.
How long have you worked in the public transportation industry?
I’ve worked in public transportation for 13 years total. I view my 13 transit years as the capstone to my 34-year marketing career.
I began my public transit career in 2000 as marketing director for Metro Transit in Oklahoma City before moving to The T in 2002. Prior to Metro Transit, I was director of fleet fuel marketing at Love’s Travel Stops—Love’s was a pioneer in CNG fuel sales. The T is also a pioneer in CNG and almost 100 percent of our fleet runs on clean-burning natural gas, so there’s a “CNG thread” running through my work history.
How long have you been an APTA member?
Both public transit agencies I’ve worked for are APTA members. I’ve also been on the Marketing & Communications Committee for 13 years and previously was the chair of the Customer Service Challenge Task Force when we launched the Call Center Challenge. We celebrated our seventh annual competition at the Marketing and Communications Workshop in Los Angeles this past February.
What drew you to a career in public transportation?
I worked for the American Red Cross earlier in my career before returning to corporate| marketing and missed the attitude of servant leadership you have in a nonprofit. I really believe that The T makes a difference in the lives of our customers every day.
What have you found to be the most valuable APTA benefit or resource—which one helps you do your job?
I can name a few. I appreciate and benefit from the Marketing & Communications Committee’s AdWheel Awards program and networking with other marketers at conferences and through our online marketing forum on the APTA website.
Please explain why or how this has helped.
These are great resources for learning industry best practices and give me exposure to great creative ideas that I can use at The T.
What do you like most about your job?
There is never a dull moment! I have a small department and wear several hats, so I never do the same thing two days in a row.
What is unique about your agency—what would readers be surprised to learn?
The city of Fort Worth’s logo is a longhorn named Molly, and we run a shuttle service that circulates around downtown called “Molly the Trolley.” We have used trolley-replica buses in the past, but recently our maintenance department has started converting 30-foot buses to resemble trolleys and the customers love them. Come to Fort Worth for the 2015 APTA Bus & Paratransit Conference and International Bus Roadeo and you can check them out firsthand!
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Make sure you see Richard Maxwell’s video, now that you've read this! |
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CLASSIFIEDS |
» AC Transit, Oakland, CA, is looking for a director of transportation. [More] |
» BC Rapid Transit Company, Vancouver, BC, has an opening for a vice president, maintenance. [More] |
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