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2017: THE YEAR IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Committee Chairs Note Progress During 2017

What was your committee’s most significant priority or accomplishment for 2017?

Business Member Board of Governors: Boosting the Strategic Plan
Jeffrey Wharton, Chair
President, IMPulse NC LLC
President, Koehler-Bright Star LLC
The BMBG has been busy throughout 2017 in support of APTA’s Strategic Plan. To pick just one event as the most significant would be unjust to all the rest.

The Legislative Subcommittee coordinated the May 18 Business Member Fly-in to Washington, DC, and conducted nearly 100 successful meetings with the House and Senate.

The Workforce Development Subcommittee helped produce the 2017 Youth Summit, which I was honored to co-chair along with Adelee Marie Le Grand, chief strategy officer for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. We conducted the second Passenger Rail Engineering Education Symposium (p-REES) in Los Angeles to enhance and expand rail engineering-oriented programs.

The Business Development Subcommittee produced its latest Business Case investment brochure and promoted—and many attended—the Asia Study Mission to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. We also created a North American Pavilion at the UITP Summit in Montreal.

The Procurement Subcommittee worked with FTA on federal procurement updates, Buy America, local hire and contracting risk issues with public transit agency members.

The Small Business Subcommittee continues its networking breakfasts at the Bus and Rail conferences, working on federal regulations regarding DBEs, and a new dues structure for certified DBEs.

The Programs Subcommittee piloted a program at the modal conferences to draw attendees and executed several programs at the EXPO, which exceeded all expectations through the involvement of both business members and public sector attendees.

The Activity Fund Budget Subcommittee manages a $500,000+ portfolio of reports, studies, program events, speakers, American Public Transportation Foundation contributions and emergency disaster relief donations, all designed to benefit APTA business members.

The BMBG received board approval on a new business member dues structure as a countermeasure to the Revenue Task Force proposal. The new structure will be phased in over a three-year period.

The BMBG will hold its next annual planning meeting in January to schedule ongoing work programs.

Legislative Committee: Increased Transparency
Diana Mendes, Chair
Mid-Atlantic Division President and National Transit/Rail Market Sector Leader
HNTB Corporation
Our most important accomplishment was to increase collaboration and transparency in decision-making so that the diverse perspectives of APTA members are heard and we can speak with one voice, as we are always stronger together.




Access Committee: Keeping Up with Changing Technologies
Ron Brooks, Chair
Manager of Accessible Transit Services
Valley Metro
Phoenix
The Access Committee reoriented its Committee Work Plan to focus on the delivery of accessible public transit and paratransit service in a rapidly evolving landscape of new providers, emerging technologies, and higher levels of automation and shifting customer expectations. Our new Work Plan has generated more energy and engagement among committee members and has increased the number of people in committee and subcommittee leadership roles.


Workforce Development Committee: Looking to the Future
Paul Larrousse, Chair
Director
National Transit Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
The Workforce Development Committee continued to ensure that public transit has a well-trained and effective workforce, now and for the future. Our committee changed its name from Human Resources to Workforce Development to emphasize our mission and be more tightly aligned with APTA’s Strategic Plan.

Building on the great outcomes of the initial rounds of our 2016 Organizational Development Summits in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, our colleagues in Chicago welcomed us for a very successful event this past year. These summits brought together workforce development professionals for a one-day meeting to discuss and exchange workforce and industry issues and challenges they face, to address and share common solutions and to bolster networking opportunities with each other. Events like these clearly help those who support the current workforce.

To prepare the workforce of the future, APTA hosted its fifth biennial Youth Summit in Washington, DC, the last week in June. With generous financial support from APTA’s business members, 50 high school juniors and seniors from around the nation spent one week learning about the business of public transportation, the political process affecting public transportation and the breadth of career opportunities afforded them by our industry.

Research & Technology Committee: Staying Out in Front
Jon McDonald, Chair
Vice President, Americas Rail & Transit Practice Leader-Systems, CH2M
At the end of 2016, the Research & Technology Committee developed a strategic plan for the APTA Board of Directors to address its desire to put APTA at the forefront of Technological Innovation (APTA’s strategic initiative item) for the industry. In 2017, we advanced all five of the recommended initiatives identified in the plan, including adding a committee rep to the APTA Innovation Award Selection Panel, gaining approval for standards initiatives for technology procurement recommended practices, forming a certification working group, assisting APTA’s Revenue Task Force in the restructuring of APTA conferences and holding listing sessions for the Innovation Lab idea.

Rail Transit Committee and Rail Transit CEOs Subcommittee: Support and Advocacy
Neil McFarlane, Chair
General Manager
Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, Portland, OR
The Rail CEOs/Rail Transit: Rail CEOs continued to share best practices and advocate for an ongoing, robust federal program in support of rail systems’ state of good repair and expansion. Rail Transit has subgroups involved in exciting research areas including autonomous operation, streetcar and LRT development programs, and integration of new technologies into our nation’s rail operations.


Risk Management Committee: Helping the Membership
Mark Emmons, Chair
Director of Safety, Training and Security
Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation
The APTA Risk Management Committee has been focused on a number of initiatives that can help our membership. The committee has collaborated with AON, at the San Francisco office, on benchmarking different areas including preventable accidents and cameras on buses. In fact, we are engaged in a second-round effort this coming year to provide members with even more accurate and useful information.

We have been active in promoting safer operating environments through Safety Management System adoption and use in alignment with DOT under MAP-21 and the FAST Act. We have also provided education and updates for members on insurance risk transfer.

Committee leadership is addressing APTA management consultant recommendations and is developing a strategy for educating members on upcoming structural changes while ensuring that their opinions and contributions are recognized with the upcoming combining of several committee conferences.

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