APTA’s Annual Meeting provokes a serious shift in our thinking
As a newcomer to APTA conferences and meetings, I was really impressed by the many, many dedicated professionals who came together in Nashville this week for APTA’s 2018 Annual Meeting. Not only was there great entertainment (from live music in the morning to Shark Tank’s Daymond John’s keynote speech), I found that I left this event feeling renewed, inspired, and driven to contribute to what is yet to come. After all, what comes next is likely to be THE foundation of transit for decades to come.
There was certainly a common theme at this year’s Meeting and that was the idea of a multi-modal model for public transit. From autonomous vehicles to bicycles, to rideshares to traditional public transit, the transit landscape is changing and it’s not one size fits all. As Robin Chase (who recently launched the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities) discussed in her closing keynote speech, communities need to address the convergence of multiple modes of transit based on their specific circumstances. It’s not going to be the same for every community.
On the flip side though, we learned that one of the key components in making this mobility paradigm work is standardized data extending to all modes of public transit.
It’s important for us to always remember that transit is about people. People who ride. People who drive buses. People who power the technology behind it all. Paul Comfort addressed this in his session, “Envisioning the Workforce in the Mobility Landscape.” It’s critical when we think about hiring and retaining talent that we have the right people in purpose-driven roles to support the mission.
And speaking of people, it was exciting to be a part of Nat Ford handing the torch to incoming APTA Chair David M. Stackrow Sr. Welcome Mr. Stackrow!
It’s up to all of us to be creative and innovative in our communities in how we address this new paradigm. Because this isn’t happening in the future. It’s here now and our riders are counting on us. It’s a good thing our extended transit family is a creative bunch. From learning about Texas’ high speed rail project to the Beach Bus campaign from DART (Delaware), we congratulate all of our award-winning customers!
AdWheel Award Winners: DART (Delaware), Tri-Met, KCATA, and LA Metro. It’s great to see how creative our customers are!
APTA Award Winners: VIA (San Antonio), San Joaquin RTD, Central Ohio Transportation Authority (COTA), and King Country Metro.
Not to mention the individual awards that were given out – kudos! As always, we are extremely proud to be working with you. We hope you also had a chance to drop by our booth Sunday or Monday and find your name on our wall.
As we turn our attention to the future of transit, we heard a number of times at APTA’s Annual Meeting that we need to have a good hard look at how we define public transit. We can’t rest on historical definitions. More and more we are using an expanding set of modes to travel. We’re also not necessarily choosing just one of those vehicles for our journeys. We may use multiple modes within the same trip. We can go to any city in the world and with the help of technology navigate our way around handily. Now is the time to embrace this vehicular revolution and as an industry create frameworks that enable citizens to choose how they travel. This transformational change has the potential to positively impact our economies, our health, and our planet.
With 1,500 APTA members across 50 states, and 1,700 Annual Meeting attendees, it is clear to see that we are a transit nation determined to grow and succeed and learn from each other and from the riders in our communities. The transit landscape is changing and that’s an opportunity for all of us. We’re excited to be a part of redefining our future as an industry and helping to enhance the vision of the new mobility paradigm. As departing CEO of APTA, Nat Ford, aptly put it, “the future, that’s for us to write.”
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