Manager, Intelligent Transportation Systems Operations Command Central (OCC) Systems, TriMet & LIFT

Sr. Manager Launch & Implementation- Transit, 
Uber


 

Manager of Customer Success, Documoto

Andrew Thompson recently started as an Applications Administrator at Whatcom Transportation Authority with a focus on Trapeze software. Andrew joined WTA in 2012 as an Operator, later becoming a substitute Dispatcher, then a full-time Dispatcher, then the Dispatch Systems Coordinator, now taking on his current role as of February this year. Originally from the East Coast, Andrew fell in love with the woods of the Pacific Northwest, which he loves to explore with his dog, Augie Roo.

Andy Wakefield is the Vice President of the Transportation Management Consulting Practice at Intueor Consulting. Throughout his tenure with Intueor, spanning roughly a decade, Wakefield has assisted over 50 different transit agencies, all of various size and complexity, with IT strategic planning and technology system selection and advisory services. 

While specializing in Intelligent Transportation System selection and engineering, he assists agencies with IT strategic planning, program management, process design, and the selection and implementation of major transit operations and enterprise applications, including: CAD/AVL, Daily Operations, Scheduling, Vehicle Health Monitoring, Yard Management, Voice and Data Communications, Fare Collection, Business Intelligence (BI), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM),  and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.  

He is an alumnus of the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Emerging Leaders Program (class of 2019) and was named one of Mass Transit Magazine's 40 under 40 in 2023. Additionally, he has authored several white papers and research articles aimed at educating transit agencies on best practices related to zero-emission bus planning and rollout strategies, how agencies can leverage IT solutions to modernize business operations, and the benefits and impacts that fare free transit practices can have on riders, cities, and regional economics. 

Andy is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Organizational Change Management Practitioner (CCMP).

Brian is an Information Technology Applications Administer at Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) in Bellingham, Washington. He has a master's degree in Sustainable Transportation and has worked for over two decades in local government. Brian has extensive project management experience and enjoys competing/coaching CrossFit in his free time.

Bryan Gilliom is the President and Chief Technical Officer of Message Point Media, an Innovative Full Spectrum provider of Public Information Display Systems.  Bryan has been an information technology and managed services leader for over 35 years and was instrumental in bringing the managed and co-managed services paradigm to many key I.T. challenges.  In 2014 he brought this experience to bear on the legacy method of delivering digital signage and public information display systems.  In just five years he has helped grow Message Point from a home-town hero to a technology leader in Mass Transit from one end of North America to the other.  He brings a relentless focus on optimization and passenger experience to the design and support of RTPI system for mass transit across all display technologies and passenger touchpoints.

IT Supervisor, Purple Line Transit Operators

Project Manager, Regional Municipality of Peel (TransHelp)
 

Analyst, Senior, LIFT Service Delivery, 
TriMet


 

Dan Freudberg began his career in public transportation in 2005 as a bus operator with the University of Virginia as an undergraduate student. He has since served in various roles of progressive responsibility within fixed route and paratransit operations and scheduling across multiple agencies and is currently the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Operations Systems at the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority (publicly known as WeGo Public Transit). In this capacity, he oversees Information Technology, performance tracking/reporting, and complaint investigation, while serving as project manager for various technology and innovation-focused initiatives. He is particularly interested in exploring ways to effectively integrate technology into transit operations in order to improve service reliability and the overall customer experience. 

Daniel holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, and for the past 12 years, he's been working as a Systems Support Specialist for York Region Transit. Always putting the customers first, Daniel is all about making the YRT riders' experience better and giving excellent user support. He's on a mission to make sure all systems meet the latest standards, ensuring that YRT is embracing new technologies to deliver a service that's not just efficient but also super reliable. 

Daron Brown is the Chief Maintenance Officer for the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA).  Daron has more than 34 years of Fleet and Facilities Transit Maintenance experience.  In May of 2016, Daron joined the RTA as the Deputy Chief Maintenance Officer.  In July of 2017, he was promoted to Chief Maintenance Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day Operations of Maintenance which encompasses Fleet Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds (Facilities), Electrical Infrastructure, Inventory/Storeroom, Warranty, Quality Control, Capital Planning, and Operating Budgets for 13 Cost Centers within the RTA.  Daron has played a key leadership role in increasing RTA’s Miles between Mechanical Road Calls by more than 50% over 2015’s numbers, with improved Preventive Maintenance (PM) plans, focusing on top 5 road call failures, targeted campaigns, engine replacements and fleet modernization. 

De’Shalon Brownlee started working at SMART in 1996 as a fixed route bus operator, and has held numerous positions since – from Dispatch Supervisor and Road Supervisor, to Office Manager, Bus Manager, Assistant VP of Bus Operations, to her current role as VP of Bus Operations. While employed, she had pursued an Associate Degree in Business Administration from AIU University. De’Shalon is a problem solver, project manager, and effective team leader. She loves digging into new ways of learning and teaching new processes. Her motto: Everyday is Different in Public Transportation.

Hugh joined the Asset Management team at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 2020, immediately following a 3-year consulting engagement for the MBTA. He has been leading the way, by overseeing the Trapeze EAM system implementation and setting direction with the development of asset management standards and policies. As the Director of Reliability and Configuration Engineering, Hugh is responsible for all EAM engineering services, data ingestion, system configuration, and standards development covering transit, commuter rail, ferry, and paratransit assets. 

Alicia Gray has 14 years of public transit experience at Palm Tran. In July 2019 she joined the Operations Management team as an Assistant Operations Manager and was soon elevated to the position of Operations Manager. Alicia oversees all the day-to-day operational activities at Palm Trans Delray Beach, FL Facility. In addition to her daily work load she is the operations lead when it comes to the use, testing and troubleshooting of Trapeze products for Palm Trans Fixed Route services. She is credentialed in Emergency Response and is a member of the disaster response team that responds to the Emergency Operations Center to staff the Transportation Unit.  

Alicia began her career at Palm Tran as an Operations Supervisor, responsible for daily Dispatch, Road Supervisor and Radio Communications functions. She was later promoted to Operations Special Projects Coordinator. Prior to Palm Tran, Alicia worked for a local municipality where she began her career in transportation and obtained her CDL.  

Alicia resides in Palm Beach County Florida with her husband and two children.   

Andy Burke is a highly accomplished transportation professional starting his career in 2006 as a Bus Operator. Currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Nashville MTA - WeGo Public Transit, Andy is responsible for providing strategic direction for the company consisting of Fixed Route, Commuter Bus, Paratransit/MAAS, and Commuter Rail.  Prior to joining WeGo Public Transit, Andy served as the Regional Transportation Service Manager at Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority where he provided executive leadership to the fixed route system for the ACE Shuttle Commuters network and VTA’s ADA Access Paratransit system. His other key responsibilities included building relationships and establishing agreements with cities regarding shuttle commuter express services, heavy rail operation’s agreements, and serving as a staff liaison on the Committee for Transportation Mobility & Accessibility. 

Andy has also served in key positions in the private contracting world of transit, including General Manager of First Group America at Greater Hartford Transit District, General Manager of Transdev Services at Essex County Division of Senior Citizens, and General Manager of MTM Transit at Central Area Transit Authority.  He has a demonstrated history of success in managing various systems of different sizes.

Andy Burke has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and is currently working toward a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.   He is a sought-after speaker and panelist on workforce development, recruiting, and retention for the public transit industry and will be sharing his expertise at the upcoming transit conference.

Andy Wakefield is the director of Intueor Consulting’s Transit Operations Management Consulting practice. While specializing in Intelligent Transportation System selection and engineering, he assists agencies with IT strategic planning, program management, process design, and the selection and implementation of CAD/AVL, daily operations, scheduling, vehicle health monitoring, Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), yard management, voice and data communications, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and customer relationship management systems. Andy brings a focus on technical application, growth, scalability, needs analysis, business process re-engineering, and Organizational Change Management (OCM) to his work and has provided these services to transit agencies, cities, and special districts across the country. His goal on any engagement is to fully understand the needs and requirements of an agency and help them to select and implement effective solutions to support their operations and strategic growth initiatives.

Andy is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Organizational Change Management Practitioner (CCMP).

Bryan Gilliom is the President and Chief Technical Officer of Message Point Media, an Innovative Full Spectrum provider of Public Information Display Systems.  Bryan has been an information technology and managed services leader for over 35 years and was instrumental in bringing the managed and co-managed services paradigm to many key I.T. challenges.  In 2014 he brought this experience to bear on the legacy method of delivering digital signage and public information display systems.  In just five years he has helped grow Message Point from a home-town hero to a technology leader in Mass Transit from one end of North America to the other.  He brings a relentless focus on optimization and passenger experience to the design and support of RTPI system for mass transit across all display technologies and passenger touchpoints.

Crystal Smith started her transit career in 2016 as a Transit Operator, cross-trained in Fixed Route and Paratransit. After two years of driving, she was promoted to a cross-trained Dispatcher. She was a star in Dispatch and served as a leader and subject matter expert in several software systems.

Crystal shines in her current role as Operations Supervisor, which she was promoted to after four years contributing unique skill sets inlcuding being a master scheduler. 

Christiaan Blake serves as the Managing Director of Access Services for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). In this position, Mr. Blake leads the department that is responsible for ensuring WMATA services, facilities, and public-facing equipment are accessible to people with disabilities and adhere to all provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mr. Blake is also responsible for the operations WMATA’s MetroAccess paratransit service. In this role, he created the Abilities-Ride program offering MetroAccess customers the option to use other transportation services, such as Uber and taxis, as an alternative to MetroAccess. This program has provide more than a half million free trips to MetroAccess customers. Mr. Blake has been with WMATA for 11 years.

Prior to WMATA, Blake worked at the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). During his 7 1/2 years at MTA his roles included including Director of External Affairs, a role in which he advocated on behalf of the agency before the Maryland General Assembly and other state and local government entities, and Special Assistant to the MTA Administrator.

Blake is a native of Miami, FL. He is a graduate of Morgan State University, with a bachelor's degree in Economics, and he has a master's degree in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Danny has worked in public transit industry for more than 15 years and is currently the Trapeze Fuel Focus and Enterprise Asset Management Systems Administrator at The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. RFTA is an amazing smaller rural transit property, running the first and largest Rapid Transit solution in the US. RFTA has been utilizing Trapeze’s fuel and asset management solutions since 2013. Danny assisted in the initial implementation of Trapeze EAM and currently administers the system. He is excited to see what new technology and innovation can bring to the future of public transit and how these solutions not only improve the transit industry but also make our communities a better place to live.  

After retiring from Marine Corps Aviation leadership in 2015, Dave spent two years in commercial aviation. In 2018, he brought his leadership and transportation fleet maintenance experience to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority where he spent more than two years delivering a reliability-centered maintenance strategy for the Blue Line rail vehicles.

In 2020 he transitioned to Asset Management, where he helped develop the current team and give the department a restart. During this time he has worked to deliver the implementation of MBTA's enterprise asset management systems, transition to data-driven capital decision-making, and preventative maintenance strategy across all asset categories. 

Dave has been with RTD for 37 years – five years as a Parts Clerk, ten as a Storeroom/Maintenance Supervisor, and 22 as the System Administrator for our Legacy system and Trapeze EAM application. ion. He looks forward to problem solving opportunities (yes, really) and making the most of EAM to improve process efficiencies for departments and end users.  

David is the Senior Business Development Manager at Microsoft Canada responsible for leading our partnership with some of the top technology companies in the country. His focus is on helping these partners evolve their business models and co-innovate with Microsoft to create more value for their clients.  

With other 15 years of experience at Microsoft, David has held a variety of roles in Enterprise sales, Channel strategy, and Marketing. He is most passionate about how technology can fuel the innovation that will help individuals, and communities achieve more.  

Dmitriy Vanchugov joined Uber Transit in February of 2020 to lead the Global Transit Partnerships team.  Uber Transit works closely with Public Transport agencies and cities around the world to help them deliver a more integrated and equitable mobility network by making the Uber platform a part of their overall mobility ecosystem.  Uber Transit partnerships vary from providing First Last Mile or Late Night connections to Fixed Route services, to complimenting Paratransit and Microtransit operations.  

Don is a Sr. Planner for rail car maintenance at MARTA.  He has 28 years of experience in the maintenance and management of rail car rolling stock ranging from static and dynamic testing during new car builds and vehicle rehabilitation, to supervising scheduled and reactive maintenance, to his current role. 

Garry started his public transit career at RTD in Denver Colorado in 1992, as a part-time bus operator. He participated in the mentor program and created a position as a Service Writer. Then, in 1998 he moved into Service Planning and Scheduling as a Scheduler then became Production Support Analyst using Trapeze FX when it was still written in DOS. He left RTD in 2002.  

In 2003, Garry moved to Livermore, California, to be an AVL Technician for Wheels, working with Trapeze FX and TransitMaster. In February 2005 he joined Siemens to support the TransitMaster system. He was promoted to Traveling Trainer in 2006, teaching bus companies in the US and Canada how to get the most from TransitMaster. 

In January 2010 Garry moved to Washington DC as a consultant for WMATA, then became Assistant Manager of Rail Scheduling. Two years later he moved to Des Moines Iowa and became the AVL System Administrator for DART (Des Moines). Next came Colorado Springs, where Garry worked as a scheduling consultant for MATA in Memphis Tennessee. He also worked as a consultant for Agilent Technologies and T Rowe Price before being asked to be Senior Manager of Scheduling for MATA. His time in Memphis lasted almost two years before Garry moved to Dallas in 2016 to work for DART (Dallas) as a Project Manager, a position he still holds today working with Trapeze OPS, Trapeze FX, and TransitMaster. 

Gary “MO” Morris is a retired 27-year Combat Wounded, United States Air Force Veteran. In the last few years of this military career, he helped provide for and move groups of personnel plus assets around the globe in support of Air Force operational needs. His last major assignment was during the first Gulf War. He retired in 1991. 

Gary has been with the Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), for 31 and-a-half years. He started as a part-time Paratransit Bus Operator for 11 months in 1991. After that, he was promoted and moved to a first line supervisor, dual position scheduling and dispatching paratransit trips. He was part of the initial team who reviewed and subsequently purchased Trapeze Software in the late 1990’s. DTC’s growth led to another promotion to a Chief Transportation Supervision position where he oversaw both Paratransit and Fixed Route daily operations for two of the three counties in Delaware. MO spent 21 years in Operations before moving to his current position as the Transit Application Research Analyst in the Technology Division in 2013.  

Gary Rosenfeld is the Chief Executive Officer of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). Rosenfeld has led the transit agency since 2016 and has implemented new transit initiatives that focus on increasing mobility options and elevating services for residents in Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee. Rosenfeld has more than 30 years of experience in transit as an executive, strategist and advisor. 

Trieu Nguyen is a Systems and Services Manager with Manatee County Area Transit based in Bradenton, FL that oversees and directs the organizational technical specifications for vehicle procurement and key initiatives. Mr. Nguyen also focuses on emerging innovative methods and best practices including reviewing and evaluating proposed ITS projects and plans; identifying impacts to Transit operations; and recommending and implementing solutions. Furthermore, he works with clients to help an increasingly agile Transit IT to engage the business with ITS design business practices including design thinking and ensure the most efficient and effective delivery of services.

As the Director of Paratransit Operations at NICE Bus/Transdev Services Inc., Sudesh oversees all aspects of public transportation departments such as bus operators, coordinators, schedulers, reservations, travel information center, maintenance and also sub contractors etc. In addition to his 10 years’ experience he has organized, planned and implemented innovative transportation solutions that utilized the best cost option to maximize profitability.

A graduate of APTA's Emerging Leaders Program, Vassilena has been in the transit industry for seven years. She began her career as an intern for the San Diego Association of Governments and later transitioned to San Diego Metropolitan Transit System in the Compass Services Center shortly before moving into Operations. Over the last five years, she has focused on San Diego’s Paratransit and Minibus Operations.

Callie has been working with individuals with disabilities for ten years and has a background in special education. She transitioned from the education realm to transportation four years ago after realizing the impact that transportation - or a lack of - can have on an individual. Callie began her transportation career as an eligibility evaluator in Chicago. She then rose to the role of Project Manager in San Diego after aiding in the implementation of San Diego MTS in-person ADA assessments. Since then, she has designed and implemented a Travel Training program, fixed route reduced fare eligibility, and partnered to create a level of conditional eligibility fully carried out on the field level. Callie’s passion for empowering those with disabilities has continued to promote a customer-centered and client-focused transportation experience.

Dan is a Business Intelligence Data Analyst at C-TRAN in Vancouver, Washington. He supports multiple departments within C-TRAN focused on developing and maintaining data systems and key performance indicators while also responding to ad-hoc data requests and providing analyses in support of agency projects and priorities. Prior to C-TRAN, he worked at TriMet within the Service Performance & Analysis group where he focused on Rail Equipment Maintenance. Even further back, before deciding transportation was the right field for him, he worked at an economics firm specialized in intellectual property and litigation consulting.

Sandra Martin-Boehm is a business intelligence professional at C-TRAN in Vancouver, WA, providing leadership in business application and reporting management, operational leadership, enterprise systems, and data governance. Previously, Sandra served as the director of applications and technology solutions in higher education. She holds undergraduate degrees in engineering and business, and a master’s from Missouri State University in administrative studies. Sandra’s passion is leading organizations to effectively manage operational data, reporting, and business process environments through practical frameworks increasing efficiencies and cost savings. 

Donna has over 35 years of experience as a professional in the field of disability advocacy with most of those years as a training and technical assistance specialist on disability-related laws and issues. Since 2002, she has focused specifically on transportation issues. Her areas of knowledge pertinent to accessible transportation include community approaches to implement systems change needed to improve accessible transportation, ADA rights and responsibilities, travel training, coalition building, the transit experience from the customer’s perspective, the increasing role of technology in transportation access, and the accessible pedestrian environment. Her strongest skills are the ability to communicate clearly and to help diverse groups find common ground from which to seek and create solutions. Donna understands firsthand the essential role of accessible, affordable transportation in the lives of people with disabilities, and it is both her job and her passion to help find solutions to transportation needs. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University and has earned ADA Coordinator certification from the Great Plains ADA Center and The University of Missouri.

Femi is a Database Manager with DK Consulting and has over 15 years of experience building and optimizing DB queries for large databases that support critical systems. Currently, he is spearheading the tuning of the Trapeze paratransit and fixed route database applications for the Maryland Transportation Authority. Femi holds an MBA from the Smith School of Business at University of Maryland and a Master’s of Science degree from Central Michigan University. He is also a Microsoft Certified Professional.

William’s duties include the weekday scheduling of around 600-650 paratransit trips per day, subscription trip maintenance, FLEX service scheduling support, and rostering of van division schedules. He has been employed with HART since February 2001 and held multiple positions in his tenure including Customer Service, Route Surveying, Retail Sales, and Flex Service Scheduling. He also temporarily assisted with the certification of potential paratransit clients. William holds two bachelor degrees from the University of South Florida in the fields of History and English: Creative Writing.

Lea Goodness is the Manager of Maintenance Systems for Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics with a concentration in Economics from St John Fisher College. She has a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has worked at the Authority for four years doing statistical analysis and process improvement. Currently she is working with preventive maintenance cycles and asset management. Lea Goodness lives in Palmyra, NY.

Evette Ricketts is a Service Supervisor with Palm Tran Connection, the Paratransit service in Palm Beach County Florida. She started her transportation career in 2004 as a Reservationist, and was quickly promoted to Operations Supervisor over Scheduling. In October 2014 she was promoted to Service Supervisor in charge of the Scheduling and Dispatch Departments. Evette has been with Palm Tran Connection for 12 years, and loves every aspect of her position, she prides herself on delivering the highest level of knowledge and professionalism to the complex world of Paratransit, and looks forward to continuing to grow and be an important part of the Palm Tran family.

Susan Shaw is the Human Services Transportation Mobility Manager in Fairfax County. She is currently managing a grant focusing on enhancing transportation options for seniors and individuals with disabilities, by bringing together community stakeholders, county, and regional partners to coordinating a more accessible and affordable transportation network of services. Susan has been with Fairfax County for twelve years, assisting with strategic initiatives across the county’s human services system, collaborating with diverse stakeholders and community organizations and facilitating a number of cross system projects. A native of Nebraska, Susan has her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska and currently resides in Leesburg Virginia.

Tim Palo is an Operations Technology consultant with 30+ years’ experience in transportation. Serving as the IT Director for Connex in Baltimore (now TransDev) he oversaw the technology on dozens of contract transition projects in the US and Canada from 2000-2005. For the next four years he was MV Transportation’s IT Director at MetroAccess in Washington, DC, and since that time has been a paratransit technology consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and CH2M supporting large market transit clients. Tim created Palo Consulting Group, LLC in 2015 in order to better serve small and mid-size transit agencies. He utilizes his own operations experience to work with clients to identify appropriate technology for their needs, and assists with prioritizing design, implementation and maintenance of information systems for their business. Tim has worked with the Trapeze Group since 1999, has installed and maintained virtually every PASS product over the past 16 years, and has presented twice before at the Users Conference. His recent Trapeze client projects have involved upgrades of the PASS suite at two large paratransit properties, implementing business process changes and providing staff training necessary for the introduction of PASS trip negotiation, and integration of PASS-IVR with new VoIP call center phone systems.

Marnie Ross is Whatcom Transportation Authority’s Application & Database Administrator in IT responsible for supporting all Trapeze products, HR/Payroll and Finance systems. She has been with WTA for four years. In addition to day-to-day software support and system administration, Marnie was the IT project lead on their recent OPS implementation. She also started and continues to lead the WTA Trapeze Customers’ Group and some of the work contained in her presentation is the result of that group’s efforts.

Eric Frazier is an Operations Supervisor at Whatcom Transportation Authority where he just finishing managing the implementation of OPS for their integrated operator workforce for both paratransit and fixed route service. He began as an Operator at WTA 12 years ago and served as a Fixed Route Dispatcher prior to filling his current role. Eric also oversees the WTA’s use of BlockBuster and the fixed route run cutting process.

John Zarbo has been in the transportation industry for over 25 years. John is currently the Chief of Operation for Human Services Transportation (HST) in Fairfax County, Virginia. HST offers specialized transportation services for residents of Fairfax County and the Cities of Fairfax and Falls Church participating in human services agency programs. HST also provides transportation for the Greater Mt Vernon Head Start Program, maintains a partnership with all five taxi cab companies in Fairfax County through their Taxicab Voucher Program and staffs the Mobility Management Division.

Dan O’Reilly is currently Project Manager System Programs for MTA Mobility in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2016, Mobility provided 2.6 million trips among 26,000 certified clients. Service included 2.0 million rides under Mobility ADA Paratransit and 0.6 million rides under the Call-a-Ride program (same day/non-ADA demand response). Dan has 20 years of experience in paratransit which followed 20 years in public and private accounting. His paratransit experience includes Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) and New Jersey Transit prior to moving to MTA Maryland in Baltimore four years ago. Along with auditing experience in the public and private accounting world, he has held paratransit positions including Financial Analyst, Budget Manager, Project Manager, Assistant Director and Director.

David is a Senior Associate for the Collaborative, Inc., in Boston. He is an expert in paratransit, fixed route accessibility and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance. He recently concluded six years as chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Paratransit. David led his company’s work for FTA’s ADA compliance reviews for both paratransit and fixed route services. He has conducted nearly 60 paratransit reviews, as well as two dozen fixed route reviews. He has also worked for state DOTs and for transit agencies, helping develop and improve a wide range of demand responsive and fixed route services. David is a co-author of the FTA’s ADA Circular (2015) and is currently preparing a TRB synthesis on paratransit eligibility. David has previously worked at two other consulting firms. Prior to joining the Collaborative in 2001, David worked for a homeless shelter in Boston, helping clients use public transit to get to work. He is a graduate of Yale University and has a master’s degree from MIT.

Carl Parr is currently the Chief Innovation Officer for the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). He has 30+ years of experience in transportation. He served as Director of Business Improvement for Veolia Transportation (now TransDev), where he developed and implemented nationwide solutions for HR, payroll, safety and training, driver compliance, and every mode of operations (taxi, bus, paratransit and rail). He spent three years overseeing the paratransit contract in Baltimore for MV Transportation before becoming the MTA Mobility Director. He started his role as Chief Innovation Officer six months ago. Always looking for technology to improve efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction, Carl has worked with Trapeze Group since 1998.

Craig is married with two sons living in Jackson, Michigan. He’s a graduate of Michigan State University (MSU) with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications / Public Relations & Marketing. Craig began his career in public schools as an interpreter while he finished up at MSU. He then moved into the position of Assistant Director of Transportation and, eventually, Director of Transportation for a public school district. He then joined CATA as an Operations Supervisor before assuming his current role. Fun fact: Craig was also certified as an Educational Interpreter for the Deaf through Lansing Community College.

Leland Petersen is MV Transportation’s Senior Vice President of Operations for the Northeast region. Leland previously served as the general manager for MV’s WMATA operation from 2009-2013 in the dual role of general manager and regional vice president of the brokerage, which included the MACS-OCC, service delivery bases in Beltsville and Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Chantilly and Springfield, Virginia, Washington D.C., and subcontracted providers. He also served as general manager of MV’s Microsoft Campus Shuttle operation in Redmond, Washington from 2005 to 2007. Leland joined MV in 2001 as a special projects manager for MV’s IT department. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Science and a Master’s Degree in Computer Information Systems.

Evette Ricketts is the Assistant Operations Manager at Palm Tran and has been with the agency for 14 years now. She currently manages the Belle Glade facility which is the fixed route service in Palm Beach County, Florida. Evette started her transportation career in 2004 as a Reservationist for the paratransit operations. She then moved into the Operations Supervisor role and oversaw the scheduling aspects. In October 2014, she was promoted to Service Supervisor and was in charge of the Scheduling and Dispatch Departments. In June 2016, Evette was re-assigned to the Fixed Route division to support Operations Management as they leveraged her technical and operational expertise. She loves every aspect of her current role and prides herself on delivering the highest level of knowledge and professionalism to the complex world of transit.

Nick Davidson is the Transportation Planning Manager at Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA). He has been with SARTA since 2012 and loves the transit industry. He plans SARTA’s fixed route service, oversees paratransit operations, and manages the Customer Service department. He is a panel member for the TCRP Synthesis Project “Implementing the US DOT reasonable Modification Rule.” He is also a member of APTA’s Emerging Leaders Program, class of 2018. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Malone University.

Tim has 30+ years’ experience in transportation. He created Palo Consulting Group, LLC in 2015 to better serve small and mid-sized transit agencies. He utilizes his own operations experience to work with clients to identify appropriate technology for their needs, and assists with prioritizing design, implementation, and maintenance of information systems for their business. Tim has worked with Trapeze since 1999 and has installed and maintained virtually every PASS product over the past 16 years. His recent Trapeze client projects have involved upgrades of the PASS suite at two large paratransit properties, implementing business process changes, and providing staff training necessary for the introduction of PASS trip negotiation, and integration of PASS-IVR with new VoIP call center phone systems.

Dick views his mission as empowering people with the freedom to connect to what they care about. He is successfully leading Transdev North America’s effort to marry innovative technology to the growing mobility needs of cities and communities. His efforts have contributed to the implementation of a first/last-mile app and platform deployed in Tampa, mobile apps for digital fares and rider tools in New Orleans and Nassau County, and the nation’s first AV shuttle network in North America, in Southwest Florida. What’s even more exciting for him is watching the early and necessary pieces of the mobility-as-a-service ecosystem start to grow from smaller pilot programs into popular services that yield new policies. A lover of all things involving urban mobility, Dick started his career as a transportation planner in Cincinnati after graduating with a degree in Urban Planning and Design from the University of Cincinnati. He also holds an MBA from Xavier University.

Michael is currently the Service Planning Administrator for King County Metro’s Accessible Service Section in Seattle, WA. Michael has been with the county for the last 16 years as the Contract Administrator for the ADA Paratransit Control Center and has worked with many innovative new programs and services. Prior to his work with the county, Michael worked in Anchorage, AK as the contract General Manager for the Paratransit and Medicaid Transportation Programs and as a Paratransit contract Asst. General Manager for TriMet in Portland, OR. Michael holds a B.S. in Business from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston.

Dennis Guy is the Manager of Customer Service and Innovation for the Transit Division (HSR) at the City of Hamilton. His mandate is to shift the organization to a much more customer-centric model. Ultimately, he builds relationships with key players in the transit community, develops and implements comprehensive customer service strategies, and communicates with customers to find out what they want and need. His portfolio includes teams that advocate for customer needs and wants (customer experience), deal directly with customers (customer care), leverage technology for business and customer needs (IT), and turn binary numbers into business intelligence (data). He is currently co-leading a project with McMaster University to ‘Re-envision the HSR’, which will quantify the perceived and desired quality of HSR service, before re-configuring the network using machine learning models for network robustness and vulnerability.

Marcela Turner has worked for TransLink for the past 24 years. She’s originally from Chile and her family migrated to Canada in 1975. She loves living in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. There are so many exciting places to explore here on transit. Marcela is very excited to speak to her transit colleagues at the conference. TransLink first introduced Trapeze InfoAgent to their Call Centre Agents back in 1995, soon after that, they got Blockbuster, OPS, Trip Planner, IVR, InfoPublish, COM and COM Web, so she knows a thing or two about Trapeze Traveler Info.

Sandi Hill has more than twenty-eight years of public transit experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Niagara University and obtained a Masters Degree in Business Administration while working for ATE (now First Transit). She began her career in operations and transitioned to business development in 1994. Sandi has in-depth experience and understanding of operations and administration including, but not limited to, risk management and safety, labor, contract negotiations, and legislation governing public transit. She has been involved in CalAct , CTAA, and WTS throughout her career and is currently a member of Leadership APTA class of 2018. Sandi has been instrumental in customer relations and growth performance in her previous roles at First Transit, Laidlaw Transit Services, and Transportation Concepts. In her current role, Sandi is responsible for strategic growth initiatives for Keolis Transit America focusing on the western United States.

Michael Henry is an Enterprise Application Administrator with Orange County Transportation Authority. He supports both paratransit and fixed route services. Michael has been supporting Trapeze products since 1999 while employed with Laidlaw Transit Services. He has worked closely with operations for many years and has been with OCTA since 2012.

Annettia Huff is the ADA Mobility Certification Program Director of Baltimore MTA serviced by MTM. Annettia has been with MTM for just over a year but has 12+ years in ADA compliance, program implementation, and research. She completed her Doctor of Social Work degree with a focus in quality of life and ADA programs in 2016. She prides herself on utilizing cutting-edge technology to assist in the implementation of industry best practices while meeting the unique needs of customers served.

Mark Mindorff is the Executive Director of Disabled and Aged Regional Transit System, the paratransit service for the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. DARTS delivers over 700,000 passengers a year using a fleet of 150 vehicles made up of vans, MV1’s, and micro transit buses. Mark has over thirty-five years of utilities, healthcare, and municipal consulting experience. He has a Masters degree in Physics from the University of Waterloo.

Ana Hoffman is Manager of Transit Operations and Maintenance at TransHelp, Peel’s specialized public transit. She oversees all operations, including contracted vendors, to ensure the provision of consistent, high quality service. Ana’s focus is implementing programs based on research and analysis of community, industry, technical, and demographic trends to ensure processes, systems, and resources are optimized for continuous improvement, productivity, cost effectiveness, and service quality. Under her leadership, TransHelp is developing and implementing operational strategies for future growth, including implementation of the Accessible Transportation Master Plan.

Jay has over 35 years of experience in the paratransit industry. He began his career as a Firefighter/Paramedic working at a private ambulance and paratransit service in the Chicago area. Over time he rose to the position of Vice President overseeing 1600+ employees operating 400+ vehicles in four states. After 25 years in the private sector, he spent the next five years managing a paratransit operation for a non-profit agency. For the last two years, he has managed the paratransit and minibus operations for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. Jay’s diverse background operating paratransit services in different service models helps him to bring a unique perspective to the public sector model.

Louis Ferri has worked in transportation with Palm Tran for over 16 years. He started as a Project Coordinator, then Planner, and now Operations Manager. Palm Tran has been using Trapeze for 15 years. He has the pleasure of working closely with the riders, agencies, local government, and the public to improve the door to door transportation for the seniors and disabled riders of Palm Beach County. He truly believes in Palm Tran’s motto of “Independence through Mobility” and is committed to treating Palm Tran’s customers, employees, and providers with honesty, dignity, and respect. Louis is originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a few miles outside of Philadelphia. He moved to Florida in 1999 and graduated from Rutgers University where he played baseball.

Winston Lee has been working for TransLink for 33.5 years—25 years in Scheduling and currently as a Transit Scheduling Workleader. He has worked with Trapeze-FX since 1995. TransLink has grown with Trapeze to use FX and BlockBuster. You can hear him speak on the session about “optimizing your run cutting with Blockbuster”.

Leslie Bienenfeld is a transportation planner and systems engineer for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA/Muni). She specializes in modernizing transportation services by incorporating real-time technology, analytics, and user experience, and she has worked in the areas of public transit, public parking, and infrastructure management, including assets for fixed guideway operations. She currently focuses on projects for Muni’s scheduling department and loves working closely with operators and all members of the transit operation. Leslie is an organizer of APTA’s annual Sustainability and Multimodal Planning Workshop for transit service planners and schedulers. 

Bob Cutaia serves as Warranty Coordinator for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), with almost 18 years of experience supporting vehicle warranty programs for both bus and rail programs. Before working at the MBTA, he was a former warranty administrator for both a corporate fleet and a light rail train manufacturing company. Bob has a degree in business. 

Nick is the Paratransit District Director for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA). In this role, he oversees the daily operations of 200 employees (operators, mechanics, vehicle servicers, facility maintenance, and administrative staff), and three purchased transportation contractors which combine to provide 24/7 paratransit service throughout Cuyahoga County. Prior to this, Nick served in several roles at Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) - overseeing paratransit, customer service, and fixed route planning. He has received a number of accolades throughout his nine-year transit career, including being named one of Mass Transit Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2019. He received his Master of Business Administration from Malone University and is a U.S. Navy veteran. 

In his Digital Solutions Director of Asset Management role at Keolis Commuter Services, Ever engages transit professionals with the strategic importance of taking care of their assets and using their data to improve service and agency performance. He works with executive leadership, engineers, technical staff, program managers, and the client to define and solve scheduling, implementation, or developmental and design issues. He leads the rollout of Trapeze EAM on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Commuter Rail side, implementing a creative change management initiative that improved maintenance planning and agency outcomes. 

Derek is an established industry influencer with more than three decades of proven results to his name. Derek’s experience includes serving in key executive management roles for Mobility-as-a Service (MaaS) companies. Derek aligns technology solutions to sustain and improve ridership while increasing service efficiency and streamlining operations. Derek designs solutions including trip brokerage, advanced payment strategies, customer-facing applications, microtransit, and on-demand technologies for First Transit clients.   

Kindly named “The Trapeze Guru” by her colleagues, Joy M. Himes is the Transit Operations Planner II for OmniRide, located in Woodbridge, Virginia.  She has earned her MBA from Stratford University and has over 13 years in the transportation industry. Joy has participated in many transit software projects – INFO/IVR, TransitNow, Street Routing for Flex, TransitMaster, OPS, GTFS-RT, DriverMate, along with numerous software/map upgrades. OmniRide currently provides fixed route, flex route, paratransit and is currently undergoing a complete system redesign.

Zev Naiditch is the General Manager of Paratransit Operations, Transportation America – Miami Service Provider, a program that performs over 6,000 trips per day (pre-COVID). Holding a Masters Degree in Management Information Systems, he has a strong technological understanding of Trapeze and its related systems. Zev has created many SQL and Crystal Reports, which have assisted in the management and analysis of the Paratransit program. He has close to over 20 years of experience in paratransit.  

Sam Sargent serves as Director of Strategy for the Austin Transit Partnership, a joint venture of Capital Metro and the City of Austin tasked with building out the Project Connect transit program. He previously served Deputy Chief of Staff for Capital Metro in Austin, Texas. A lawyer by training, Sam spent time in the Austin and Washington offices of U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, focusing on transportation and housing. He holds bachelors and law degrees from Boston University. Sam serves on the City of Austin’s Downtown Commission the board of Movability, Central Texas’ travel demand management non-profit. Sam was a 2019 Mass Transit 40 Under 40 award winner and was an Austin Under 40 finalist in 2019 and 2020.  

John has over 28 years of experience in the transit and transportation field. As Chief Executive Officer of Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), John has overseen the ongoing implementation of DTC's Transit Redesign Plan. He has played a key role in the Corporation’s efforts to rethink the way transit is delivered in Delaware, with innovative service delivery such as the launch of DART Connect, Delaware’s on-demand microtransit pilot in the rural communities of Georgetown and Millsboro in Sussex County, and the piloting of two autonomous transit shuttles. John has been instrumental in the creation of a more sustainable financial model that has resulted in improved service performance and significant green investments including the expansion of alternate-fueled vehicles. Under John’s direction, new transit centers have been opened in Wilmington and Lewes.  Along with navigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, John has led an effort to implement changes to support a multi-year reconstruction project on I-95 through Wilmington.  Improvements associated with the change include a new bus lane, Wi-Fi on buses and at transit centers, and a simplified fare structure.      

Steve Yaffe (Yaffe Mobility Consulting, yaffe@ymobility.info ) oversaw planning and operations for Arlington County’s local fixed-route and demand response transit until retiring in 2018. He has prior fixed route experience with RT Metro in Sacramento and Houston Metro as well as paratransit experience with WMATA’s MetroAccess service and FASTRAN – Fairfax County’s consolidated human service transportation provider.  He is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Transit Data Committee, is a past member of the TRB Paratransit Committee, and co-chaired the 2019 TRB International Conference on Demand Responsive Transportation. He also was a member of the Fairfax Area Long Term Care Coordinating Council and the board of the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, a center for independent living.  He is a contractor for Easterseals and a grants manager for the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center. He also chairs the Transit Family of Services Committee and is the Board Secretary of the International Professional Association for Transport & Health (IPATH). 

Auturo Jackson serves as Vice-President of Specialized Transit Services managing contracted, paratransit, and microtransit services with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) in Houston, Texas. Having served with METRO for almost 32 years, Auturo’s responsibilities include directing one of the company’s largest non-union departments, with over 135 employees. Auturo and his team are responsible for overseeing METRO’s contract operated services, including METRO’s Northwest Bus Operating Facility, METROLift, and Micro Transit Services. He is a native Houstonian and graduate of the University of North Texas.   

Jim Haring is the Chief Information Officer for MV Transportation, the largest private provider of paratransit services in the United States. Jim is responsible for MV’s overall technology strategy, underlying IT Infrastructure and business systems support for both internal and external customers across the US and Canada. He also directs MV’s software product development activities, including the OneMV on-demand transit application. Jim brings over 30 years of experience in IT service delivery including IT operations, Data Center Management, and Migration. 

Candace Moore has over 16 years of fleet management experience, including roles as a Production Control Manager in the US Navy, Fleet Maintenance Supervision for Peterbilt and USF Holland, and District Fleet Manager with Waste Management. She currently leads the Fleet Services Department for Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), which maintains a fleet of 153 vehicles. Her department is responsible for bus ITS systems, fleet maintenance, body repairs, parts inventory, and vehicle cleaning. The vision of the Fleet Department is to provide exceptional organizational performance support towards the mission to serve its community. 

Robert is Product Director at SAFTE-FAST, the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) software system widely used in the aviation, railroad, and shift work industries to assess workforce fatigue. Robert has over 15 years of product development, business, and marketing experience, helping numerous companies increase efficiency and growth through state-of-the-art software solutions. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Guelph and holds an MBA from Royal Roads University, British Columbia. Robert also completed postgraduate studies in Finance and International Business at the London School of Economics. 

As an executive leader with more than 30 years of experience in operations and business development, W.C. leads Transdev’s business development efforts across the United States. As Senior Vice-President of Business Development, W.C. works closely with clients to identify and establish solutions to transportation challenges to provide a positive impact on the passengers they serve. Named to Mass Transit Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 in Transportation list in 2011, W.C. has been an active presence in the transportation industry for many years. From beginning his career as a bus operator in college to holding positions from General Manager, Corporate Director of Safety and Training, Executive Vice President of Business Development, to his current role, W.C. has vast knowledge and exceptional understanding of transportation operations and client support at all levels. 

In his Digital Solutions Director of Asset Management role at Keolis Commuter Services, Ever engages transit professionals with the strategic importance of taking care of their assets and using their data to improve service and agency performance. He works with executive leadership, engineers, technical staff, program managers, and the client to define and solve scheduling, implementation, or developmental and design issues. He leads the rollout of Trapeze EAM on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Commuter Rail side, implementing a creative change management initiative that improved maintenance planning and agency outcomes. 

Jim Haring is the Chief Information Officer for MV Transportation, the largest private provider of paratransit services in the United States. Jim is responsible for MV’s overall technology strategy, underlying IT Infrastructure and business systems support for both internal and external customers across the US and Canada. He also directs MV’s software product development activities, including the OneMV on-demand transit application. Jim brings over 30 years of experience in IT service delivery including IT operations, Data Center Management, and Migration. 

Michael Marre is an ITS System Engineer for TriMet’s paratransit service, LIFT, in Portland, Oregon. He has been working in the paratransit industry supporting Trapeze in a technical capacity for the past 3.5 years. In addition to supporting the entire suite of Trapeze software deployed at the LIFT program, Michael has leveraged various technical tools and data elements to improve overall operations productivity. In addition to his work on the LIFT program, he has several years’ experience in various technical fields and a master's in computer information systems.  

Theresa is the EAM Supervisor for the Enterprise Asset Management Department at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. She attended the University of Nevada- Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Western Governors University for Business Management – Information Technology. She holds a Project Management Certification from CompTIA. She began her career in transit in 2012 and has experience in project management, data, reporting, and business intelligence. She is responsible for 400+ users at RTC, along with two fixed route contractors and two paratransit contractors currently using EAM.    

Ron has over thirty years of experience in the paratransit industry with direct experience in all aspects of service delivery; driving, reservationist, scheduler, dispatcher, road supervisor, and administrator. In addition, he has twenty years of experience with various Trapeze products.

Shane Warner started work as the Manager of IT Operations in August 2016 at the Central Ohio Transit Authority with responsibilities over all the daily operation and critical systems within COTA.  He was promoted to Director of Information Technology in December 2018 and again to Senior Director of Information Technology in September of 2020. Prior to joining COTA, Shane worked for Ascena Retail, which consists of Lane Bryant, Catherines, Dressbarn, Maurices, Justice, Lou & Grey, Loft, and Ann Taylor. Shane’s primary responsibility is the management of the Justice client technology team, supporting up to 400 users in that location.    

Shane has a background in accounting as well. He worked as a fund accountant for HSBC Investor and reported daily assets to NASDAQ. He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration (focus in IT) in 2001 from DeVry University. He also earned a master's degree in Information Systems Management from the Keller Graduate School 2003. He is ITIL V3 Foundation and HDI-SCM certified. Shane was married in 2005 and has 4 children. They all reside in Granville, Ohio. Shane volunteers as the Director of Youth Basketball and coach for the Watkins Warriors School District. 

Project Lead, Business Systems at MiWay (Mississauga Transit, Canada), Valeriya began her career in transit in 2010 and has both an MBA (University of Nantes, France) and a M.Sc. Eng. Degree (Queen’s University, Canada) - with experience in project coordination and execution, technical implementation of transit applications, employee and business performance KPIs, and LEAN standardization. She is proficient in transit management systems – Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), TransitMaster (iBus), HASTUS, APC, and camera systems.  Recently, she managed an EAM implementation project that replaced the outdated FASTER system and is currently updating to EAM v.21.1.1. Valeriya has managed and executed many system upgrades (TM v.15 and v.18 upgrades; GTFS Real-Time). In her spare time she likes to make handmade artisan chocolates. 

Latoya Shields, CSM, is entering her eighth year in the transit industry and her fourth year employed at Trinity Metro as a Senior Systems Administrator. In this role, she maintains the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System: JD Edwards, Trapeze’s Enterprise Asset Management, and Laserfiche. LaToya began her career in the transit industry as an IT Specialist at Claiborne County Human Resource agency where she coordinated and implemented upgrades, repairs of workstations and other technologies as well as maintained the company’s vehicle monitoring system. She is a 2004 graduate of Alcorn State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology with a concentration in Computer Networking. LaToya will receive her master’s degree in Management Information Systems in May 2022 from Lamar University. She resides in the DFW Metroplex with her daughter, Aria. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, dancing, and cheering on the Alcorn State University Braves. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and the Honor Society. 

Brian is an Information Technology Applications Administer at Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) in Bellingham, Washington. He has a master's degree in Sustainable Transportation and has worked for over two decades in local government. Brian has extensive project management experience and enjoys competing/coaching CrossFit in his free time. 

Mike has worked for Spokane Transit Authority since 2006 in a variety of capacities and is currently a Fixed Route Operations Technology Manager. He has worked with many different Trapeze products since 2013 when he joined the Fixed Route team. Mike has focused on optimizing tools and processes to better leverage the Trapeze applications for end-users. He is eager to share his ideas with you and discuss your thoughts on how you too may create a better experience for your end-users. 

Dr. Devine is an associate scientist in Operational Fatigue and Performance at the Institutes for Behavior Resources. Dr. Devine has over 10 years of experience in behavioral neuroscience and sleep research. She specialized in sleep medicine research using actigraphy and wearable devices in real-world environments. Dr. Devine received a Certificate in Sleep Medicine and Certificate in Biostatistics from Harvard Medical School and was a principal investigator at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Sleep Research Center with a focus on operational research prior to joining the IBR science team. 

Andrew is the Dispatch Systems Coordinator at Whatcom Transportation Authority, responsible for managing the backend processes of dispatch-related software, particularly Trapeze PASS and OPS. Andrew joined WTA in 2012 as an operator, later becoming a substitute dispatcher, then a full-time dispatcher, then taking on his current role at the start of 2020. Originally from the East Coast, Andrew fell in love with the woods of the Pacific Northwest, which he loves to explore with his dog, Augie Roo. 

Murray is the Commercial Services Director at SAFTE-FAST responsible for sales, account management, marketing, and customer support. Murray has over 20 years of experience in customer management and operations planning, joining SAFTE-FAST in 2016. Murray engages frequently with our customers, helping them define and deliver on their fatigue risk management objectives, using SAFTE-FAST applications and tools to achieve their desired end results. 

Eliza Pendexter, AICP is a Senior Project Manager at COTA within Innovation & Technology. Since joining COTA in January 2020, her primary focus has been on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) project implementation and process improvements. Her first major project at COTA was OPS-Web implementation, concurrent with a Trapeze Backoffice Application upgrade. Before joining COTA, she worked as city planner and transportation planner in the private sector and for the City of Columbus. Eliza's passion is to help improve mobility access via transit use and active transportation, by improving system processes, leveraging available data, resources, and technology. 

Kyle Slone is the ITS Product Manager at COTA in the Innovation and Technology Group.  Since joining COTA in May of 2014, he has been responsible for day-to-day operations, new product implementations, and product upgrades for COTA’s installed base of Trapeze/Vontas suite of products. Prior to joining COTA, Kyle has held various IT positions that have focused heavily on database development and systems integration.Kyle’s formal education is in Electrical Engineering.