ThinkTransit brings together hundreds of transit industry experts across North America and provides agencies the opportunity to learn, connect, and discuss the future of transit. The massive wealth of knowledge at ThinkTransit creates an industry-wide ripple effect; What you learn at ThinkTransit can be taken back to your agency and applied to make real, impactful changes.

 

Blog and Podcast Manager, Tris Hussey, and Social Media Marketing Specialist, Randi Reshef, have teamed up to bring you a behind-the-scenes interview series, "Destination: ThinkTransit." "Destination: ThinkTransit" covers your need-to-know questions featuring ThinkTransit keynote speakers, Trapeze Group and Vontas employees, and key players that help bring the conference to life each year.

 

For our third interview, we caught up with Erin Skimson, VP of Product at Trapeze Group, and Sebastian Vaitus, VP of Innovation at Vontas, on the ThinkTransit product showcase, the role of technology in public transit, and Vontas’ and Trapeze’s future plans. Let’s jump right in!

 

 

SV: Technology has become so powerful over the last couple of decades. Technology represents one of the best opportunities for us to make a difference in the world that we live in. We have seen great advancements, and I have seen a shift in what we thought technology could do. Nowadays, we’re looking more at how technology could be adopted and integrated and realizing the benefits that it can bring. It's an opportunity to make a notable advancement in key areas, such as climate change, equity, and quality of life, combined with the challenge of seamlessly integrating the technology into our day-to-day lives to drive a positive societal impact.

 

ES: That’s a great perspective, Sebastian, and I agree with it. I often say I'm an unlikely candidate to be running a product group because cool widgets and gadgets don't interest me. What interests me is being in love with the customer's problem and understanding what problem we are trying to solve. What we see with the development of technology is that we're able to solve problems more effectively, more efficiently, with better safety, and with a better environmental impact. It's the application of an interesting technology to problems that matter in our world. That's what excites me about being in this space.

 

ES: My mantra in a product space is to challenge my team. What I challenge us to do is to make products that we're proud of, and that means five things. It means it solves an important problem. It means it's designed and delivered in a beautiful way that's engaging to use. It means that it's a functional, quality product. It needs to be unique so that we have a competitive advantage, and shows that we solve problems differently than our competitors. Lastly, it must be priced in a way that our customers want. Every day we should ask, what’s the customer problem that we're solving? If we can't answer that, then we're not knocking on the right doors.

 

SV: As we partner with transit agencies, the product vision ultimately becomes a reflection of the needs of the riders. At the same time, the solutions that we’re building allow transit agencies to operate their service in the most efficient way possible, which in turn, stretches the value of that investment and benefits back to the riders.  

 

SV: Technology has transformed the traditional one-way communication that we previously had with riders. What we have today is real-time, two-way communication with riders that allows the public to actively interact with their service. Riders can share where they are, when service is needed, what type of service is needed, and with that comes the opportunity for transit agencies to offer a more personalized, flexible, and equitable service. We are in the position now to offer a more climate-conscious solution with zero-emission alternatives, and we have a safer environment to operate service in yards or on the road. We're seeing great advancements already in these areas, but I think we're just getting started and there's more to come in the near future.

 

ES: I think public transit is one of the fundamental determinants of health. Mobility enables folks to get to where they need to go, but also to access opportunities. When I look at technology, we do have that two-way communication between the rider and the service that they need, and using technology to enable that is an equalizer in society. Agencies are facing an interesting opportunity and challenge right now to look at how to equitably provide the most efficient, safest, and most accessible services across the board and to look at all the new mobility options that are available. Whether it's bike share or rideshare or third parties that are offering public transit, I think there's an opportunity for agencies to be amalgamating those options to provide the broadest number of public transit opportunities. Technology is the link, and using technology as a platform to access services in an easy and accessible way means people are more likely to use public transit. That's the fun of being at the cusp of how mobility needs are changing. We get to be part of architecting that.

 

SV: I'm a big kid at heart when it comes to technology. I get very excited whenever I can immerse myself in the creative technology environment and the opportunity to touch, feel, and learn about technology. I like to see all the products in action, learn about where those products are headed, and to understand how they can benefit transit agencies to offer the best service to their riders.

 

ES: I'm most excited about observing our customers interacting with our products. Product design is an important part of the whole product management process, and some of our designers will be in attendance. Sebastian, you said you love the technology, and what I love is the psychology of the technology. How do we ensure that the interaction between the customer and the technology is the most efficient and effective experience? Being able to listen for questions they might have, or learn if something really thrills them. I’m excited about having this creative space where we can have open conversations. If somebody doesn’t like the experience, great, tell us more! We want to learn because then we can go fix it. It’s an amazing learning opportunity for Trapeze and Vontas to be working directly with our customers.

 

ES: Sebastian and I are both relatively new to Trapeze and Vontas. We've had a lot of fun getting to know each other, but also talking about our ideas around products, leadership, and what it means. We're both very passionate about the “why” and the purpose of what we're doing. You can expect us to talk about that, and not so much the details of the technology, but about the philosophy of what's important about transit. I attended APTA Expo last fall and listening to agency leaders and hearing their heartfelt missions, their personal stories, and stories about riders and the impact transit has on their lives, was unbelievably motivating. I almost get emotional about it because this industry is so important in society.

 

SV: Absolutely. The keynote that Erin and I have the honor to host is a call to innovate, starting with the “why” and we'll get into the practical, the “how”, as well. We’ll talk about how we can collectively find the best ideas and ensure that we implement what makes the most impact and brings the most benefit to the riders. We'll offer some specific examples of where that innovation is clearly materializing.

 

SV: There are so many good sessions to choose from. I think it would be a great injustice if I only had to pick one, but the sessions that I personally am most excited about would be the ones in which our customers will get to share their industry experience with their peers. I'm looking to learn from their perspective and incorporate their feedback into what we're building with both Vontas and Trapeze.

 

ES: I'm going to pick a favorite. This year we have an emerging product area in Safety and Incident Management. This is an issue and theme that we're seeing across several agencies, certainly with the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, it was noted as one of the priorities. I do encourage attendees to go and talk to Sabrina Blaise, who is the Trapeze Group Product Manager for Safety, as she will be running through information about our new Safety offering.

 

ES: As a product team, we want to know “how do we skate where the puck is going?” How do we make sure that we're cognizant of what challenges transit agencies are facing? How do we answer those questions with technology that is future-proofed and that is going to provide an easy way for customers to have the latest and greatest? One of the things we'll talk about is the emergence of web-based technologies like cloud technology. It’s a big shift for Trapeze and with that shift, it will enable access to more of our products, more easily. Ultimately the purpose is to be able to serve our customers better, and that is what I'm excited about, being able to provide for customers.

 

SV: We've seen a recurrent theme throughout our conversation on areas where we can make a societal impact. A couple of things that come to mind would be zero-emission alternatives, such as electric vehicles (EV), and the opportunity that those solutions bring. We are also looking at the new challenges that transit agencies would see when operating those kinds of fleets. Even practical applications and first steps that we are taking towards autonomous vehicles with a first level of automation would make a big difference in the way that vehicles are operated, and the safety around operations as well. I think that streamlined technology integration on the vehicles, together with everything else, will make for a very safe environment to operate both in the yards and on the road.

 

SV: I’m looking forward to meeting some of my industry peers, and to learn from everyone that is going to be at the conference. I'm so excited to spend a few days in the presence of all the great minds in our industry and to collectively think of creative ways in which we can advance transit.

 

ES: I agree with Sebastian. It's about meeting the folks who will be attending to understand what agencies are challenged with and where do they want to be in 3, 5, 10 years. And to meet some of the folks who are managing and operating the services day in and day out, and understanding what their challenges are. I think it's going to be a great opportunity to soak up a lot about transit and about our customers.

 

 

To register for ThinkTransit, click here. Group registration for 5+ guests at a discounted rate is available until the conference.

 

Randi Reshef