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 second interview, we connected with Paul Comfort, SVP and CCO at Trapeze Group and Vontas. Paul will be hosting the ThinkTransit Executive Summit, which is curated for C-suite executives in the transit industry. With over 20 executive panelists, the Executive Summit will focus on current trends, perspectives, opportunities, and challenges facing public transit in North America today. Paul will also be hosting a special Live Transit Unplugged CEO roundtable on day two of the conference. Let's jump right in!

 

 

 

PC: I'm a people person, so what I look forward to most is just hanging out with the CEOs, who are also my friends, and finally being back together in person. It all ties back to when I first started with Trapeze nearly five years ago, and when asked about what I wanted to accomplish in the role, I said I want to write, I want to speak, and I want to help my fellow CEOs improve their transit systems. The CEO roundtable is a chance to get everyone together, to socialize, and to share ideas.

 

PC: I don't like to come in with a specific agenda. I want them to talk about whatever it is they want to talk about. It might be driver recruitment, micro-transit, getting passengers back on buses, implementing the new federal infrastructure act. I like to let the CEOs take the lead, and ask them about their past, present, and their future, which leads into the issues that are important to them.  

 

PC: One of the biggest challenges is driver shortages. Right now, agencies are a hundred drivers or more short. This is a topic we will address at the roundtable, and ask questions like “what are the means and methodologies to recruit and retain drivers?” It could be using Trapeze software for easier shift bidding, which makes things more flexible. There are all kinds of different approaches that agencies are taking, and we're going to talk about that.

 

PC: The decline in ridership from the COVID-19 pandemic gave transit agencies an opportunity to reflect. Agencies and CEOs are asking questions like: What is our focus? Are we primarily focused on commuters, or can we achieve policy goals such as cleaning up the environment and adding more equity and inclusion? It’s a golden opportunity for public transit agencies to reshape their service to meet the demands of tomorrow. Cleaning up the environment, moving towards zero-emission buses, micro-transit in transit deserts, are all part of the opportunities ahead, and during the roundtable we will ask panelists how they’re approaching those areas of opportunity.

 

PC: I'm a big Seinfeld fan, and Jerry Seinfeld has a show called “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” on Netflix. We did something similar at ThinkTransit 2018, where we did “CEOs in AVs Talking Transit”. We had an autonomous vehicle set up outside and we got several CEOs to come out, most of whom had never ridden in an autonomous vehicle up until that time. We did a live interview while they were in a vehicle without a driver, for the very first time in their lives. It was hilarious! It’s one of my favorite ThinkTransit memories with my peers.

 

PC: The Executive Summit. The Executive Summit is an event curated by and for C-suite leaders. I asked CEOs in the industry, "what would you like to learn this year? what do you want to talk to your fellow compatriots about?" And we got interesting topics, like how to handle homelessness and mental illness in public transit, which has been a topic as people move to free fares. I invited 22 CEOs and executives to come speak, and every single one said yes! They're all super enthused about coming to the Executive Summit and sharing with their peers. I'm going to encourage people who are senior executives in a transit agency to register. It's going to be one of the best experiences you'll ever have at a conference.

 

 

You asked, we heard! Early-bird registration for ThinkTransit has been extended until February 11th. Click here to register for the conference, and here to register for the Executive Summit. 

 

Randi Reshef, Social Media Marketing Specialist