Transit Unplugged

This week Mike Noland, President and GM of the South Shore Line https://mysouthshoreline.com/ , joins Paul to talk about commuter rail in the Midwest. The South Shore Line connects Northwestern Indiana with Chicago. This busy corridor is used by commuters and casual riders heading into the Windy City for work or fun. Mike talks about the South Shore Line, how he's adapting to changing ridership, a...

This week Paul continues his look back at his time working at Yellow Transportation with the former CEO of Yellow, Veolia, and Transdev, Mark Joseph (now CEO of Mobitas Advisors-- https://www.mobitasadvisors.com/ ). Mark is a true leader and visionary in the transit industry. Mark recounts how he took a failing taxi business and created a business that would be a leader in public transit contracti...

Transdev is the largest public transportation contractor in the world, and it got its start in North America with the acquisition of Yellow Transportation. Paul worked for Yellow Transportation for a number of years and today we bring you a special reunion show with a few of the people Paul worked with there. Paul and his guests, John Duncan, Jeff Barnett, and Peggy Maher, worked together at Yello...

When Paul talked with Seleta Reynolds of LA Metro, one of the places she planned to visit ahead of the Olympics in LA was Brazil. She wanted to see first-hand how Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) works and helped move people in Rio for the Olympics. This week we have the second of our Brazil-focused episodes with Tula Vandaramatos, President of the Passenger Transport Association, where Tula talks more abo...

This week on the show Paul chats with repeat guest Dimas Barreira about Brazil's unique way of organizing public transportation, innovations in his own city of Fortaleza, and his approach to reducing carbon emissions in his region. We kick off the episode though with Dimas retelling the story of his life-changing motorcycle accident where he was dead for 40 minutes and spent 4 days in a coma! This...

This week we're staying in sunny Florida and moving down to Broward County to hear what Broward County Transit (BCT) CEO Coree Cuff Lonergan has in store for the people of her county. As the new CEO she's leading the charge on an amazing 15-year plan to add 200 miles of new transit service to the county's transit infrastructure. Over the next decade and a half Broward County will get: High-frequen...

This week Paul has two great interviews for you: John Slot, Chief Innovation Officer of LYNX in Central Florida, and Rudy Vidal, Managing Director of Vidal Consulting Group . Both interviews center on building strong, emotional connections with riders, so they choose transit over other options. John Slot leads a team responsible for testing and piloting innovations in and around the Orlando area....

This week we bring you our final segment from the UTIP Global Summit held earlier this summer in Barcelona. In this dynamic CEO Roundtable recorded live at the summit, we hear from Dorval Carter, President of the Chicago Transit Authority , Paul Skoutelas, President and CEO of APTA , Carla Purcell, CEO of Yarra Trams , and Jeremy Yap, Deputy Chief Executive of LTA Singapore . This panel continues...

We have a jam-packed episode for you this week. We lead off with David S. Kim, formerly the Secretary of Transportation for the State of California, now Senior Vice President & Principal, National Transportation Policy and Multimodal Strategy at WSP . Paul and David talk about two of the most pressing issues facing public transit today: finding alternatives to gas taxes to fund transportation...

This week we bring you the first of two special CEO Roundtables recorded live at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona. This first panel features: Thierry Mallet,CEO of Transdev Anjes Tjarks, Minister of Transport in Hamburg Laura Shoaf, CEO of the  West Midlands Combined Authority Ruben Leonor, Strategy & Quality Director at Renfe Paul leads this all-star lineup of transit leaders through...

Every week we bring you the top transit thought leaders from around the world, and this week is no exception. Recorded while at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona, Paul sits in conversation with Dr. Kaan Yildizgöz, Senior Director of Membership and Global Operations at  UITP . Kaan and Paul dive into one of the most important topics facing public transport today--helping people rely less on...

We wrap up our special look at Canadian transit tech innovation with three great innovators in the transit tech landscape. We lead off with Paul in conversation with Jean-Pierre Baracat, VP and Partner at Cysca Technologies , talking about the need for enhanced operational cybersecurity for the vehicles and systems that power transit. Then Paul talks with Tim Bigwood, GM of Trapeze Workforce Manag...

This week we kick off the first of two episodes focused on Canadian transportation tech and innovation. In this episode, Margaret Cullen, Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate in Florida, joins Paul with Niklas Kviselius, Sr. Manager Innovation Management and New Mobility at TransLink , and Colin Lavery, Chief Growth Officer at Asset Market . On the show, the guests about the planning need...

Listen to this sneak peek at part one of our two-part series on Canadian Tech Innovations in Transit. This segment features Paul Comfort with Niklas Kviselius of TransLink and Colin Lavery of Asset Market talking about the role of AI in transit.

After spending the bulk of her 20 year career in public transport in Montreal at STM , Renée Amilcar has been at the helm of OC Transpo in Ottawa for almost two years and leading the effort to move OC Transpo to zero emissions by 2036. But that's only the tip of the iceberg for this dynamic transit leader. Join Paul in conversation with Renée in an interview recorded at the UITP Global Summit in B...

We have two very complementary episodes this week on Transit Unplugged. We start off with Alex Esposito, Co-founder and CEO of Circuit , who took a passion for solving traffic problems and turned it into a business. In our leadership segment Paul talks with Marinma Dorado , Founder and Passion Catalyst of Mindset Results , about connecting the things you're passionate about with your work. On dema...

This week we continue our series focusing on LA Metro with Paul talking with LA Metro COO Conan Cheung. Conan was originally a transit planner and this focus on details and connecting with people gives him a unique approach to managing his agency. In his discussion with Paul, Conan gets into three issues facing all agencies right now: the transition to zero emissions, improving safety on the syste...

Plus how to match your strengths to your job with Josh Cohen Welcome to the first of two special episodes featuring leaders from the second largest transit system in the U.S.-- LA Metro ! In this first interview, Paul chats with Seleta Reynolds, Chief Innovation Officer and interim Chief People Officer at LA Metro, about planning for the future of LA Metro including the upcoming 2026 World Cup and...

This week we're continuing our tour of Western Canada with Martin Bean, CEO of Roam Transit in Banff, AB. Roam Transit, like many transit agencies in tourist destinations, has a dual role. One is to get the residents of the Bow Valley from Canmore to Banff (who all ride for free by the way) where they need to go, the other is helping the over four million visitors who come to Banff National Park a...

This week, we have two intersecting interviews covering customer experience and innovation in transit. We start off with Paul talking with Aaron Weinstein of Transit CX about creating customer experience (CX) programs within transit agencies. We continue with Brandon Bartneck, GM of Edison Manufacturing and Engineering and the host of the Future of Mobility podcast, talking about transit innovatio...

Tom Hingson knows transit inside and out. Learn how the City of Everett, WA tackling battery-electric range issues with inductive charging. And announcing Paul's newest book--Comfort Food. We return to Snohomish County this week to the City of Everett (and county seat) to learn about this network within a network from  Everett Transit Director Tom Hingson. With a transit career spanning 40 ye...

We continue our discussion on the transition to zero emissions with Doran Barnes, CEO of Foothill Transit, and Karl Gnadt, Managing Director of the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District, talking with Paul about their hydrogen fuel cell-powered bus fleets. Doran currently has the largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses in North America with 20 and growing to over thirty in the futu...

Welcome to the 250th episode of Transit Unplugged! What a tremendous milestone and we're only just getting started! We have big plans for the show--the podcast and TV--and we know you'll like what we have up our sleeves. This week Paul is in conversation with Community Transit CEO, Ric Ilgenfritz from Snohomish County, WA. Listen as Ric and Paul talk about not only serving the diverse ne...

Recorded live at ThinkTransit in Nashville, this CEO Roundtable brings together four of North America's brightest transit leaders for an in-depth discussion about their lives, careers, and the future of transit in North America. Join Paul in conversation with: Doran Barnes, CEO of Foothill Transit Monica Backmon, CEO of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Erinn Pinkerton, CEO of BC Tran...

Singapore is one of the most densely packed cities in the world. Designed to be a "car-light" city, most people rely on public transport to get around. Learn about this fully-integrated and accessible system from Andy Thompson, Managing Director of Go-Ahead Singapore. Paul Comfort and Andy Thompson discuss how Go-Ahead Singapore helps people in Singapore get from place to place with buses, subways...