EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Leaders Who Make Us Hopeful
The skill, talent and dedication of our young leaders continue
to better transit’s role in their communities.
N
Wang
8 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
Editorial
Advisory Board
Andrew Johnson
Chief Operating Officer
Champaign-Urbana
Mass Transit District
Gary Thomas
President/
Executive Director
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Keith Jones, P.E.
General Manager
M-1 Rail
Kristen Joyner
Executive Director
South West Transit
Association
Matthew Tucker
Executive Director
North County
Transit District
Patrick LeClerc
President & Chief
Executive Officer
Canadian Urban
Transit Association
Paul Larousse
Director
National Transit Institute
ine. It’s been 9 years we’ve been doing the Top 40 Under 40.
Interesting this year, was reading about one of the recipients
and her research work on the future of our workforce, which
was part of the reason we started the Top 40 in the fi rst place.
“Th e transit workforce is older than the overall transportation
workforce and signifi cantly older than the general working population,
so retirements are hitting harder,” said Transportation
Learning Center Deputy Director Xinge Wang. “Over a 10-year
period, there is a need to hire, train and retain 126 percent of the
current workforce in transit. Over 90 percent of them work in
frontline operations and maintenance jobs.”
It’s no surprise; we’ve all seen it coming. And we’re seeing
news more frequently about service cuts or disruptions due to
staff shortages and news about not being able to fi ll positions.
Two of this year’s recipients fell into public transportation when
they landed a job while going to school driving a bus for Blacksburg
Transit. While some people know they want to work in planning
or transportation, oft entimes we hear people unexpectedly land
in transit.
In addition to an employee shortage, how transit is evolving
with electric propulsion, autonomous technology, the Internet of
Th ings, and the impact of long-over-due infrastructure maintenance
means the pressures felt on transit continues to rise.
Th is list aff ords us the opportunity to highlight some of the
young leaders that are developing progressive ideas to improve
transit’s role in their communities. Whether it’s implementing
or developing new technologies, increasing operational effi ciencies,
improving service, leading major infrastructure projects or
messaging public transportation’s value to the community, these
professionals are an example of how we can face these challenges
head on to improve mobility for all.
Our nominations are open for next year. If you or a colleague are
making a diff erence in public transportation and are an example of
the leaders making us hopeful about transit’s role in our city’s future,
nominate yourself, him or her at surveymonkey.com/r/Top40-2018.
Leah Harnack, Editor
WANG PRESENTING at
the Department of
Transportation.