28 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
the fi xed-route system will be critical as
PSTA develops recommendations to improve
the fi xed-route system and overall
service quality.
In response to strong industry interest
in PSTA’s innovative partnerships
with Uber and Lyft , Epstein has
conducted countless interviews about
these projects with other agencies and
for research being done by the Transit
Cooperative Research Program, the
Shared Use Mobility Center, and the
Government Aff airs Offi ce. She also
participates in FTA’s MOD Innovation
and Knowledge Accelerator Project and
associated meetings that seek to advance
transit agency innovation and inform
federal policy related to partnerships
with transportation network companies.
as well as quality assurance for new
factory built-bus models. This app has
been successfully used to complete inspections
for more than 600 vehicles
in five continents.
At WSP, Farooqi pioneered a Canadian
advisory practice group in transit
fleet and maintenance in which he
grew a team from one to nine individuals
in Canada with global expansions
in Europe, South America, Africa and
Asia. Identifying industry interest in
alternative fuel propulsion technologies,
he co-developed the Battery Optimization
Lifecycle Tool (BOLT), a tool
that evaluates the triple-bottom-line
impact of implementing battery-electric
buses.
AFTER OBTAINING A MASTER’S DEgree
in geography from the University
of South Carolina, Bonnie Epstein
joined PSTA where she has been instrumental
in analyzing route performance,
demographics, and statistical data to
develop recommendations for a phased
system redesign.
Epstein has since advanced to the
position of senior planner and has developed
both leadership and project
management skills that she uses to advance
the implementation of innovative
projects at PSTA.
Th ese projects include the fi rst-last
mile Direct Connect program with Uber
that has expanded twice under her management;
a late night on-demand service
for low-income, second-, and third-shift
workers in partnership with Uber; and
a project with Lyft to provide same-day,
on-demand paratransit service through
the Federal Transit Administration’s Mobility
on Demand (MOD) grant program.
In the year ahead, Epstein’s analysis
and presentation of data associated with
these projects and their interaction with
NAEEM FAROOQI’S DRIVE TO EXCEL
in all aspects of his field has seen him
transition from a statistics intern at the
Canadian Urban Transit Association,
to an award-winning program analyst
at Metrolinx (Ontario), dynamic supply
chain and business development
director, and now as global bus expert
and principal consultant at WSP,
where he leads the company’s Canadian
transit advisory services group.
In his role at Metrolinx, Farooqi was
instrumental in establishing the Transit
Procurement Initiative, a group of
more than two dozen Ontario transit
systems that seek to achieve economies
of scale by bulk purchasing a variety of
urban transit bus models. To achieve
this outcome, Farooqi actively engaged
with stakeholders and developed bus
specifi cations that were fl exible enough
to allow participants to customize buses
for their local constituents.
Farooqi continues to innovate in
his current role as a principal consultant
at WSP. He initiated and led the
development of a first-in-class app to
streamline the 300-point condition inspection
of in-operation transit buses,
Fact:
Epstein
participates
in FTA’s MOD
Innovation and
Knowledge
Accelerator
Project to
advance transit
innovation and
inform federal
policy related
to partnerships
with TNCs.
MassTransitmag.
com/12422355
“I love working in transit because we make it possible
for people to get to jobs and get home to spend time
with their families. Now more than ever we’re thinking
about transit in different ways and using technology
to provide better service that’s easier to access.”
Fact:
Farooqi is completing
his Ph.D.
in mechanical
and industrial
engineering at
the University
of Toronto.
MassTransitmag.
com/12424845
“I enjoy solving complex problems, which have many
challenges and concerns for transit agencies. For example,
when adopting battery electric buses (BEB), vehicle
range is only one component of the larger puzzle to BEB
adoption. We need to consider infrastructure at the
facility and the human element of training them on the
technology. Moreover, consider even the tools, which
are used to repair the bus need to be static free.”
Bonnie Epstein
Senior Planner
Pinellas Suncoast
Transit Authority
(PSTA)
Naeem Farooqi
BBA, MSc Pl
Principal
Consultant
WSP Canada Inc.
/MassTransitmag.com
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