36 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
In addition, Kaur was also responsible
for all federal and state programming
of funds and in both 2012 and
2013, was recognized as the programmer
that had brought her MPO to be
the highest obligating MPO in the
state of California. In these obligation
milestones, she programmed extensive
funding to help the regional public
transportation agency begin its bus
rapid transit program.
Kaur is currently working in the
capacity of department manager for
Revenue and Grants Administration
at OCTA, where she is managing programs
such as a TIFIA loan agreement
with the United States Department of
Transportation, sales tax forecast and
fare collection systems update.
from the American Public Transportation
Association and the Safety Council
of Palm Beach County.
Londono is focused on improving the
Palm Tran rider experience. He oversaw
the implementation of Palm Tran’s fi rst
Simme-Seats, allowing riders to more
comfortably wait for the bus. As a result,
Palm Tran honored Londono with a Certifi
cate of Appreciation in recognition of
his dedication to improving and expanding
bus stop amenities for passengers.
In 2018, Londono was promoted to
interim manager of Performance Management.
In this role he promotes a
culture of improvement by establishing
performance metrics goals and submitting
monthly performance reports to
Executive Director Clinton B. Forbes,
the Executive Leadership Team and the
National Transit Database.
SAM KAUR STARTED HER TRANSportation
career working for a small engineering
fi rm in India while in school.
Aft er immigrating to the United States,
she started in an internship at the California
Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), which grew her passion for
a career that could make a diff erence in
the public’s quality of life.
Kaur came to the Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO) in Stanislaus
County, California, in 2004 as a temporary
employee as the project lead on the Blueprint
Program, the precursor to California’s
Sustainability Communities Strategy.
Kaur continued her innovative work
when she moved to the MPO in San
Joaquin County. At the height of the
housing meltdown, Kaur developed the
2008 Smart Growth Program for the San
Joaquin Council of Governments. She
followed the development of the overarching
program with the development
of a specifi c plan to inventory and assess
vacant and underutilized properties in
the county for transit-oriented development
and multi-use development.
CHRISTIAN LONDONO DEVELOPED A
passion for transit in college during his
routine commute on the local bus rapid
transit system.
Londono launched his career in transit
as a Palm Tran reservation specialist in
2013. It was not long until he was off ered
the role as transit planner in 2014. He
excelled in the role eventually earning a
promotion to special projects coordinator
in 2017. As special projects coordinator, he
tackled challenges, such as instating the
Passenger Waiting Amenities Retirement,
Replacement and Expansion Plan, and also
directed eff orts to retrofi t several bus stops
to meet ADA compliance requirements.
To promote performance awareness,
Londono redesigned Palm Tran’s Performance
Report, which more eff ectively
communicated metric improvements
and declines. To further these eff orts, he
co-founded the Palm Tran-Statistics (PT
Stat) program, an initiative that seeks to
enhance safety, effi ciency and overall customer
service. As a result of PT Stat, Palm
Tran implemented the “fl ashing lights”
initiative which retrofi ts fl ashing lights
to the rear of buses. Th e eff ective safety
initiative earned Palm Tran recognition
Fact:
Kaur was selected
to attend the
ENO Transit
Mid-Managers
Program in 2016.
MassTransitmag.
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“Look for internal and external gaps and be the
one to take the initiative to fill those gaps that will
help you grow and learn. No projects are too big or too
small with the right attitude, team, and leadership, if
you have the vision and determination to succeed.”
Fact:
Londono has a
Transit Planning
Certification from
the University of
Wisconsin and
an Intermediate
Incident
Command
System for
Expanding
Incidents
from the State
Emergency
Response
Team (SERT).
MassTransitmag.
com/12422359
“What I enjoy most about my job is being able to
be an agent of change. Promoting a culture of continued
improvement where employees from all levels of the
organization are able to learn, grow and share their ideas
of how we can deliver a better service to our customers.”
Sam Kaur
Department
Manager, Revenue
and Grants
Administration
Orange County
Transportation
Authority (OCTA)
Christian G.
Londono
Manager of
Performance
Management
(Interim)
Palm Tran
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