April 21, 2026 • 34 mins
Paul Comfort reflects on building Transit Unplugged—how a lifelong love of communication and decades in transit led to 400 episodes, global visits, and a mission to let transit leaders tell their stories beyond crisis headlines. He shares lessons on customer-first service, technology’s role in ridership, and surprising systems from Singapore to Salt Lake City.
The episode also explores Paul’s new book Find Your X Factor, his TV and writing work, and the Transportopia theme song that imagines safer streets, better connections, and transit woven into daily life. Visit transportopia.org to tell us your vision of Transportopia.
Resources:
Transit Unplugged Podcast - https://transitunplugged.com/ Paul Comfort's Books on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Paul+Comfort Find Your X Factor Website - https://findyourxfactor.ai The Transportopia Song: https://youtu.be/RVefq4HUGHY?si=ykCQa_ITALZda29a
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
CEOs of transit systems never get a chance to tell their story in the media
(00:04):
because the only time they're on, you know, in the media is when there's a problem.
They're responding real time to a crisis, you know, a bus crash or a derailment or whatever.
I want to give them a chance to talk about all the cool things happening.
So that's how the podcast got it started.
This is the Transportopia podcast, featuring engaging and sometimes humorous conversations
(00:32):
about transit's past, present, and future with the people shaping it every day.
Now, here's Rick Lemie.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Transportopia, the podcast where we explore the past,
present, and future of public transportation through the voices of the people shaping it.
I'm Rick Lemie.
(00:54):
A little show note off the top, be sure to stick around until the end of this episode
for the world premiere of a new song about the intersection of transportation and utopia,
or as we like to call it, the state of Transportopia.
And I can almost see it now, blocks that breathe and streets that smile,
footsteps, wheels, and open hands meeting every little mile.
(01:16):
Transportopia, Transportopia, is it just a dream for us?
Today's guest is someone many of you already know,
especially if you've spent any time in the transit world over the last decade.
In fact, he's a voice you've probably already heard.
Paul Comfort is the creator and host of Transit Unplugged,
(01:39):
now approaching 10 years on the air and more than 400 episodes strong.
But Paul's story goes well beyond podcasting.
He served as CEO of Maryland Transit Administration,
held leadership roles across multiple transit systems, and today
works globally as a consultant, advisor, and thought leader on transit innovation and leadership.
Today, we're going to go behind the scenes of Transit Unplugged,
(02:00):
how it grew into one of the most influential voices in transit,
and what Paul's learned from hundreds of conversations and how his work as an author
connects to leadership in his industry.
Paul, welcome to Transportopia.
Thanks, Rick. Thanks for having me.
Well, you know, we like to start our show off as if we're having a conversation,
maybe at a conference where you and I have almost run into each other over the years,
(02:23):
or maybe at a coffee shop.
So what are you drinking today for the podcast episode?
Well, I've got my red Yeti from VIA Transportation.
They gave me this when I went and visited them a couple weeks ago in San Antonio,
and it's just filled with water.
At least that's what I want you to believe.
We are recording at 8.53 at night, my times.
(02:45):
Whatever I was drinking would be appropriate, but no, it is water.
Of course, of course, right.
And VIA is my former transit agency, so I'm glad you had a great visit there.
I am, since it is a little evening time when we're recording,
drinking a little glass of Cabernet.
So I'm just sipping.
I don't think the audience will know that there's anything awry, I'm sure, by the time we're done.
(03:07):
I do like to ask folks, take us back in your memory banks.
What is your earliest memory of public transit?
Yeah, so, you know, I live near Washington, D.C.
I've lived in Maryland.
I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but we moved to Maryland when I was five.
So I've lived here most of my life.
And we lived in Prince George's County near Washington, D.C.
So I remember, like, taking the WMATA Metro downtown for field trips at school
(03:32):
to see, you know, the monuments and the museums and things like that.
So that was my first exposure, and I thought it was so cool.
Yeah, that's a great memory.
It's great to grow up in a transit-rich environment like that.
And maybe it even started your thinking early on about transit as an option, right?
It definitely did not.
But I did think it was cool.
(03:54):
Yeah, transit has to grow on you, I think, over time.
I'm one of the ones that fell into it, like a lot of people.
But we'll talk about that later, probably, yeah.
Sure, sure.
Yeah, you and me both.
Well, you've now hit more than 400 episodes of Transit Unplugged.
It's an incredible milestone.
I was listening to your 400th episode, Reminiscence, and there was a lot there to talk about.
(04:17):
Take us back to the beginning.
What made you start the podcast?
Here's kind of where it all started, man.
My passion in life has always been people.
I love interacting with people.
My dad was a pastor, so I think I got it, honestly.
His job as a preacher and pastor was to care for people, go visit them in the hospital or whatever.
(04:38):
And so from an early age, I was interested in communicating, connecting with people.
And I remember Rick being 10 years old on my 10th birthday.
Remember, we used to have cassette recorders?
Right.
And I remember taping, and I've had that tape for a long time.
I think I've lost it now, but I remember saying, you know,
today is June 10th, 19, whatever, 75, and I'm 10 years old today.
(04:59):
And I was practicing being on the radio at 10 years old, being a talk radio guy.
So early on, I think the bug bit me to do this kind of public communication
and connecting with people.
And then I started working in radio as soon as I could, 17, 18 years old,
and was a DJ on the weekends at kind of a middle-of-the-road channel.
We CTR AM 1530 in Chestertown, but we used to run those big reel-to-reel tapes,
(05:24):
and I would do the weather and news in between and all that.
And on Saturdays, I was the only person at the station, like 19 years old, 18 years old,
running the whole station, you know, recording commercials.
Then I started a talk show called Comfort Corner, and I would interview local people.
I decided I would try to do it live, in person, in the front window of Callahan's Gas and
(05:46):
Appliance Store in Centerville, Maryland.
And I did it.
And then when I was in college, I became a DJ and the news director for University of
Maryland Baltimore County Radio Station, AM 560.
So all that to say, I always leaned into that from very young.
And then I got into transportation, you know, for 30 years.
I did public transit, managed operations in the public and private sector.
(06:08):
But even during that time, Rick, I still was into this.
I took a six-year break from transit and became a county administrator.
And then when our governor appointed me to be head of the Maryland Transit Administration
in Baltimore, I built a radio station, America's only FM radio station run by a transit agency.
It's FM 93.5 WTTC, playing smooth jazz all day long, and five times an hour,
(06:32):
traffic and transit updates.
And I did a morning show on the Fox 45 News there to talk about transit.
I was always trying to communicate to the public there, especially because I didn't,
you know, I wanted us to be vertically integrated in messaging.
When I kind of retired and stepped down from my Baltimore job after 30 years, exactly,
(06:53):
working in the industry, I was offered a bunch of jobs, some of them going back into operations.
But this company, Trapeze, had me come and speak at their national or international conference
or symposium of leaders up in Toronto.
I gave a speech and I talked about whatever I wanted to, because I wasn't working then.
And I told them, you know, what I thought was wrong with how salespeople and vendors
(07:15):
work with transit agencies and how they could improve that and all kinds of stuff.
And the president of the company came up to me after and said, I've never heard anybody
give a speech like that in a public setting.
And I said, well, I got nothing to lose.
I'm going to tell you what I really think.
I've been thinking about this stuff for a long time, but I wasn't able to talk about
it because I had public jobs.
And he said, and then Mark Miller, who was at the time CEO of Trapeze, said to me, hey,
(07:36):
Paul, would you want to spend the night and stay with us tomorrow and stay here for the
whole event, our whole conference and see what we're about?
And then the next day they offer me a job.
They said, what do you want to do?
And I said, I know we want to hire you.
That's what they said.
And they said, they asked me, what do you want to do?
I said, I want to write.
I want to speak.
I want to travel.
And I want to help my fellow CEOs improve their transit systems, because I had just
(07:57):
come from being a CEO.
And they said, perfect.
That's just what we want.
We want a content creator and a connector.
And shortly after that, they asked if I would like to start a podcast.
This was before there was really podcasting was cool.
This was eight, nine years ago.
And I said, yeah, it's like the new talk radio.
And I know exactly what I want to do.
CEOs of transit systems never get a chance to tell their story in the media, because
(08:21):
the only time they're in the media is when there's a problem.
They're responding real time to a crisis, a bus crash or a derailment or whatever.
I want to give them a chance to talk about all the cool things happening, because I know
there are so many things.
So that's how the podcast got its start.
And that's what we've stayed true to.
400 episodes in, less than 1% of podcasts get that far.
This company now, Medaxo, has sponsored it.
(08:41):
We don't like normally have other sponsors or ads.
We're not trying to sell anything.
We're just trying to, this is a big enough company.
Medaxo is the world's largest transit technology company.
But they've been true to me, you know, for the longest job I've ever had in my life.
Now going on nine years with them doing the same thing, but they've grown the platform.
(09:01):
And I'm sure we'll talk about that more.
But the podcast was where it all started.
RICK There's that interesting intersection of your background, both in communications
and in broadcasting and production and content and then transit.
It's a really unique, I guess, resume that you have.
You were really in the right place at the right time to do something like this, weren't you?
RICK Yeah, it worked out great.
You know, I feel like I'm in the river of God's will, you know, and I'm flowing right
(09:25):
along where I'm supposed to be at.
And the way I know it, Rick, is timing, right?
Timing things don't just happen on their own.
I think it's divine, these connections and appointments you have.
Like me going to that thing at that conference at Trapeze and the right people were there
and me saying that, you know, just deciding I'm going to lay it on the line and be critical.
I'm going to talk about religion.
I'm going to talk about politics.
(09:46):
But it all worked out.
So yes, you're right.
It was the intersection of my interests and abilities.
Abilities being primarily, you know, public transportation, right?
I feel like I know it pretty well.
And, you know, knowledge as one of the, you know, a leading expert in the country, been
doing it for now 38 years.
And then my communications.
(10:08):
And so when you can cross those and cross reference them and figure it out, you really
can, I think, succeed and find your purpose in life.
But everybody's trying to find what am I supposed to be doing in this world?
And I don't think we have to like go out and look for it.
I think we can look inside of ourselves.
We're already kind of hardwired if you want to use that analogy.
Let's talk a little bit about the inside makings of the podcast.
(10:31):
What do you do to prepare for your interviews?
How do you get ready for the shows?
Yeah, so we have two or three different types of shows.
The standard show is I interview CEOs.
That's been my primary, you know, guest topic or guest type over the last 400 episodes.
So, you know, when I first started, I interviewed friends, right?
(10:52):
And then as the, you know, as people realize, I'm never going to burn you.
This podcast is all positive.
There's enough negativity in the world.
Your local newspapers will give the negative news about your agency, right?
I'm not going to do that.
My job is to give you a chance to tell your story.
And so as that became obvious that we were going to basically really stick to that, and
I do a past, present, future kind of thing, you know, tell me about, first off, I start
(11:15):
with the present.
Tell me about your agency, you know, how it works, you know, we'll get into the weeds,
what's your funding?
How are you governed?
All that kind of stuff, stuff that people in the industry are interested in.
There's not many other podcasts like it really still, because we, you know, I tell
them use the acronyms, you know, you don't have to say Federal Trade Administration,
you could say FTA, you could say APTA.
Everybody knows who's listening to this podcast.
But anyway, the point is the nomenclature, we're talking to people in the industry.
(11:40):
There's 435,000 people just in America that work in the industry.
So there's a big audience just here, much less around the world.
Our second audience, largest audience is Canada, and then third is the UK, and fourth
is Australia.
But behind the scenes, that's how I choose topics and guests.
Another topic is we do arcs, story themes, like I'm just finishing up five episodes,
(12:02):
first time I've ever done this, with non-CEOs, and people that are in the second layer of
leadership.
So we have themes like that.
And then we have special shows.
We do now once a quarter a show that I call an insider, Transient Uplug Insider.
And Julie Gates, our executive director, interviews me, and I talk, I'm doing one
on Monday, this coming up week, I'm going to record it.
And I'm going to talk about who's the new head of the FTA, right?
(12:23):
A lot of people know that Matt Welb is retired, but it hasn't been as well known who's going
to take his place.
It's already been announced, she's already in the role.
We talk about what's happening with the budget, Trump's new budget, what's the details on
that, what is APTA saying about that, what are others saying?
We talk about some of the other hot topics that are affecting the industry, right, those
kind of things.
So it's insider stuff.
That's what we call it, the insider.
(12:43):
You're not going to hear many CEOs talk about this.
They don't want to, they have, they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
But we can kind of get behind the scenes and pull the curtain back and, you know, I'm not
being critical of anybody, but we're going to pull the curtain back and we're going to
show you what's really happening behind the scenes.
So I'd say one out of every three guests now, I don't select, they select me.
And I'm willing to, you know, put them on.
And we do small systems as well as large systems, and we do them all over the world.
(13:07):
I'm going to put you on the spot.
Do you have a favorite guest or conversation that stands out?
That's good.
Good question.
There's been a couple really outstanding guests and my favorite one lately in the last, I
say, six months that I thought really was like the, it was almost like a perfect podcast.
I don't know if you can say that, but I told her when she was on the show, it was Geisha
(13:29):
Esther.
She's the executive director of the National Transit Institute at Rutgers.
And I said, you're like so prepared for this.
She had 30 years in training, you know, but it wasn't boring.
It wasn't rote.
It was very interesting.
And I told her it was done.
I said, I'm not just blowing smoke.
This is probably the best interview I've ever done that I can remember.
It's just fantastic.
And you know what?
The listeners agreed.
(13:49):
It was our number one episode for the last year.
More listeners than anyone else.
So I knew it was amazing.
So I would say that was a really good interview.
Yeah, those are kind of great moments in really in journalism in many ways and in telling
stories.
So that's a great story.
Is there any particular show or topic that changed how you think about transit?
(14:11):
Something that stands out to you that was a turning point, a light bulb might have gone
off on why transit works or doesn't work.
Yeah, two come to mind.
One is Singapore, being able to visit Jeremy Yap in Singapore, the LTA, the Land Transport
Authority, and spending a week there.
We filmed an episode of our TV show there as well and seeing how they do things in a
(14:32):
different country that is not a Western country.
And it was fantastic.
I mean, they have one of the best transit systems in the world, I think.
So I learned a lot.
There's a lot of interesting things about Singapore, right?
It's super expensive to have a car because they put like you have to pay a big fee to
have a car.
So it makes it easier for people to choose transit because cars are really, you know,
(14:53):
very expensive.
But their ridership levels are amazing and they take people everywhere you can go.
Another transit system that's fantastic is John Sisson's system in Delaware, which is
a border to border system.
You know, Delaware is a small state, but he provides paratransit from border to border.
And so seeing how that's done, we're actually going to film it this coming June for an
(15:14):
episode of our TV show before he retires at the end of June.
We'll show the big city Wilmington, the capital of Dover, and then we'll go to the beaches
like Rehoboth and show how he has to operate three different styles of transit systems,
you know, resort, you know, shuttles and all that.
So those kind of things are interesting to me to seeing how they're done.
And the other one I wanted to mention was Tucson, Arizona, and just seeing how they
(15:36):
operate their system and their amazing TOD that they have there and the, you know, big
money that's been invested along their light rail line.
It was just fascinating to me.
I love these surprises.
So we see a lot more now.
Rick, I think I may have visited more transit systems around the world in the last 10 years
than anyone else alive.
(15:57):
I'm not kidding.
I haven't found anybody.
I've had 400 podcasts, the majority of which have been in person and 40 TV shows.
And I can tell you that what gets me is things that are surprising.
So I love when cities surprise me.
The other one that's been more recent is Salt Lake City.
The city itself is super clean, fantastic.
So many great things to do.
(16:17):
The buildings, a lot of new, brand new looking, great buildings downtown.
We stayed in the Union Station Hotel, which was just fantastic, man.
They've got the whole story of the transcontinental railroad up on the wall and on the windows
and because, you know, in Promontory Point where they joined together.
So those kinds of cities are very surprising when I don't know what to expect and I go
in and then I'm blown away by the great people, the dedication to service, all that stuff.
(16:41):
So it's wonderful.
What are some of the biggest changes you've seen in transit over the past decade that
stand out to you?
That's good, man.
So I've always believed that there are four cornerstones of a great transit system.
When I was in Baltimore at the MTA, the first thing I did after my first 90 or 100 days
was institute what I call the North Stars, which were safety, efficiency, reliability,
(17:05):
and world-class customer service.
But a big thing that's changed in the last 10 years or so, I'd say, is the advent of
technology helping us in all four of those areas.
For instance, I was just in Denver, as I mentioned, at Union Station and they just put up brand
new electronic signs that give clear information about, you know, what trains are coming in,
(17:27):
what time, where they're going, just beautiful.
I mean, so I made a big, you know, thing and got thousands of hits on LinkedIn about it,
a video about it, because that's the kind of stuff that you really didn't have 10 years
ago.
You didn't have these great electronic destination signs that really help people do wayfinding
and figure out how to use transit.
It's one of the biggest problems in transit.
It's why less than 5% of Americans ride transit, largely because they don't know how to.
(17:51):
A lot of people weren't raised riding transit.
They don't know.
They go to a new city, they look up and they see, I remember my wife told me that one time,
we were in a city in Florida and I was out filming episodes of our show and she was at
the hotel with my daughter and she said, Paul, I would have ridden the bus.
There's a shelter and a bus stop right in front of the hotel, but I didn't know when
the bus was coming, where it was going, how much it costs, nothing.
(18:12):
And so, you know, I told the CEO there, dude, at least put a QR code on your signs, you
know, so that people can go to your site and see, okay, this is stop number 4B and the
buses come here every 10 minutes or every 30 minutes, whatever, just so people have
some basic information.
If we want to grow our system, it needs to be safe, efficient, reliable with world-class
customer service, which means letting people know how to use it, how to access the service.
(18:36):
Right.
You know, that leads into my next question.
What can U.S. transit do better?
I know you've been overseas.
You mentioned a little example right there, but what in general, or is there maybe a list
of things that we could do better to make transit better?
Yeah.
So I think putting the, you know, I'm a big, I'm a big fan of Stephen Covey, Seven Habits
(18:57):
of Highly Effective People.
And I use that in a lot of my talks, you know, I do speeches all across the world and I always
reference this because it, to me, is the key to having any transit system be good, which
is you have to begin with the end in mind, one of the seven habits.
What is the end?
I mean, Rick, what are we here for?
I mean, what do you think we're here for in your mind?
You're a transit dude.
What do you think we're in?
(19:17):
What are we doing here in this business?
We give people freedom to get to where they want to go.
I love it.
Right.
So we put the people first.
It's not, we don't put the equipment first.
We don't put the software first, even though we're a first software company, that's a tool,
right?
We don't put any of this stuff first.
What comes first is the passenger.
So I think here in America, other countries have done really well.
(19:38):
And like, I just rode this, what was Rocky Mountain near in Canada, now it's called the
Canyon Spirit in America, to see how an excursion train works and how they put the passenger
first, how they make sure the amenities are there, that it's clean, that it's safe, that
it's efficient, you know, that has great customers.
We can learn from that in our industry, from these high-end trains.
We can bring some of that to what we're doing.
(19:59):
So I think, number one, to improve is we always, you know, look at every decision based through
the lens of what's best for the customer, right?
Just like politicians should stop worrying about what people outside the county or the
city are doing.
We should always put our citizens first.
That's how you have a good county government or a city government.
You put your residents, your voters, your taxpayers first.
(20:20):
Do what's good for them.
Anyway, so that's number one.
And then number two, I think is, I think we could do it better on high-speed rail.
It's embarrassing to me when I go around the world and people are like, what's going on
with you guys in America?
You know, in Europe, I just did a show in Italy, Transit Unplugged TV, that's a fantastic
episode.
(20:41):
And I got to write three different companies, high-speed rails over there between cities,
you know, Milan and Rome and Florence and all that.
And, you know, we've got a private company doing a great job here, Brightline, almost
high-speed in Florida, gonna be high-speed at 220 miles per hour between outside of LA
and Vegas.
But, you know, when I was at MTA Maryland, we were studying high-speed rail between Baltimore
(21:03):
and Washington.
And they were studying it when I got there 10 years ago.
And guess what's still happening?
They're still studying it.
And, you know, there's so many, you know, environmental rules and all kinds of lawsuits
that block you from doing things.
It's very difficult to do a big, massive project.
And they take so long that political winds might change and priorities might change.
And so by the time you get halfway through, you have to cut back.
(21:26):
You saw what happened in California.
And so I really think we could do better there.
And the last thing I think we need to do better is we need to take a lesson from Demetrius
Critchlow in New York City, the CEO there, where 40% of all rides in America happen in
New York City on any given day.
Somehow New York City has figured out how to integrate transit into everyone's lives.
(21:49):
It's not considered just for transit dependent.
They don't even use that terminology.
Everyone uses transit.
It's woven into the fabric of the city.
And, you know, I know that's a very dense city.
It's America's largest city and all that.
But we need to do a better job of making transit an easy option for people to choose so they
can weave it into their daily life and not feel like, you know, well, I'll ride the metro
(22:11):
into, you know, like WMATA, like I did when I was a kid.
I'll ride in to see the monuments because there's no parking downtown.
But for my daily life, I'm going to take my car.
I'm not going to worry about that.
No, we need to make it easier for people to access it and make it part of their daily lives.
Let's pivot to talk about your author life.
Somehow you find time to write as many as six books, everything from The Future of Public
(22:34):
Transportation, The New Future.
You had to write another edition, it sounds like, and even a cookbook.
So now you're about to release your new book, Find Your X Factor.
Tell us about that.
What inspired you to write that book?
This book, Find Your X Factor, is really a combination of all the lessons I've learned
in my career.
It's the best.
(22:55):
I put all of myself into it.
I wrote it for over a year.
And it includes eight vignettes from other people, too, who've reached their X.
I invited people to share with me two or three pages about what they did in their career,
for instance, and how they've reached their X Factor.
I'll give you an example.
There's a guy named Noah, Noah Berger, who was head of MIVA outside of Merrimack Valley
(23:16):
Transit, outside of Boston.
I had him speak at this conference we talked about.
His whole life, he's always been interested in art, artistry, drawing, painting.
And yet he became CEO of a transit system.
He worked at FTA.
And so the way he has merged his interests, which is in art, and his ability, which is
in transportation, is he's brought art to his system.
You know, all the buses are painted by young people.
(23:38):
The designs are there.
They've got pianos in every bus state, bus hub, and they're all painted by local artists
and just that kind of thing.
So he's brought art into his work.
And so it makes you look forward to work.
I mean, I think Edison is the one that said, I had never worked a day in my life.
I enjoyed what I did, right, every day.
(23:59):
And so just this finding your X factor is the ability to analyze in your own self, what
are my interests and then what are my abilities?
Not what your mom says you're good at, because your mom thinks you're good at everything.
You know, like Jerry Seinfeld's mom, you know, who couldn't like Jerry?
Everyone loved Jerry.
So, but what you're, you know, definitely acknowledged as, as an expert.
(24:19):
And you cross those two.
And the book shows you how to do that.
We walk you right through the process of how to go through and analyze that and then how
to find where they intersect and then how to lean into that without blowing up your
life.
You know, you know, you can't always quit your job because you know, you're, oh, this
job, you know, it sucks.
I'm working for the weekends.
I work basically just to make money for my hobby of whitewater rafting on the weekends,
(24:40):
whatever.
Okay, well, let's figure out what's really behind that whitewater rafting, right?
Let's dig down into that.
What else do you love?
Let's figure out what the core element is.
Oh, I like being outside.
I like being, you know, I like an adventure.
I like, and then you break that down into actually what it is.
Whitewater rafting may not be your passion.
It may be the elements behind that that are your real, that you can figure out.
(25:02):
And then you figure out what you're good at.
And then you, then you write them all down and you basically circle.
I mean, actually on my website, findyourxfactor.ai, I've got a free assessment where you can do
it on your own for free right now before the book even comes out.
The book doesn't come out till August 11th.
So that's what the book is about.
Because Rick, I feel like, I feel like we, our industry, we need to make sure that everyone's
operating on all eight cylinders to use an automotive analogy, right?
(25:27):
And a lot of people aren't.
A lot of people feel like, you know, I'm not really doing what I want to do.
They've reached that midlife crisis, you know, where they're in their 40s and like,
wait a minute, 20 years into the career.
How did I get to this?
So this shows you how to lean into that, like I did in these other jobs where it wasn't
my whole job, but it was enough where I felt like I was scratching that itch until I could
finally find a job like I have now, where it's all, it's all together.
(25:50):
I'm getting paid to do what I love like 80 to 90% of the time.
So that's what the book's about.
Find your X Factor.
It'll be, it's available right now for pre-order all over, you know, everywhere.
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, all that.
It's being published by Morgan James, a major publisher.
I'm super excited about it.
I think it's going to be another bestseller and I think it's going to help a lot of people.
I'm in this because it is my passion to communicate and I also want to communicate
(26:13):
important principles to people that I think will improve their lives.
And so I'm hoping that your listeners will take a look at the website, findyourxfactor.ai.
We've got a bunch of stuff on there.
Take the free assessment and find your own X Factor.
And if you're interested, you can, you can pre-order the book as well.
Well, let's wrap it up.
You know, after 400 podcast episodes, Global Work, the TV show, six books, what keeps you
(26:39):
curious?
My dad taught me early on, always be improving yourself.
And I'm an attorney too.
I went to law school at night, graduated in 96.
And I felt like I wanted to do that to improve myself.
I didn't want to practice law.
I just wanted to use that in my career.
And so I'm, I'm constantly learning and growing still.
Every morning I get up and I read, I'm reading right now a book about the Churchills and
(27:03):
the Kennedys, Joe Kennedy in particular, and how he interacted with Winston Churchill when
he was out of power before World War II.
And now, so I'm always interested in learning biographies and great leaders.
And I think that's what, that's what keeps me interested.
And I'm also interested in learning, you know, I'm a musician.
I play piano and sing.
I was playing piano on the train car last week with all the travel writers from around
(27:27):
the world.
We were all singing sing-alongs, Billy Joel and the Beatles and all.
So I love learning more about people's lives and I'm a people person.
And so I like to make friends.
I have, you know, hundreds, if not thousands of people who I consider my real friends all
around the world.
And I keep up with them on social media.
And when we see each other at conferences, we hang out.
And so that's what keeps me lit.
(27:48):
I get, I get, I'm doing what I love.
So I wake up with a fire in the belly and then I get to go out and meet all these great
people and feel like I'm swimming in a sea of my friends at all these conferences.
And so it's a fun life.
Paul Comfort, host of Transit Unplugged and author of Find Your X Factor.
Thanks so much for joining us today on Transportopia.
It was a pleasure.
Thank you, Rick.
(28:09):
Paul, before we wrap up this episode, I want to ask you a favor.
You were reminiscing about your days in radio inspired us to create a little song for the
Transportopia podcast.
It's sort of an anthem, if you will, that envisions a world of better mobility.
We had some fun creating it thanks to artificial intelligence.
So it's not professional.
I'd be honored if you put your radio voice on and do the intro like you did in the old
(28:32):
days on your radio station.
That sounds great, man.
I'd be happy to do it.
Coming up next is the Transportopia theme song written by Rick Levy and AI.
(29:03):
See it now.
Blocks that breathe in streets that smile.
Footsteps, wheels and open hands.
Meet in every little mile.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Is it just a dream for us?
Transportopia.
(29:25):
Transportopia.
Will we ever find that world?
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
(29:47):
Out in Houston, Denver, Flint, Seattle, Philly, Tulsa too.
Somebody's waiting in the shade for the ride that carries you.
Not a crawl beneath the sun.
Not a horn that cuts the air.
Just a route that gets us home and leaves a little room to care.
(30:07):
If the avenue could sing again.
If the station came alive.
I think the whole wide country would remember how to thrive.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Is it just a dream for us?
(30:29):
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Will we ever find that world?
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
(30:53):
Maybe it starts with one good stop.
One shade tree.
One shared ride.
One child crossing with a smile.
One elder walking side by side.
And if enough of us say yes, the map can learn our song.
A city built for daily life where all of us belong.
(31:16):
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
I can hear it in our town.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Let that better world come down.
(31:37):
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
(31:57):
Will we ever find that world?
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, there's the song.
Paul, what did you think of it?
(32:18):
Is it an earworm or what?
Dude, I was very impressed.
I mean, it's fantastic.
The lyrics you wrote are great.
It really paints a picture of an urban utopia
using public transportation kind of as a theme
that runs through a city and how it opens up opportunity
and access for people to have all of life's opportunities.
The music is upbeat.
(32:40):
It makes you feel good, makes you feel positive.
I thought the song was amazing.
I'm really glad you did it.
And I think it'll be a great thing,
not just maybe for your show, but even for our industry.
Thanks, Paul, for the kind and generous words.
I really had fun creating it.
AI is an amazing tool.
We'll be including a link on the show notes
and on the transportopia.org webpage
(33:00):
for our followers to hear and share the song.
And I'm going to invite them to tell us
what their vision for Transportopia would be
for themselves or their communities.
So I hope everyone stays tuned
for more information about our little anthem
to help build momentum for more support
for transport-friendly communities.
Absolutely. That's great, Rick.
Well, I'll share it on my LinkedIn as well.
And we'll encourage people to take a listen
(33:21):
and close their eyes and visualize
what their city could look like
if it were a Transportopia.
That wraps up another episode
of the Transportopia podcast,
the intersection of public transportation and utopia.
Thanks again to our guest and VIP DJ, Paul Comfort.
You can find his podcast, Transit Unplugged,
wherever you get your podcasts,
(33:42):
and also watch Transit Unplugged TV
on YouTube and other outlets.
Check our show notes and visit transportopia.org
for links and information about Paul's upcoming book,
Find Your X Factor.
Please like us and comment
wherever you get your podcasts
and drop by transportopia.org
to tell us what your Transportopia would look like.
We'll be back next week with our bonus
(34:03):
Transportopia News and Views episode.
Until then, I'm Rick Lemay.
Goodbye, everybody.
♪ Fewer cars and safer streets
♪ Sidewalks wide from block to block
(34:24):
♪ Bike lanes, trails, and train bells
♪ Keeping every neighbor close
♪ Transportopia
♪ Transportopia
♪ Will we ever find that world?
CEOs of transit systems never get a chance to tell their story in the media
(00:04):
because the only time they're on, you know, in the media is when there's a problem.
They're responding real time to a crisis, you know, a bus crash or a derailment or whatever.
I want to give them a chance to talk about all the cool things happening.
So that's how the podcast got it started.
This is the Transportopia podcast, featuring engaging and sometimes humorous conversations
(00:32):
about transit's past, present, and future with the people shaping it every day.
Now, here's Rick Lemie.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Transportopia, the podcast where we explore the past,
present, and future of public transportation through the voices of the people shaping it.
I'm Rick Lemie.
(00:54):
A little show note off the top, be sure to stick around until the end of this episode
for the world premiere of a new song about the intersection of transportation and utopia,
or as we like to call it, the state of Transportopia.
And I can almost see it now, blocks that breathe and streets that smile,
footsteps, wheels, and open hands meeting every little mile.
(01:16):
Transportopia, Transportopia, is it just a dream for us?
Today's guest is someone many of you already know,
especially if you've spent any time in the transit world over the last decade.
In fact, he's a voice you've probably already heard.
Paul Comfort is the creator and host of Transit Unplugged,
(01:39):
now approaching 10 years on the air and more than 400 episodes strong.
But Paul's story goes well beyond podcasting.
He served as CEO of Maryland Transit Administration,
held leadership roles across multiple transit systems, and today
works globally as a consultant, advisor, and thought leader on transit innovation and leadership.
Today, we're going to go behind the scenes of Transit Unplugged,
(02:00):
how it grew into one of the most influential voices in transit,
and what Paul's learned from hundreds of conversations and how his work as an author
connects to leadership in his industry.
Paul, welcome to Transportopia.
Thanks, Rick. Thanks for having me.
Well, you know, we like to start our show off as if we're having a conversation,
maybe at a conference where you and I have almost run into each other over the years,
(02:23):
or maybe at a coffee shop.
So what are you drinking today for the podcast episode?
Well, I've got my red Yeti from VIA Transportation.
They gave me this when I went and visited them a couple weeks ago in San Antonio,
and it's just filled with water.
At least that's what I want you to believe.
We are recording at 8.53 at night, my times.
(02:45):
Whatever I was drinking would be appropriate, but no, it is water.
Of course, of course, right.
And VIA is my former transit agency, so I'm glad you had a great visit there.
I am, since it is a little evening time when we're recording,
drinking a little glass of Cabernet.
So I'm just sipping.
I don't think the audience will know that there's anything awry, I'm sure, by the time we're done.
(03:07):
I do like to ask folks, take us back in your memory banks.
What is your earliest memory of public transit?
Yeah, so, you know, I live near Washington, D.C.
I've lived in Maryland.
I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but we moved to Maryland when I was five.
So I've lived here most of my life.
And we lived in Prince George's County near Washington, D.C.
So I remember, like, taking the WMATA Metro downtown for field trips at school
(03:32):
to see, you know, the monuments and the museums and things like that.
So that was my first exposure, and I thought it was so cool.
Yeah, that's a great memory.
It's great to grow up in a transit-rich environment like that.
And maybe it even started your thinking early on about transit as an option, right?
It definitely did not.
But I did think it was cool.
(03:54):
Yeah, transit has to grow on you, I think, over time.
I'm one of the ones that fell into it, like a lot of people.
But we'll talk about that later, probably, yeah.
Sure, sure.
Yeah, you and me both.
Well, you've now hit more than 400 episodes of Transit Unplugged.
It's an incredible milestone.
I was listening to your 400th episode, Reminiscence, and there was a lot there to talk about.
(04:17):
Take us back to the beginning.
What made you start the podcast?
Here's kind of where it all started, man.
My passion in life has always been people.
I love interacting with people.
My dad was a pastor, so I think I got it, honestly.
His job as a preacher and pastor was to care for people, go visit them in the hospital or whatever.
(04:38):
And so from an early age, I was interested in communicating, connecting with people.
And I remember Rick being 10 years old on my 10th birthday.
Remember, we used to have cassette recorders?
Right.
And I remember taping, and I've had that tape for a long time.
I think I've lost it now, but I remember saying, you know,
today is June 10th, 19, whatever, 75, and I'm 10 years old today.
(04:59):
And I was practicing being on the radio at 10 years old, being a talk radio guy.
So early on, I think the bug bit me to do this kind of public communication
and connecting with people.
And then I started working in radio as soon as I could, 17, 18 years old,
and was a DJ on the weekends at kind of a middle-of-the-road channel.
We CTR AM 1530 in Chestertown, but we used to run those big reel-to-reel tapes,
(05:24):
and I would do the weather and news in between and all that.
And on Saturdays, I was the only person at the station, like 19 years old, 18 years old,
running the whole station, you know, recording commercials.
Then I started a talk show called Comfort Corner, and I would interview local people.
I decided I would try to do it live, in person, in the front window of Callahan's Gas and
(05:46):
Appliance Store in Centerville, Maryland.
And I did it.
And then when I was in college, I became a DJ and the news director for University of
Maryland Baltimore County Radio Station, AM 560.
So all that to say, I always leaned into that from very young.
And then I got into transportation, you know, for 30 years.
I did public transit, managed operations in the public and private sector.
(06:08):
But even during that time, Rick, I still was into this.
I took a six-year break from transit and became a county administrator.
And then when our governor appointed me to be head of the Maryland Transit Administration
in Baltimore, I built a radio station, America's only FM radio station run by a transit agency.
It's FM 93.5 WTTC, playing smooth jazz all day long, and five times an hour,
(06:32):
traffic and transit updates.
And I did a morning show on the Fox 45 News there to talk about transit.
I was always trying to communicate to the public there, especially because I didn't,
you know, I wanted us to be vertically integrated in messaging.
When I kind of retired and stepped down from my Baltimore job after 30 years, exactly,
(06:53):
working in the industry, I was offered a bunch of jobs, some of them going back into operations.
But this company, Trapeze, had me come and speak at their national or international conference
or symposium of leaders up in Toronto.
I gave a speech and I talked about whatever I wanted to, because I wasn't working then.
And I told them, you know, what I thought was wrong with how salespeople and vendors
(07:15):
work with transit agencies and how they could improve that and all kinds of stuff.
And the president of the company came up to me after and said, I've never heard anybody
give a speech like that in a public setting.
And I said, well, I got nothing to lose.
I'm going to tell you what I really think.
I've been thinking about this stuff for a long time, but I wasn't able to talk about
it because I had public jobs.
And he said, and then Mark Miller, who was at the time CEO of Trapeze, said to me, hey,
(07:36):
Paul, would you want to spend the night and stay with us tomorrow and stay here for the
whole event, our whole conference and see what we're about?
And then the next day they offer me a job.
They said, what do you want to do?
And I said, I know we want to hire you.
That's what they said.
And they said, they asked me, what do you want to do?
I said, I want to write.
I want to speak.
I want to travel.
And I want to help my fellow CEOs improve their transit systems, because I had just
(07:57):
come from being a CEO.
And they said, perfect.
That's just what we want.
We want a content creator and a connector.
And shortly after that, they asked if I would like to start a podcast.
This was before there was really podcasting was cool.
This was eight, nine years ago.
And I said, yeah, it's like the new talk radio.
And I know exactly what I want to do.
CEOs of transit systems never get a chance to tell their story in the media, because
(08:21):
the only time they're in the media is when there's a problem.
They're responding real time to a crisis, a bus crash or a derailment or whatever.
I want to give them a chance to talk about all the cool things happening, because I know
there are so many things.
So that's how the podcast got its start.
And that's what we've stayed true to.
400 episodes in, less than 1% of podcasts get that far.
This company now, Medaxo, has sponsored it.
(08:41):
We don't like normally have other sponsors or ads.
We're not trying to sell anything.
We're just trying to, this is a big enough company.
Medaxo is the world's largest transit technology company.
But they've been true to me, you know, for the longest job I've ever had in my life.
Now going on nine years with them doing the same thing, but they've grown the platform.
(09:01):
And I'm sure we'll talk about that more.
But the podcast was where it all started.
RICK There's that interesting intersection of your background, both in communications
and in broadcasting and production and content and then transit.
It's a really unique, I guess, resume that you have.
You were really in the right place at the right time to do something like this, weren't you?
RICK Yeah, it worked out great.
You know, I feel like I'm in the river of God's will, you know, and I'm flowing right
(09:25):
along where I'm supposed to be at.
And the way I know it, Rick, is timing, right?
Timing things don't just happen on their own.
I think it's divine, these connections and appointments you have.
Like me going to that thing at that conference at Trapeze and the right people were there
and me saying that, you know, just deciding I'm going to lay it on the line and be critical.
I'm going to talk about religion.
I'm going to talk about politics.
(09:46):
But it all worked out.
So yes, you're right.
It was the intersection of my interests and abilities.
Abilities being primarily, you know, public transportation, right?
I feel like I know it pretty well.
And, you know, knowledge as one of the, you know, a leading expert in the country, been
doing it for now 38 years.
And then my communications.
(10:08):
And so when you can cross those and cross reference them and figure it out, you really
can, I think, succeed and find your purpose in life.
But everybody's trying to find what am I supposed to be doing in this world?
And I don't think we have to like go out and look for it.
I think we can look inside of ourselves.
We're already kind of hardwired if you want to use that analogy.
Let's talk a little bit about the inside makings of the podcast.
(10:31):
What do you do to prepare for your interviews?
How do you get ready for the shows?
Yeah, so we have two or three different types of shows.
The standard show is I interview CEOs.
That's been my primary, you know, guest topic or guest type over the last 400 episodes.
So, you know, when I first started, I interviewed friends, right?
(10:52):
And then as the, you know, as people realize, I'm never going to burn you.
This podcast is all positive.
There's enough negativity in the world.
Your local newspapers will give the negative news about your agency, right?
I'm not going to do that.
My job is to give you a chance to tell your story.
And so as that became obvious that we were going to basically really stick to that, and
I do a past, present, future kind of thing, you know, tell me about, first off, I start
(11:15):
with the present.
Tell me about your agency, you know, how it works, you know, we'll get into the weeds,
what's your funding?
How are you governed?
All that kind of stuff, stuff that people in the industry are interested in.
There's not many other podcasts like it really still, because we, you know, I tell
them use the acronyms, you know, you don't have to say Federal Trade Administration,
you could say FTA, you could say APTA.
Everybody knows who's listening to this podcast.
But anyway, the point is the nomenclature, we're talking to people in the industry.
(11:40):
There's 435,000 people just in America that work in the industry.
So there's a big audience just here, much less around the world.
Our second audience, largest audience is Canada, and then third is the UK, and fourth
is Australia.
But behind the scenes, that's how I choose topics and guests.
Another topic is we do arcs, story themes, like I'm just finishing up five episodes,
(12:02):
first time I've ever done this, with non-CEOs, and people that are in the second layer of
leadership.
So we have themes like that.
And then we have special shows.
We do now once a quarter a show that I call an insider, Transient Uplug Insider.
And Julie Gates, our executive director, interviews me, and I talk, I'm doing one
on Monday, this coming up week, I'm going to record it.
And I'm going to talk about who's the new head of the FTA, right?
(12:23):
A lot of people know that Matt Welb is retired, but it hasn't been as well known who's going
to take his place.
It's already been announced, she's already in the role.
We talk about what's happening with the budget, Trump's new budget, what's the details on
that, what is APTA saying about that, what are others saying?
We talk about some of the other hot topics that are affecting the industry, right, those
kind of things.
So it's insider stuff.
That's what we call it, the insider.
(12:43):
You're not going to hear many CEOs talk about this.
They don't want to, they have, they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
But we can kind of get behind the scenes and pull the curtain back and, you know, I'm not
being critical of anybody, but we're going to pull the curtain back and we're going to
show you what's really happening behind the scenes.
So I'd say one out of every three guests now, I don't select, they select me.
And I'm willing to, you know, put them on.
And we do small systems as well as large systems, and we do them all over the world.
(13:07):
I'm going to put you on the spot.
Do you have a favorite guest or conversation that stands out?
That's good.
Good question.
There's been a couple really outstanding guests and my favorite one lately in the last, I
say, six months that I thought really was like the, it was almost like a perfect podcast.
I don't know if you can say that, but I told her when she was on the show, it was Geisha
(13:29):
Esther.
She's the executive director of the National Transit Institute at Rutgers.
And I said, you're like so prepared for this.
She had 30 years in training, you know, but it wasn't boring.
It wasn't rote.
It was very interesting.
And I told her it was done.
I said, I'm not just blowing smoke.
This is probably the best interview I've ever done that I can remember.
It's just fantastic.
And you know what?
The listeners agreed.
(13:49):
It was our number one episode for the last year.
More listeners than anyone else.
So I knew it was amazing.
So I would say that was a really good interview.
Yeah, those are kind of great moments in really in journalism in many ways and in telling
stories.
So that's a great story.
Is there any particular show or topic that changed how you think about transit?
(14:11):
Something that stands out to you that was a turning point, a light bulb might have gone
off on why transit works or doesn't work.
Yeah, two come to mind.
One is Singapore, being able to visit Jeremy Yap in Singapore, the LTA, the Land Transport
Authority, and spending a week there.
We filmed an episode of our TV show there as well and seeing how they do things in a
(14:32):
different country that is not a Western country.
And it was fantastic.
I mean, they have one of the best transit systems in the world, I think.
So I learned a lot.
There's a lot of interesting things about Singapore, right?
It's super expensive to have a car because they put like you have to pay a big fee to
have a car.
So it makes it easier for people to choose transit because cars are really, you know,
(14:53):
very expensive.
But their ridership levels are amazing and they take people everywhere you can go.
Another transit system that's fantastic is John Sisson's system in Delaware, which is
a border to border system.
You know, Delaware is a small state, but he provides paratransit from border to border.
And so seeing how that's done, we're actually going to film it this coming June for an
(15:14):
episode of our TV show before he retires at the end of June.
We'll show the big city Wilmington, the capital of Dover, and then we'll go to the beaches
like Rehoboth and show how he has to operate three different styles of transit systems,
you know, resort, you know, shuttles and all that.
So those kind of things are interesting to me to seeing how they're done.
And the other one I wanted to mention was Tucson, Arizona, and just seeing how they
(15:36):
operate their system and their amazing TOD that they have there and the, you know, big
money that's been invested along their light rail line.
It was just fascinating to me.
I love these surprises.
So we see a lot more now.
Rick, I think I may have visited more transit systems around the world in the last 10 years
than anyone else alive.
(15:57):
I'm not kidding.
I haven't found anybody.
I've had 400 podcasts, the majority of which have been in person and 40 TV shows.
And I can tell you that what gets me is things that are surprising.
So I love when cities surprise me.
The other one that's been more recent is Salt Lake City.
The city itself is super clean, fantastic.
So many great things to do.
(16:17):
The buildings, a lot of new, brand new looking, great buildings downtown.
We stayed in the Union Station Hotel, which was just fantastic, man.
They've got the whole story of the transcontinental railroad up on the wall and on the windows
and because, you know, in Promontory Point where they joined together.
So those kinds of cities are very surprising when I don't know what to expect and I go
in and then I'm blown away by the great people, the dedication to service, all that stuff.
(16:41):
So it's wonderful.
What are some of the biggest changes you've seen in transit over the past decade that
stand out to you?
That's good, man.
So I've always believed that there are four cornerstones of a great transit system.
When I was in Baltimore at the MTA, the first thing I did after my first 90 or 100 days
was institute what I call the North Stars, which were safety, efficiency, reliability,
(17:05):
and world-class customer service.
But a big thing that's changed in the last 10 years or so, I'd say, is the advent of
technology helping us in all four of those areas.
For instance, I was just in Denver, as I mentioned, at Union Station and they just put up brand
new electronic signs that give clear information about, you know, what trains are coming in,
(17:27):
what time, where they're going, just beautiful.
I mean, so I made a big, you know, thing and got thousands of hits on LinkedIn about it,
a video about it, because that's the kind of stuff that you really didn't have 10 years
ago.
You didn't have these great electronic destination signs that really help people do wayfinding
and figure out how to use transit.
It's one of the biggest problems in transit.
It's why less than 5% of Americans ride transit, largely because they don't know how to.
(17:51):
A lot of people weren't raised riding transit.
They don't know.
They go to a new city, they look up and they see, I remember my wife told me that one time,
we were in a city in Florida and I was out filming episodes of our show and she was at
the hotel with my daughter and she said, Paul, I would have ridden the bus.
There's a shelter and a bus stop right in front of the hotel, but I didn't know when
the bus was coming, where it was going, how much it costs, nothing.
(18:12):
And so, you know, I told the CEO there, dude, at least put a QR code on your signs, you
know, so that people can go to your site and see, okay, this is stop number 4B and the
buses come here every 10 minutes or every 30 minutes, whatever, just so people have
some basic information.
If we want to grow our system, it needs to be safe, efficient, reliable with world-class
customer service, which means letting people know how to use it, how to access the service.
(18:36):
Right.
You know, that leads into my next question.
What can U.S. transit do better?
I know you've been overseas.
You mentioned a little example right there, but what in general, or is there maybe a list
of things that we could do better to make transit better?
Yeah.
So I think putting the, you know, I'm a big, I'm a big fan of Stephen Covey, Seven Habits
(18:57):
of Highly Effective People.
And I use that in a lot of my talks, you know, I do speeches all across the world and I always
reference this because it, to me, is the key to having any transit system be good, which
is you have to begin with the end in mind, one of the seven habits.
What is the end?
I mean, Rick, what are we here for?
I mean, what do you think we're here for in your mind?
You're a transit dude.
What do you think we're in?
(19:17):
What are we doing here in this business?
We give people freedom to get to where they want to go.
I love it.
Right.
So we put the people first.
It's not, we don't put the equipment first.
We don't put the software first, even though we're a first software company, that's a tool,
right?
We don't put any of this stuff first.
What comes first is the passenger.
So I think here in America, other countries have done really well.
(19:38):
And like, I just rode this, what was Rocky Mountain near in Canada, now it's called the
Canyon Spirit in America, to see how an excursion train works and how they put the passenger
first, how they make sure the amenities are there, that it's clean, that it's safe, that
it's efficient, you know, that has great customers.
We can learn from that in our industry, from these high-end trains.
We can bring some of that to what we're doing.
(19:59):
So I think, number one, to improve is we always, you know, look at every decision based through
the lens of what's best for the customer, right?
Just like politicians should stop worrying about what people outside the county or the
city are doing.
We should always put our citizens first.
That's how you have a good county government or a city government.
You put your residents, your voters, your taxpayers first.
(20:20):
Do what's good for them.
Anyway, so that's number one.
And then number two, I think is, I think we could do it better on high-speed rail.
It's embarrassing to me when I go around the world and people are like, what's going on
with you guys in America?
You know, in Europe, I just did a show in Italy, Transit Unplugged TV, that's a fantastic
episode.
(20:41):
And I got to write three different companies, high-speed rails over there between cities,
you know, Milan and Rome and Florence and all that.
And, you know, we've got a private company doing a great job here, Brightline, almost
high-speed in Florida, gonna be high-speed at 220 miles per hour between outside of LA
and Vegas.
But, you know, when I was at MTA Maryland, we were studying high-speed rail between Baltimore
(21:03):
and Washington.
And they were studying it when I got there 10 years ago.
And guess what's still happening?
They're still studying it.
And, you know, there's so many, you know, environmental rules and all kinds of lawsuits
that block you from doing things.
It's very difficult to do a big, massive project.
And they take so long that political winds might change and priorities might change.
And so by the time you get halfway through, you have to cut back.
(21:26):
You saw what happened in California.
And so I really think we could do better there.
And the last thing I think we need to do better is we need to take a lesson from Demetrius
Critchlow in New York City, the CEO there, where 40% of all rides in America happen in
New York City on any given day.
Somehow New York City has figured out how to integrate transit into everyone's lives.
(21:49):
It's not considered just for transit dependent.
They don't even use that terminology.
Everyone uses transit.
It's woven into the fabric of the city.
And, you know, I know that's a very dense city.
It's America's largest city and all that.
But we need to do a better job of making transit an easy option for people to choose so they
can weave it into their daily life and not feel like, you know, well, I'll ride the metro
(22:11):
into, you know, like WMATA, like I did when I was a kid.
I'll ride in to see the monuments because there's no parking downtown.
But for my daily life, I'm going to take my car.
I'm not going to worry about that.
No, we need to make it easier for people to access it and make it part of their daily lives.
Let's pivot to talk about your author life.
Somehow you find time to write as many as six books, everything from The Future of Public
(22:34):
Transportation, The New Future.
You had to write another edition, it sounds like, and even a cookbook.
So now you're about to release your new book, Find Your X Factor.
Tell us about that.
What inspired you to write that book?
This book, Find Your X Factor, is really a combination of all the lessons I've learned
in my career.
It's the best.
(22:55):
I put all of myself into it.
I wrote it for over a year.
And it includes eight vignettes from other people, too, who've reached their X.
I invited people to share with me two or three pages about what they did in their career,
for instance, and how they've reached their X Factor.
I'll give you an example.
There's a guy named Noah, Noah Berger, who was head of MIVA outside of Merrimack Valley
(23:16):
Transit, outside of Boston.
I had him speak at this conference we talked about.
His whole life, he's always been interested in art, artistry, drawing, painting.
And yet he became CEO of a transit system.
He worked at FTA.
And so the way he has merged his interests, which is in art, and his ability, which is
in transportation, is he's brought art to his system.
You know, all the buses are painted by young people.
(23:38):
The designs are there.
They've got pianos in every bus state, bus hub, and they're all painted by local artists
and just that kind of thing.
So he's brought art into his work.
And so it makes you look forward to work.
I mean, I think Edison is the one that said, I had never worked a day in my life.
I enjoyed what I did, right, every day.
(23:59):
And so just this finding your X factor is the ability to analyze in your own self, what
are my interests and then what are my abilities?
Not what your mom says you're good at, because your mom thinks you're good at everything.
You know, like Jerry Seinfeld's mom, you know, who couldn't like Jerry?
Everyone loved Jerry.
So, but what you're, you know, definitely acknowledged as, as an expert.
(24:19):
And you cross those two.
And the book shows you how to do that.
We walk you right through the process of how to go through and analyze that and then how
to find where they intersect and then how to lean into that without blowing up your
life.
You know, you know, you can't always quit your job because you know, you're, oh, this
job, you know, it sucks.
I'm working for the weekends.
I work basically just to make money for my hobby of whitewater rafting on the weekends,
(24:40):
whatever.
Okay, well, let's figure out what's really behind that whitewater rafting, right?
Let's dig down into that.
What else do you love?
Let's figure out what the core element is.
Oh, I like being outside.
I like being, you know, I like an adventure.
I like, and then you break that down into actually what it is.
Whitewater rafting may not be your passion.
It may be the elements behind that that are your real, that you can figure out.
(25:02):
And then you figure out what you're good at.
And then you, then you write them all down and you basically circle.
I mean, actually on my website, findyourxfactor.ai, I've got a free assessment where you can do
it on your own for free right now before the book even comes out.
The book doesn't come out till August 11th.
So that's what the book is about.
Because Rick, I feel like, I feel like we, our industry, we need to make sure that everyone's
operating on all eight cylinders to use an automotive analogy, right?
(25:27):
And a lot of people aren't.
A lot of people feel like, you know, I'm not really doing what I want to do.
They've reached that midlife crisis, you know, where they're in their 40s and like,
wait a minute, 20 years into the career.
How did I get to this?
So this shows you how to lean into that, like I did in these other jobs where it wasn't
my whole job, but it was enough where I felt like I was scratching that itch until I could
finally find a job like I have now, where it's all, it's all together.
(25:50):
I'm getting paid to do what I love like 80 to 90% of the time.
So that's what the book's about.
Find your X Factor.
It'll be, it's available right now for pre-order all over, you know, everywhere.
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, all that.
It's being published by Morgan James, a major publisher.
I'm super excited about it.
I think it's going to be another bestseller and I think it's going to help a lot of people.
I'm in this because it is my passion to communicate and I also want to communicate
(26:13):
important principles to people that I think will improve their lives.
And so I'm hoping that your listeners will take a look at the website, findyourxfactor.ai.
We've got a bunch of stuff on there.
Take the free assessment and find your own X Factor.
And if you're interested, you can, you can pre-order the book as well.
Well, let's wrap it up.
You know, after 400 podcast episodes, Global Work, the TV show, six books, what keeps you
(26:39):
curious?
My dad taught me early on, always be improving yourself.
And I'm an attorney too.
I went to law school at night, graduated in 96.
And I felt like I wanted to do that to improve myself.
I didn't want to practice law.
I just wanted to use that in my career.
And so I'm, I'm constantly learning and growing still.
Every morning I get up and I read, I'm reading right now a book about the Churchills and
(27:03):
the Kennedys, Joe Kennedy in particular, and how he interacted with Winston Churchill when
he was out of power before World War II.
And now, so I'm always interested in learning biographies and great leaders.
And I think that's what, that's what keeps me interested.
And I'm also interested in learning, you know, I'm a musician.
I play piano and sing.
I was playing piano on the train car last week with all the travel writers from around
(27:27):
the world.
We were all singing sing-alongs, Billy Joel and the Beatles and all.
So I love learning more about people's lives and I'm a people person.
And so I like to make friends.
I have, you know, hundreds, if not thousands of people who I consider my real friends all
around the world.
And I keep up with them on social media.
And when we see each other at conferences, we hang out.
And so that's what keeps me lit.
(27:48):
I get, I get, I'm doing what I love.
So I wake up with a fire in the belly and then I get to go out and meet all these great
people and feel like I'm swimming in a sea of my friends at all these conferences.
And so it's a fun life.
Paul Comfort, host of Transit Unplugged and author of Find Your X Factor.
Thanks so much for joining us today on Transportopia.
It was a pleasure.
Thank you, Rick.
(28:09):
Paul, before we wrap up this episode, I want to ask you a favor.
You were reminiscing about your days in radio inspired us to create a little song for the
Transportopia podcast.
It's sort of an anthem, if you will, that envisions a world of better mobility.
We had some fun creating it thanks to artificial intelligence.
So it's not professional.
I'd be honored if you put your radio voice on and do the intro like you did in the old
(28:32):
days on your radio station.
That sounds great, man.
I'd be happy to do it.
Coming up next is the Transportopia theme song written by Rick Levy and AI.
(29:03):
See it now.
Blocks that breathe in streets that smile.
Footsteps, wheels and open hands.
Meet in every little mile.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Is it just a dream for us?
Transportopia.
(29:25):
Transportopia.
Will we ever find that world?
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
(29:47):
Out in Houston, Denver, Flint, Seattle, Philly, Tulsa too.
Somebody's waiting in the shade for the ride that carries you.
Not a crawl beneath the sun.
Not a horn that cuts the air.
Just a route that gets us home and leaves a little room to care.
(30:07):
If the avenue could sing again.
If the station came alive.
I think the whole wide country would remember how to thrive.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Is it just a dream for us?
(30:29):
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Will we ever find that world?
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
(30:53):
Maybe it starts with one good stop.
One shade tree.
One shared ride.
One child crossing with a smile.
One elder walking side by side.
And if enough of us say yes, the map can learn our song.
A city built for daily life where all of us belong.
(31:16):
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
I can hear it in our town.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
Let that better world come down.
(31:37):
Fewer cars and safer streets.
Sidewalks wide from block to block.
Bike lanes, trails and train bells.
Keeping every neighbor close.
Transportopia.
Transportopia.
(31:57):
Will we ever find that world?
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, there's the song.
Paul, what did you think of it?
(32:18):
Is it an earworm or what?
Dude, I was very impressed.
I mean, it's fantastic.
The lyrics you wrote are great.
It really paints a picture of an urban utopia
using public transportation kind of as a theme
that runs through a city and how it opens up opportunity
and access for people to have all of life's opportunities.
The music is upbeat.
(32:40):
It makes you feel good, makes you feel positive.
I thought the song was amazing.
I'm really glad you did it.
And I think it'll be a great thing,
not just maybe for your show, but even for our industry.
Thanks, Paul, for the kind and generous words.
I really had fun creating it.
AI is an amazing tool.
We'll be including a link on the show notes
and on the transportopia.org webpage
(33:00):
for our followers to hear and share the song.
And I'm going to invite them to tell us
what their vision for Transportopia would be
for themselves or their communities.
So I hope everyone stays tuned
for more information about our little anthem
to help build momentum for more support
for transport-friendly communities.
Absolutely. That's great, Rick.
Well, I'll share it on my LinkedIn as well.
And we'll encourage people to take a listen
(33:21):
and close their eyes and visualize
what their city could look like
if it were a Transportopia.
That wraps up another episode
of the Transportopia podcast,
the intersection of public transportation and utopia.
Thanks again to our guest and VIP DJ, Paul Comfort.
You can find his podcast, Transit Unplugged,
wherever you get your podcasts,
(33:42):
and also watch Transit Unplugged TV
on YouTube and other outlets.
Check our show notes and visit transportopia.org
for links and information about Paul's upcoming book,
Find Your X Factor.
Please like us and comment
wherever you get your podcasts
and drop by transportopia.org
to tell us what your Transportopia would look like.
We'll be back next week with our bonus
(34:03):
Transportopia News and Views episode.
Until then, I'm Rick Lemay.
Goodbye, everybody.
♪ Fewer cars and safer streets
♪ Sidewalks wide from block to block
(34:24):
♪ Bike lanes, trails, and train bells
♪ Keeping every neighbor close
♪ Transportopia
♪ Transportopia
♪ Will we ever find that world?
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