September 3, 2025 • 29 mins
We’re kicking off Super September with a heavy-hitter: Demetrius Crichlow, President of New York City Transit.
In this powerful episode, Crichlow sits down with Paul Comfort to reflect on his 20+ year rise through the MTA—from climbing signal poles at Long Island Rail Road to overseeing the nation’s largest transit system.
Crichlow doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges. He opens up about leading through a crisis of public trust, tackling rising crime, modernizing aging infrastructure, and navigating tough conversations about race, fairness, and opportunity inside large institutions.
Highlights include:
- How fare evasion was reduced by 27%
- Why putting people first means choosing talent over tenure
- What CBTC (communications-based train control) means for NYC
- The hidden complexity of drainage, substations, and keeping a 24/7 system running
- Why congestion pricing is more than just a revenue stream
- A bold leadership approach built on respect, experience, and strategic change
Whether you’re leading a small system or managing a megacity’s transit infrastructure, this episode offers insights that will stay with you.
Podcast Credits
Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo, passionate about moving the world’s people.
Creator, Host & Producer — Paul Comfort
Executive Producer — Julie Gates
Producer & Newsletter Editor — Chris O’Keefe
Associate Producer — Cyndi Raskin
Podcast Intern — Desmond Gates
Special thanks to:
Brand Design — Tina Olagundoye
Social Media — Tatyana Mechkarova
Got a question or comment? Email us at info@transitunplugged.com
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Modaxo Inc., its affiliates or subsidiaries, or any entities they represent. This production belongs to Modaxo and may contain information subject to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual-property rights and restrictions. This production provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. Modaxo specifically disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and will not be liable for any losses, claims, or damages arising from the use of this presentation, from any material contained in it, or from any action or decision taken in response to it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Super September is here on TransitUnplugged, and we're kicking it
off in a big way in New York City.
I'm Paul Comfort, and today I'mtalking with Demetrius Critchlow.
He is the president of NewYork City Transit, the largest
transit system in America.
It's a system so essential that themajority of New Yorkers rely on public
(00:22):
transportation every day to live,work, and connect in their city.
Demetrius brings decades ofexperience with the MTA to his
role and is about to celebrate hisfirst anniversary as president.
In our conversation, he pulls backthe curtain on what it takes to run an
operation this massive, the challenges andthe triumphs along the way, and the recent
(00:44):
customer experience improvements they'remaking, some of which may surprise you.
He also discusses how they'readdressing crime on the system and
the role of congestion chargingin America's largest city.
Whether you're a transit professional, adaily rider, or just curious about how a
city like New York City keeps moving, thisis an inside look you won't wanna miss.
(01:06):
So let's dive into my conversationwith Demetrius Critchlow,
president of New York City Transit.
Demetrius Critchlow, president of NewYork City Transit at the MTA, the number
one transit agency in America, baby.
Great to have you with us my friend.
Thank you for having me.
Excited to be able to chat.
(01:27):
I read a couple years ago, and I thinkit's still true, 40% of all the rides that
happen in America on public transportationon any given day happen in New York City.
Is that still about right?
Those numbers?
Yeah, that's still about right.
We like to flaunt that.
We are the big dog.
We're the big dog.
Yeah.
Well, tell us about it.
Tell us About the scope of whatyou do there in New York City.
(01:49):
Sure, sure.
So roughly 50,000 employees.
We operate subway, bus,and paratransit service.
Somewhere around 26,27,000 on the subway side.
Somewhere in the 20,000range for the bus side.
And, you know, we have the largestparatransit operation in North America,
(02:12):
and we also have some administrativefunctions that support the operations.
Yeah.
So I just had Justin Vonashekon, he's actually gonna be the
podcast for this coming week.
So tell us about the structure of howit all works in New York, 'cause you
have some commuter work, but you dothe main stuff in the city, right?
As president of New York City Transit.
We are all under the MTA umbrella.
So consolidated functionsfor procurement, HR, budget.
(02:38):
You know, all of the administrativesupport that's not tied to the operations
comes out of the headquarters function.
Okay.
And, we share the reporting agenciesof New York City Transit, Bridges
and Tunnels, Metro North, LongIsland Railroad, and Capital,
Construction and Development.
It's exciting.
We have everything that runs in thecity if it, as long as it's not yellow,
(03:01):
with rubber tires, we kind of handle it.
And, the system itself.
How's it going now?
Just like from a general perspectiveas president, what would you say if
you had to give yourself a reportcard now, how are things going?
I might be a little biased, butyou know, performance is great.
It's been better than it has been sincewe've modernized technology to have
automatic time points for service.
(03:23):
We've been somewhere in the 84, 85%performance range, which is for us a
huge, huge improvement of where we were.
Yeah, man.
It's a challenged system.
I mean, it's a dated systemover a hundred years old.
A lot of infrastructure, thingsthat need to be repaired.
Aging fleet, both onthe rail and bus side.
And, and everything is just large scale.
(03:44):
You know, when you're doing areplacement of a fleet it is a large
scale replacement, so it's justa very, very different beast than
most folks would have to deal with.
And again, we are doing great.
Doesn't mean that we can't do better.
Our paratransit operation has,without question, been one of the
shining stars, doing a fantasticjob of supplying services, in ways
(04:05):
that many thought were not possible.
And has achieved an amazingcustomer satisfaction score
as a result of doing it.
Oh, that's wonderful.
I was working in DC for five yearsfor MV running their paratransit
system about 15 years ago.
And that's such a critical part.
I thought we were big with8,000 trips or 10,000 a day.
You've got 35, man.
(04:25):
Amazing.
Yeah.
So talk to us about your background.
I mean, you've had an amazingbackground to work your way up to this.
Give us your origin story.
Yeah, so I started as an assistant signalmaintainer at the Long Island Railroad.
28 years ago.
I was literally climbing poles, runningfiber optic cable, digging ditches,
working on crossing gates and then tookprogressive opportunities to improve.
(04:49):
Went to Towers, Dispatcher,went into management.
I've been in management at thecontrol center for, 2 0 4, which
is Jamaica Control Center, PennStation Central Control, and then
I transitioned to MTA headquarters,and then to New York City Transit.
I've worked as the head of fieldoperations for service delivery, a general
(05:11):
manager for service of several lines.
I've been the head of the RailControl Center, which is the largest
control center in North America.
I've been vice president of StatenIsland Railway, Executive Vice
President for operations, seniorVice President leading all Subways.
And then, you know, to thisposition now at transit.
(05:31):
So it's been a long career.
Probably one of the only onesthat have gone through the
organization starting from thebottom level to be able to get here.
So it's great.
I have a history in transit.
My grandfather was a porter, beforethe MTA existed, when transit
used to report up to the city.
(05:53):
And, my father workedhere as a car inspector.
Both retired.
You know, it's in my blood.
It's been exciting to be ableto fulfill a family's legacy
of getting to where I'm now.
That's beautiful.
I love that story, man.
My dad was born in Brooklyn, and whenI was younger he used to tell me, you
know, he used to ride the subway fora nickel, I think it was, and he said
(06:14):
I could ride it all day for a nickel.
New York City really is for America,the New York City MTA, it's the
place where the transit serviceis kind of in your blood, right?
If you grow up there, that's howyou get around the city, right.
Yeah, I mean, the reality is if youlive in the city or any of the boroughs
within the city, your primary means oftransportation is public transportation.
(06:36):
I mean, yeah, there are some ofthe extremes like Queens, some
portions of the Bronx that, thatfolks drive, but the reality is most
folks take public transportation.
I think the last percentage wedid was something like 60% of New
Yorkers take public transportation,which is like, you know,
Yeah.
It's the primary means of transporthere, which means you also have a
(07:01):
big accountability to be service.
When everyone, the entire city, theregion, this huge conglomerate New
York, which is the mega, financialdistrict is relying upon you to
be able to do your duty every day.
So it's a huge task, but excitingto be able to do it every day.
Yeah.
(07:21):
From a personal perspective, having kindof grown up in the system, what's it
mean to you to finally, I mean, to me,the message that sends to the employees
is, Hey, you know, you do a good job,you could end up in the top seat.
I love that message to your employees,but what does it mean to you personally?
Yeah, I mean, so I neverset out to be president.
Yeah.
It was not on the listof things to do here.
(07:42):
I really just wanted to see ifI could do a good job and the
opportunities just continue to grow.
So, it has been personally, a hugething for me again to follow in the
footsteps of my family, my father.
Yeah, my father.
That's huge to be able to accomplish it.
But I think, as an organizationthat is predominantly minority,
it does also show the prospectfor what you're capable of doing.
(08:04):
Sometimes the world isn't fair,but the reality is at New York City
Transit, we really do value diversityand making sure that the people who
have the skillset to do the job arein places to be able to do it well.
That's wonderful.
What a blessing.
So how would you describeyour leadership style?
You've gone through all thesepositions, now you're in the top.
(08:25):
Tell us about that, especially withsuch a large and complex organization.
It's interesting because I think mystyle has changed a lot over the years.
When you start off at the low endedorganization, you do what's necessary
to be successful at that level, and witheach step you take, you have to grow,
you have to change, to be something thatyou weren't in order to be successful.
(08:46):
Most of our organizations arehierarchal and it'll be a position
that that's available to you.
And, generally the next person whogets the job is the next person whether
or not they're the most skilled ornot, it's usually the senior person
that winds up getting the next job.
And so, you know, growing upin that organization you had to
really look for opportunitiesto be able to improve upon that.
(09:09):
I've been really big on confidence.
Finding people with the rightskillset for specific positions.
And in some instances, theyweren't necessarily the person
that has been here the longest.
Sometimes they weren't evenindividuals that were here.
But selecting people specifically fortasks, and I think that has been a
(09:30):
key element to support to my success.
My leadership, I gave you a briefdescription of the positions I had.
I think I've had somewhere in arange of 19 or 20 positions in
Wow.
I have been here.
And so I believe firmly that themore a person is exposed to an
organization, the more ability thatthey get to be able to see different
(09:53):
parts of the operation, get challenged,that strengthens you as a leader.
And so I've been really big abouttaking the team and pushing them,
throwing 'em into different areasthat they've never led before.
Which is different for sometimeslike for people because, you start an
organization, you kind of expect, like,this is my skillset, so I'm gonna stay
in these barriers, but in order for theorganization to grow, especially when you
(10:15):
get to those senior levels of leadership,you need to challenge people to do more,
to hone their skills, to take on moreand different types of experiences.
So, taking folks that have neverset a day in a bus garage and
moving them over to buses fromsubways, it's like a huge change.
Sending people who worked at New York CityTransit over the Staten Island Railway,
(10:37):
which is a completely different system.
Different rules, differentunions, different agreements,
like challenging people to expandtheir mind and their horizon.
So that's really been a huge,part of my leadership and I think,
you know, with that, we've reallygrown the management team, and we
continue to grow the management team.
I would say I'm really big onrespect, within the organization,
(11:00):
but earning the respect.
Uh, yeah.
And having worked in the operations,seeing a lot of the faces that are
out there working right now, youearn the respect of people 'cause
you stood with them in the trenches.
You were there for the derailments.
You were there through the snow storms.
You were there through thehurricanes, through flooding.
You were there.
And so you earned the respect of thepeople when you stand shoulder to shoulder
(11:21):
with them, tackling these major events.
And so I've always encouragedthe team get out in the field.
We have days set aside, no meetings,that your job for that day as a leader
is to be out in the field, engaging yourpeople, speaking to people, communicating
with them, finding out what theirissues are, being there to be able to
(11:41):
support your operation to be successful.
So it's been a big, big part for me.
Yeah.
That's awesome, man.
I love that because too often, I thinkespecially in bigger organizations,
people end up managing kind of by theirlaptop or managing by email, right.
If you're not out there in the field,I mean, you just said it, right?
Not only is the respect, it's alsothe knowledge that you gain that
(12:02):
you can't get unless you're there.
Really there.
Yeah.
And I mean, there is like amazing workthat happens every day out in the field.
And
Sure.
It's my perception, my perspective,that if at the leadership level we
aren't seeing that, then we aren'tdoing our job to really promote it.
To talk about the agency, the people,the support, the needs of those folks.
(12:24):
You cannot do thatunless you understand it.
If you like this episode of theTransit Unplugged Podcast, then you
will love what we have coming up.
We're calling it Super Septemberbecause we're creating an all
star guest lineup just for you.
Let's face it, the world is rapidlychanging and everything is so fast,
(12:45):
and our industry is speeding up.
So in September, the Transit Unpluggedteam is bringing you some of the biggest
voices in the industry from New York,Chicago, maybe even at the federal level.
I don't wanna tip our hand yet.
But you'll get a chance to learn how tomanage all the policy and funding changes,
the post COVID funding fiscal cliff,how to do all of it, and so much more.
(13:07):
If you haven't yet subscribedto the podcast, do it now so you
don't miss a thing when TransitUnplugged brings you Super September.
Subscribe right now before you getdistracted because we know something's
gonna ping or a squirrel will come by,so please subscribe and we'll bring you
some great shows in Super September.
Now back to Paul Comfort and thisepisode of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.
(13:32):
Let's switch to what's happeningright now in the organization.
What are your toppriorities now as president?
So we've tackled a couple things.
We set key things that we're focused on.
One has been modernizing service delivery.
So modernizing service delivery isoverall looking at different ways
that we can improve our service.
Every system operates a servicefrom end to end, but we've been
(13:55):
introducing new technology tobe able to refine our service.
It's a complicated system and whena switch takes an extra 15 to 20
seconds to operate on every differentswitch move, and it operates 4-
or 500 times a day, that adds up.
It amounts to more time thatyou're gonna lose in your service.
(14:16):
And so literally looking down to theminute aspects, the minute forms of how
we provide service and looking for waysto improve upon them each, if you can
gain five, six seconds and every singleinstance, you can improve service.
And that's one of the things thatwe've been doing on subway side
to be able to improve our service.
On the bus side, we just rolled outthe Queen's bus network redesign.
(14:38):
Which is a huge new system.
How we can look at the routesthat our buses are taking.
They were still built on the oldtrolley system from years ago.
Neighborhoods have changed.
Where there were farms, younow have tenements and large
locations, homes, and everything.
And so we haven't changed over the yearsto be able to really support our riders.
(15:00):
So we did the largest, busnetwork redesign, I'm gonna
say in our history for sure.
For 700,000 riders ofQueens it's a lot of work.
I mean, changing their routes so thatyou could have more direct routes to
connecting points to subway systems.
We created what's called a rushroute, where some of our longer lines
(15:23):
will have a couple of stops, 5, 6,7 stops in some of the longer areas.
And then come straight into the city.
Listening to customers andthen focusing our redesign to
be able to meet their needs.
So, it was a really challengingway of looking at things which
we had not done in the past.
You know, sometimes we just, thinkwe know what's best, but we really
(15:44):
gotta include our customers.
I'd say the second thing thatI've been focused on is protecting
and supporting our employees.
We have a lot of employeeassaults, and so focusing on how
do we protect those employees?
What relationships do we have to have withNYPD, protecting specific areas, what can
we do infrastructure wise to support them?
(16:05):
That's been a huge, huge support of me.
Again, having worked side by side withthese individuals, it's important for me
to see that they're safe in their jobs.
The third thing has beenhardening the system.
We had probably the largest fare evasionissue, probably in North America.
And we averaged somewhere aroundwhat we forecasted to be somewhere
(16:27):
around $700 million in revenue loss.
And so, really targeting effortsto be able to look at all of the
different indicators, specificareas that we are losing fares
and to target them one by one.
And, introduced Eagle teams on ourbuses to reduce fare evasion on buses.
(16:49):
We've done a host of infrastructurechanges in our subway system to be
able to improve fare compliance,and all in all, we've had a huge,
huge reduction in fare evasion.
I think on the subway side, wereduced about 27% of fare evasion.
It's huge to be able to getthat much, but it increases how
customers see us and what we do.
(17:11):
And the last thing I would say,it's certainly not the least, but
it's improving customer service.
When you have a huge system likethis, sometimes you're just like,
listen, we're the only game in town.
You just need to get in line.
But that's not my perspective.
We really need to do a better jobof listening to customers, hearing
their concerns, their complaints, andthen being more supportive of them.
(17:34):
So we've rolled out acouple different things.
One, getting stationagents out of the booth.
That was a huge, huge stepforward in being able to
engage people where they are.
Helping them directly with the systems.
And then introducing customer servicecenters where a person used to have
all of the major work that you'dhave to come all the way down to
2 Stone Street in Manhattan to beseen to get a reduced fare card.
(17:59):
But you know, now having theability to service these people at
customer service centers has beena huge, huge shift in the culture.
We introduced 15 of them, abouta year ago, and now we're looking
at rolling out another 15.
Changing how we trained people sothat they could better support our
customers, giving them different toolsso they can have more information.
(18:22):
Giving them cell phones with apps oncustomer service, different languages.
Apps on service, service strategies,like giving them the tools to
be able to do better at customerservice with our customers.
It really has been about focusingon how do we, even though we're so
big, how do we focus on providingbetter service for our customers?
(18:43):
That's awesome.
What about, you mentioned thecustomer service thing, down here
in Maryland, I'm reading the NewYork Post and it's a lot of stories
about crime and stuff on the system.
Can you give us an update of what you'redoing there to address the concerns?
Yeah, so we don't have a policeforce for New York City Transit.
The NYPD has a transit force, whichChief Gullota is the lead for.
(19:07):
I mean with Chief Gulotta on arecurring basis to talk through
different concerns, issues that we have.
And so for us it reallyis about partnership.
Talking to them about some of thetrends that we're seeing, not just for
customers but for our employees as well.
Talking about the incidents wherewe're seeing assaults on the rise,
(19:29):
talking about instances where we'reseeing a higher number of vagrants.
One of the things that we rolled out wasa scout program, which is a combination
of a mental health provider and aMTA police or NYPD, and they have the
ability to be able to take someone toget the help that they need, even in
(19:50):
the instances where they don't want it.
Which is a huge change from us to beable to help people who need the help.
But I would say for our part,for New York City Transit, since
I've been here we've installedcameras in all of our train cars.
All of our train cars, multiple cameras.
So, even in our stations we havecameras in all of our stations.
So telling customers, listen, thisis not your old transit system where
(20:16):
there were so many blind spots.
All of these guys who have committedthese crimes, they're getting caught.
The NYPD has been responsiveposting posters up of these
individuals and they get them.
99% of the time.
And then it really does rely on the courtsystem to be able to take the next steps.
And so the MTA hired a criminal justiceadvisor and she's been fantastic in being
(20:43):
able to deal directly with the ADAs.
Kathryn Falasca has been a bigproponent of tracking incidents.
This person assaulted a customer,this person assaulted an employee.
When's the next hearing onthat individual, who needs
to be there to support it.
And so it's been, a hugeeffort to be able to fight.
(21:03):
This is not one of the ones whereyou actually declare victory.
You continue to fight thisuntil your career is over.
It's, it's, yeah, it doesn't go away.
So what is exciting you, what'sthe most, you know, innovation or
technology that you're most excitedabout deploying in the system next?
I will say it's not new, new,but CBTC, Communications Based
Train Control, is new for us.
(21:24):
We have two lines fully with itnow and we're rolling out more.
Most systems, and I'll say our system aswell, we were really adverse to change.
And so when we first rolled outCBTC, we did it as a signal overlay.
It's literally on top ofour existing signal system.
And so the systems are fully functioning.
(21:47):
I mean, throughout the worldCBTC has been kind of established
as the future of our signaling.
So that's the way we've been going.
You know, since I've taken the lead,we have been saying like, we're
going to get rid of the conventionalsignal systems and focus more on
Communications Based Train Control.
But I've taken that sameperspective on other areas.
(22:09):
So we're just, we just created a team now.
Everyone has what they do well, right?
You buy this switch because, you know,you work with this manufacturer for the
last 20, 30 years, and everyone has thatsame thing, whether it's a switch, a piece
of signal equipment, it's a converter,it's an inverter, it's whatever it is.
(22:30):
It's that thing that we've always doneand, you know, so we created a team.
We have a benchmarking team that talks tothe industry and says, internationally,
what are you doing for this?
What are you doing towork on this challenge?
Now we just expanded that to includea group that will go out there
and see what is your best widget?
(22:50):
What is your best switch?
What is your best inverter, converter.
What are the things that youbenefit from in your car classes?
What bus manufacturers areyou doing really well with?
Are there pieces of safetythat you've been using that
have benefited your employees?
Having a group go out there and say,what are the best things that are being
done in the system and how can we bringthem back to New York City Transit?
(23:13):
Doesn't mean that everything will be ableto be accepted, but at least having the
mechanism in place that goes out thereand looks at that and then determines
whether or not it can be included.
So I'm excited about beingable to affect change.
It's funny because this positionhas always been a one, two,
maybe three year position.
(23:35):
And you know, when you have a reallyshort turnaround like that, it's hard to
be more strategic on where you need to.
You're not really, you'refocused on like today, right?
There's always gonna be emergencieslike, so you always get bogged
down with the emergencies.
But it doesn't give youthe time to be strategic.
I am a career employee and so I have time.
It does give me the opportunity tosay, listen, where would I like to
(23:58):
see the organization five years?
Where would I like to seeit 10 years down the line?
What is the trajectory?
How do we put that on theright trajectory to get there?
Yeah.
I may not see it 10, 15, 20 years downthe line, but I will have the time to
be able to put in to get it there, tobe able to put it on that trajectory.
So tell us, what would you liketo see in five or 10 years?
(24:19):
Do you have it thought out?
Absolutely.
So, I'm coming up on my one yearanniversary in October, and what I'll
be laying out is over the next twoyears, the things that I'd like to
accomplish or set in motion, and a lotof it is on the capital side, right?
Yeah.
We now have this capital program thatwe just introduced, which is exciting,
(24:40):
but it's on us to deliver, right?
And we have to deliver that withouthaving an impact to our customers and
giving the true benefit intended for it.
Get a substation thatcomes in new substation.
Fantastic.
You haven't replaced any of thecables tied to the substation.
When there's a power outage, you'regonna say just change the substation.
So being able to introduce functionalsystems so that each time you introduce
(25:05):
something that's set to improve ourservice, being able to put check
that one off as a new accomplishment.
I'm excited.
So I think working through thelong-term issues of how do we best
serve tomorrow for our customers, isa really exciting thing for me and
ultimately being able to put my stakein as one of the, if not the premier
(25:25):
presidents of New York City Transit.
So, and that's what congestioncharge is about, right?
I mean, a lot of people hear aboutcongestion charging, they don't understand
the money's going to capital, righ?
Rich Davey told me that when he wasthere, when it was first getting
going, I remember I interviewed himlike at APTA or something like that,
and I didn't even know it then.
He said, oh yeah, all themoney's going into capital.
Yeah.
And I think most people, they reallyfocused on the funding, right?
(25:49):
Yeah, the funding on capital.
But the reality is it has ahuge benefit to our customers.
Bus service has sped up considerablysince we introduced congestion pricing
because less people are driving.
And so the buses, we have some busesthat have picked up five to seven minutes
worth of time coming into the citysince we introduced congestion pricing.
(26:09):
And those who continue to still ride,even their commutes are now better
because there are less cars on the road.
So ultimately, there are huge benefitsfor the region, not to mention clean air,
the fact that we're a congested system.
Unless you've lived in New York,you have no idea what noise is.
But it is amazing to be ableto hear a different New York,
(26:31):
especially at nighttime.
It's pretty amazing.
Alright.
One final fun question.
What's one thing you wish more peopleunderstood about the complexity
of running New York City Transit?
So I think most people see thefront facing employees, they see
conductors, bus operators, they seecustomer service station agents.
(26:55):
But they have no idea thelevel of expertise that goes
into running the system.
Our drainage system, for example,we take on 18, 17 million gallons
of water, a day when it's dry out.
Mm-hmm.
Now to be able to maintain a systemthat is not only free flowing so that
(27:17):
the water can go to the drains, butalso big pumping mechanisms to be able
to pump this water out into the sewersystem, is a huge task that no one
even knows happens behind the scenes.
When you talk about substations,no one knows what it's like to
maintain or operate a substation.
They have no idea.
When we talk about our car barns.
(27:38):
Nobody wants to replace it, a barn, right?
They say, oh, we want new cars, butwhy do you have to replace the barn?
Well, that barn doesn't have ceilingheights tall enough to be able to
repair the air compressors on the cars.
There is not enough space for an employeeto work safely in between the two
cars, much less get under the train.
So being able to look at how do we affectthis system and having our customers see
(28:04):
that it's not just a simple as the frontfacing employees, it's like a watch.
There's a whole host of things thatare going on behind the scenes,
and all you see is the time of day.
I love that analogy, Demetrius.
That's really good.
Yeah.
So they're just looking at the driveron their bus, not understanding
that that's the tip of the icebergwould be underneath the surface.
A lot going on to make it happen, huh?
(28:25):
Absolutely.
Well, great talking to the guy who's atthe very top of the iceberg, making it
happen, and it's wonderful that you evenknow all this because you came up through
the organization, so you know the placesto look and where we need the support.
Thank you so much again foryour time today, Demetrius,
and we wish you the very best.
I'm hoping I've been talking to yourmedia department about coming up there
and actually filming an episode of TransitUnplugged TV there next year to show them.
(28:49):
Maybe we can get into there, into asubstation and you can show us or one of
your guys can, you know, look at that.
See, we gotta keep thatrunning all day long.
I'd love, love to have you.
Love to have you.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Well, thank you so much for being withus and we wish you the best, Demetrius.
Thank you so much.
Good chating with you.
Thank you for listening to this week'sepisode of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.
(29:11):
We're so glad you're here.
My name is Julie Gates.
I'm the executive producer of theshow, and our goal is to create
programs that promote the great thingsgoing on in the transit industry
by providing you with behind thescenes access with industry executive
leadership so we can work together tofind innovative industry solutions.
We would love to have you be a partof the Transit Unplugged community by
(29:32):
having you sign up for our newsletter.
Head to the show notes to find the link.
Thanks for listening to Transit Unpluggedwith Paul Comfort, our favorite transit
evangelist, and we'll catch you next week.
Thanks for tuning in.
Super September is here on TransitUnplugged, and we're kicking it
off in a big way in New York City.
I'm Paul Comfort, and today I'mtalking with Demetrius Critchlow.
He is the president of NewYork City Transit, the largest
transit system in America.
It's a system so essential that themajority of New Yorkers rely on public
(00:22):
transportation every day to live,work, and connect in their city.
Demetrius brings decades ofexperience with the MTA to his
role and is about to celebrate hisfirst anniversary as president.
In our conversation, he pulls backthe curtain on what it takes to run an
operation this massive, the challenges andthe triumphs along the way, and the recent
(00:44):
customer experience improvements they'remaking, some of which may surprise you.
He also discusses how they'readdressing crime on the system and
the role of congestion chargingin America's largest city.
Whether you're a transit professional, adaily rider, or just curious about how a
city like New York City keeps moving, thisis an inside look you won't wanna miss.
(01:06):
So let's dive into my conversationwith Demetrius Critchlow,
president of New York City Transit.
Demetrius Critchlow, president of NewYork City Transit at the MTA, the number
one transit agency in America, baby.
Great to have you with us my friend.
Thank you for having me.
Excited to be able to chat.
(01:27):
I read a couple years ago, and I thinkit's still true, 40% of all the rides that
happen in America on public transportationon any given day happen in New York City.
Is that still about right?
Those numbers?
Yeah, that's still about right.
We like to flaunt that.
We are the big dog.
We're the big dog.
Yeah.
Well, tell us about it.
Tell us About the scope of whatyou do there in New York City.
(01:49):
Sure, sure.
So roughly 50,000 employees.
We operate subway, bus,and paratransit service.
Somewhere around 26,27,000 on the subway side.
Somewhere in the 20,000range for the bus side.
And, you know, we have the largestparatransit operation in North America,
(02:12):
and we also have some administrativefunctions that support the operations.
Yeah.
So I just had Justin Vonashekon, he's actually gonna be the
podcast for this coming week.
So tell us about the structure of howit all works in New York, 'cause you
have some commuter work, but you dothe main stuff in the city, right?
As president of New York City Transit.
We are all under the MTA umbrella.
So consolidated functionsfor procurement, HR, budget.
(02:38):
You know, all of the administrativesupport that's not tied to the operations
comes out of the headquarters function.
Okay.
And, we share the reporting agenciesof New York City Transit, Bridges
and Tunnels, Metro North, LongIsland Railroad, and Capital,
Construction and Development.
It's exciting.
We have everything that runs in thecity if it, as long as it's not yellow,
(03:01):
with rubber tires, we kind of handle it.
And, the system itself.
How's it going now?
Just like from a general perspectiveas president, what would you say if
you had to give yourself a reportcard now, how are things going?
I might be a little biased, butyou know, performance is great.
It's been better than it has been sincewe've modernized technology to have
automatic time points for service.
(03:23):
We've been somewhere in the 84, 85%performance range, which is for us a
huge, huge improvement of where we were.
Yeah, man.
It's a challenged system.
I mean, it's a dated systemover a hundred years old.
A lot of infrastructure, thingsthat need to be repaired.
Aging fleet, both onthe rail and bus side.
And, and everything is just large scale.
(03:44):
You know, when you're doing areplacement of a fleet it is a large
scale replacement, so it's justa very, very different beast than
most folks would have to deal with.
And again, we are doing great.
Doesn't mean that we can't do better.
Our paratransit operation has,without question, been one of the
shining stars, doing a fantasticjob of supplying services, in ways
(04:05):
that many thought were not possible.
And has achieved an amazingcustomer satisfaction score
as a result of doing it.
Oh, that's wonderful.
I was working in DC for five yearsfor MV running their paratransit
system about 15 years ago.
And that's such a critical part.
I thought we were big with8,000 trips or 10,000 a day.
You've got 35, man.
(04:25):
Amazing.
Yeah.
So talk to us about your background.
I mean, you've had an amazingbackground to work your way up to this.
Give us your origin story.
Yeah, so I started as an assistant signalmaintainer at the Long Island Railroad.
28 years ago.
I was literally climbing poles, runningfiber optic cable, digging ditches,
working on crossing gates and then tookprogressive opportunities to improve.
(04:49):
Went to Towers, Dispatcher,went into management.
I've been in management at thecontrol center for, 2 0 4, which
is Jamaica Control Center, PennStation Central Control, and then
I transitioned to MTA headquarters,and then to New York City Transit.
I've worked as the head of fieldoperations for service delivery, a general
(05:11):
manager for service of several lines.
I've been the head of the RailControl Center, which is the largest
control center in North America.
I've been vice president of StatenIsland Railway, Executive Vice
President for operations, seniorVice President leading all Subways.
And then, you know, to thisposition now at transit.
(05:31):
So it's been a long career.
Probably one of the only onesthat have gone through the
organization starting from thebottom level to be able to get here.
So it's great.
I have a history in transit.
My grandfather was a porter, beforethe MTA existed, when transit
used to report up to the city.
(05:53):
And, my father workedhere as a car inspector.
Both retired.
You know, it's in my blood.
It's been exciting to be ableto fulfill a family's legacy
of getting to where I'm now.
That's beautiful.
I love that story, man.
My dad was born in Brooklyn, and whenI was younger he used to tell me, you
know, he used to ride the subway fora nickel, I think it was, and he said
(06:14):
I could ride it all day for a nickel.
New York City really is for America,the New York City MTA, it's the
place where the transit serviceis kind of in your blood, right?
If you grow up there, that's howyou get around the city, right.
Yeah, I mean, the reality is if youlive in the city or any of the boroughs
within the city, your primary means oftransportation is public transportation.
(06:36):
I mean, yeah, there are some ofthe extremes like Queens, some
portions of the Bronx that, thatfolks drive, but the reality is most
folks take public transportation.
I think the last percentage wedid was something like 60% of New
Yorkers take public transportation,which is like, you know,
Yeah.
It's the primary means of transporthere, which means you also have a
(07:01):
big accountability to be service.
When everyone, the entire city, theregion, this huge conglomerate New
York, which is the mega, financialdistrict is relying upon you to
be able to do your duty every day.
So it's a huge task, but excitingto be able to do it every day.
Yeah.
(07:21):
From a personal perspective, having kindof grown up in the system, what's it
mean to you to finally, I mean, to me,the message that sends to the employees
is, Hey, you know, you do a good job,you could end up in the top seat.
I love that message to your employees,but what does it mean to you personally?
Yeah, I mean, so I neverset out to be president.
Yeah.
It was not on the listof things to do here.
(07:42):
I really just wanted to see ifI could do a good job and the
opportunities just continue to grow.
So, it has been personally, a hugething for me again to follow in the
footsteps of my family, my father.
Yeah, my father.
That's huge to be able to accomplish it.
But I think, as an organizationthat is predominantly minority,
it does also show the prospectfor what you're capable of doing.
(08:04):
Sometimes the world isn't fair,but the reality is at New York City
Transit, we really do value diversityand making sure that the people who
have the skillset to do the job arein places to be able to do it well.
That's wonderful.
What a blessing.
So how would you describeyour leadership style?
You've gone through all thesepositions, now you're in the top.
(08:25):
Tell us about that, especially withsuch a large and complex organization.
It's interesting because I think mystyle has changed a lot over the years.
When you start off at the low endedorganization, you do what's necessary
to be successful at that level, and witheach step you take, you have to grow,
you have to change, to be something thatyou weren't in order to be successful.
(08:46):
Most of our organizations arehierarchal and it'll be a position
that that's available to you.
And, generally the next person whogets the job is the next person whether
or not they're the most skilled ornot, it's usually the senior person
that winds up getting the next job.
And so, you know, growing upin that organization you had to
really look for opportunitiesto be able to improve upon that.
(09:09):
I've been really big on confidence.
Finding people with the rightskillset for specific positions.
And in some instances, theyweren't necessarily the person
that has been here the longest.
Sometimes they weren't evenindividuals that were here.
But selecting people specifically fortasks, and I think that has been a
(09:30):
key element to support to my success.
My leadership, I gave you a briefdescription of the positions I had.
I think I've had somewhere in arange of 19 or 20 positions in
Wow.
I have been here.
And so I believe firmly that themore a person is exposed to an
organization, the more ability thatthey get to be able to see different
(09:53):
parts of the operation, get challenged,that strengthens you as a leader.
And so I've been really big abouttaking the team and pushing them,
throwing 'em into different areasthat they've never led before.
Which is different for sometimeslike for people because, you start an
organization, you kind of expect, like,this is my skillset, so I'm gonna stay
in these barriers, but in order for theorganization to grow, especially when you
(10:15):
get to those senior levels of leadership,you need to challenge people to do more,
to hone their skills, to take on moreand different types of experiences.
So, taking folks that have neverset a day in a bus garage and
moving them over to buses fromsubways, it's like a huge change.
Sending people who worked at New York CityTransit over the Staten Island Railway,
(10:37):
which is a completely different system.
Different rules, differentunions, different agreements,
like challenging people to expandtheir mind and their horizon.
So that's really been a huge,part of my leadership and I think,
you know, with that, we've reallygrown the management team, and we
continue to grow the management team.
I would say I'm really big onrespect, within the organization,
(11:00):
but earning the respect.
Uh, yeah.
And having worked in the operations,seeing a lot of the faces that are
out there working right now, youearn the respect of people 'cause
you stood with them in the trenches.
You were there for the derailments.
You were there through the snow storms.
You were there through thehurricanes, through flooding.
You were there.
And so you earned the respect of thepeople when you stand shoulder to shoulder
(11:21):
with them, tackling these major events.
And so I've always encouragedthe team get out in the field.
We have days set aside, no meetings,that your job for that day as a leader
is to be out in the field, engaging yourpeople, speaking to people, communicating
with them, finding out what theirissues are, being there to be able to
(11:41):
support your operation to be successful.
So it's been a big, big part for me.
Yeah.
That's awesome, man.
I love that because too often, I thinkespecially in bigger organizations,
people end up managing kind of by theirlaptop or managing by email, right.
If you're not out there in the field,I mean, you just said it, right?
Not only is the respect, it's alsothe knowledge that you gain that
(12:02):
you can't get unless you're there.
Really there.
Yeah.
And I mean, there is like amazing workthat happens every day out in the field.
And
Sure.
It's my perception, my perspective,that if at the leadership level we
aren't seeing that, then we aren'tdoing our job to really promote it.
To talk about the agency, the people,the support, the needs of those folks.
(12:24):
You cannot do thatunless you understand it.
If you like this episode of theTransit Unplugged Podcast, then you
will love what we have coming up.
We're calling it Super Septemberbecause we're creating an all
star guest lineup just for you.
Let's face it, the world is rapidlychanging and everything is so fast,
(12:45):
and our industry is speeding up.
So in September, the Transit Unpluggedteam is bringing you some of the biggest
voices in the industry from New York,Chicago, maybe even at the federal level.
I don't wanna tip our hand yet.
But you'll get a chance to learn how tomanage all the policy and funding changes,
the post COVID funding fiscal cliff,how to do all of it, and so much more.
(13:07):
If you haven't yet subscribedto the podcast, do it now so you
don't miss a thing when TransitUnplugged brings you Super September.
Subscribe right now before you getdistracted because we know something's
gonna ping or a squirrel will come by,so please subscribe and we'll bring you
some great shows in Super September.
Now back to Paul Comfort and thisepisode of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.
(13:32):
Let's switch to what's happeningright now in the organization.
What are your toppriorities now as president?
So we've tackled a couple things.
We set key things that we're focused on.
One has been modernizing service delivery.
So modernizing service delivery isoverall looking at different ways
that we can improve our service.
Every system operates a servicefrom end to end, but we've been
(13:55):
introducing new technology tobe able to refine our service.
It's a complicated system and whena switch takes an extra 15 to 20
seconds to operate on every differentswitch move, and it operates 4-
or 500 times a day, that adds up.
It amounts to more time thatyou're gonna lose in your service.
(14:16):
And so literally looking down to theminute aspects, the minute forms of how
we provide service and looking for waysto improve upon them each, if you can
gain five, six seconds and every singleinstance, you can improve service.
And that's one of the things thatwe've been doing on subway side
to be able to improve our service.
On the bus side, we just rolled outthe Queen's bus network redesign.
(14:38):
Which is a huge new system.
How we can look at the routesthat our buses are taking.
They were still built on the oldtrolley system from years ago.
Neighborhoods have changed.
Where there were farms, younow have tenements and large
locations, homes, and everything.
And so we haven't changed over the yearsto be able to really support our riders.
(15:00):
So we did the largest, busnetwork redesign, I'm gonna
say in our history for sure.
For 700,000 riders ofQueens it's a lot of work.
I mean, changing their routes so thatyou could have more direct routes to
connecting points to subway systems.
We created what's called a rushroute, where some of our longer lines
(15:23):
will have a couple of stops, 5, 6,7 stops in some of the longer areas.
And then come straight into the city.
Listening to customers andthen focusing our redesign to
be able to meet their needs.
So, it was a really challengingway of looking at things which
we had not done in the past.
You know, sometimes we just, thinkwe know what's best, but we really
(15:44):
gotta include our customers.
I'd say the second thing thatI've been focused on is protecting
and supporting our employees.
We have a lot of employeeassaults, and so focusing on how
do we protect those employees?
What relationships do we have to have withNYPD, protecting specific areas, what can
we do infrastructure wise to support them?
(16:05):
That's been a huge, huge support of me.
Again, having worked side by side withthese individuals, it's important for me
to see that they're safe in their jobs.
The third thing has beenhardening the system.
We had probably the largest fare evasionissue, probably in North America.
And we averaged somewhere aroundwhat we forecasted to be somewhere
(16:27):
around $700 million in revenue loss.
And so, really targeting effortsto be able to look at all of the
different indicators, specificareas that we are losing fares
and to target them one by one.
And, introduced Eagle teams on ourbuses to reduce fare evasion on buses.
(16:49):
We've done a host of infrastructurechanges in our subway system to be
able to improve fare compliance,and all in all, we've had a huge,
huge reduction in fare evasion.
I think on the subway side, wereduced about 27% of fare evasion.
It's huge to be able to getthat much, but it increases how
customers see us and what we do.
(17:11):
And the last thing I would say,it's certainly not the least, but
it's improving customer service.
When you have a huge system likethis, sometimes you're just like,
listen, we're the only game in town.
You just need to get in line.
But that's not my perspective.
We really need to do a better jobof listening to customers, hearing
their concerns, their complaints, andthen being more supportive of them.
(17:34):
So we've rolled out acouple different things.
One, getting stationagents out of the booth.
That was a huge, huge stepforward in being able to
engage people where they are.
Helping them directly with the systems.
And then introducing customer servicecenters where a person used to have
all of the major work that you'dhave to come all the way down to
2 Stone Street in Manhattan to beseen to get a reduced fare card.
(17:59):
But you know, now having theability to service these people at
customer service centers has beena huge, huge shift in the culture.
We introduced 15 of them, abouta year ago, and now we're looking
at rolling out another 15.
Changing how we trained people sothat they could better support our
customers, giving them different toolsso they can have more information.
(18:22):
Giving them cell phones with apps oncustomer service, different languages.
Apps on service, service strategies,like giving them the tools to
be able to do better at customerservice with our customers.
It really has been about focusingon how do we, even though we're so
big, how do we focus on providingbetter service for our customers?
(18:43):
That's awesome.
What about, you mentioned thecustomer service thing, down here
in Maryland, I'm reading the NewYork Post and it's a lot of stories
about crime and stuff on the system.
Can you give us an update of what you'redoing there to address the concerns?
Yeah, so we don't have a policeforce for New York City Transit.
The NYPD has a transit force, whichChief Gullota is the lead for.
(19:07):
I mean with Chief Gulotta on arecurring basis to talk through
different concerns, issues that we have.
And so for us it reallyis about partnership.
Talking to them about some of thetrends that we're seeing, not just for
customers but for our employees as well.
Talking about the incidents wherewe're seeing assaults on the rise,
(19:29):
talking about instances where we'reseeing a higher number of vagrants.
One of the things that we rolled out wasa scout program, which is a combination
of a mental health provider and aMTA police or NYPD, and they have the
ability to be able to take someone toget the help that they need, even in
(19:50):
the instances where they don't want it.
Which is a huge change from us to beable to help people who need the help.
But I would say for our part,for New York City Transit, since
I've been here we've installedcameras in all of our train cars.
All of our train cars, multiple cameras.
So, even in our stations we havecameras in all of our stations.
So telling customers, listen, thisis not your old transit system where
(20:16):
there were so many blind spots.
All of these guys who have committedthese crimes, they're getting caught.
The NYPD has been responsiveposting posters up of these
individuals and they get them.
99% of the time.
And then it really does rely on the courtsystem to be able to take the next steps.
And so the MTA hired a criminal justiceadvisor and she's been fantastic in being
(20:43):
able to deal directly with the ADAs.
Kathryn Falasca has been a bigproponent of tracking incidents.
This person assaulted a customer,this person assaulted an employee.
When's the next hearing onthat individual, who needs
to be there to support it.
And so it's been, a hugeeffort to be able to fight.
(21:03):
This is not one of the ones whereyou actually declare victory.
You continue to fight thisuntil your career is over.
It's, it's, yeah, it doesn't go away.
So what is exciting you, what'sthe most, you know, innovation or
technology that you're most excitedabout deploying in the system next?
I will say it's not new, new,but CBTC, Communications Based
Train Control, is new for us.
(21:24):
We have two lines fully with itnow and we're rolling out more.
Most systems, and I'll say our system aswell, we were really adverse to change.
And so when we first rolled outCBTC, we did it as a signal overlay.
It's literally on top ofour existing signal system.
And so the systems are fully functioning.
(21:47):
I mean, throughout the worldCBTC has been kind of established
as the future of our signaling.
So that's the way we've been going.
You know, since I've taken the lead,we have been saying like, we're
going to get rid of the conventionalsignal systems and focus more on
Communications Based Train Control.
But I've taken that sameperspective on other areas.
(22:09):
So we're just, we just created a team now.
Everyone has what they do well, right?
You buy this switch because, you know,you work with this manufacturer for the
last 20, 30 years, and everyone has thatsame thing, whether it's a switch, a piece
of signal equipment, it's a converter,it's an inverter, it's whatever it is.
(22:30):
It's that thing that we've always doneand, you know, so we created a team.
We have a benchmarking team that talks tothe industry and says, internationally,
what are you doing for this?
What are you doing towork on this challenge?
Now we just expanded that to includea group that will go out there
and see what is your best widget?
(22:50):
What is your best switch?
What is your best inverter, converter.
What are the things that youbenefit from in your car classes?
What bus manufacturers areyou doing really well with?
Are there pieces of safetythat you've been using that
have benefited your employees?
Having a group go out there and say,what are the best things that are being
done in the system and how can we bringthem back to New York City Transit?
(23:13):
Doesn't mean that everything will be ableto be accepted, but at least having the
mechanism in place that goes out thereand looks at that and then determines
whether or not it can be included.
So I'm excited about beingable to affect change.
It's funny because this positionhas always been a one, two,
maybe three year position.
(23:35):
And you know, when you have a reallyshort turnaround like that, it's hard to
be more strategic on where you need to.
You're not really, you'refocused on like today, right?
There's always gonna be emergencieslike, so you always get bogged
down with the emergencies.
But it doesn't give youthe time to be strategic.
I am a career employee and so I have time.
It does give me the opportunity tosay, listen, where would I like to
(23:58):
see the organization five years?
Where would I like to seeit 10 years down the line?
What is the trajectory?
How do we put that on theright trajectory to get there?
Yeah.
I may not see it 10, 15, 20 years downthe line, but I will have the time to
be able to put in to get it there, tobe able to put it on that trajectory.
So tell us, what would you liketo see in five or 10 years?
(24:19):
Do you have it thought out?
Absolutely.
So, I'm coming up on my one yearanniversary in October, and what I'll
be laying out is over the next twoyears, the things that I'd like to
accomplish or set in motion, and a lotof it is on the capital side, right?
Yeah.
We now have this capital program thatwe just introduced, which is exciting,
(24:40):
but it's on us to deliver, right?
And we have to deliver that withouthaving an impact to our customers and
giving the true benefit intended for it.
Get a substation thatcomes in new substation.
Fantastic.
You haven't replaced any of thecables tied to the substation.
When there's a power outage, you'regonna say just change the substation.
So being able to introduce functionalsystems so that each time you introduce
(25:05):
something that's set to improve ourservice, being able to put check
that one off as a new accomplishment.
I'm excited.
So I think working through thelong-term issues of how do we best
serve tomorrow for our customers, isa really exciting thing for me and
ultimately being able to put my stakein as one of the, if not the premier
(25:25):
presidents of New York City Transit.
So, and that's what congestioncharge is about, right?
I mean, a lot of people hear aboutcongestion charging, they don't understand
the money's going to capital, righ?
Rich Davey told me that when he wasthere, when it was first getting
going, I remember I interviewed himlike at APTA or something like that,
and I didn't even know it then.
He said, oh yeah, all themoney's going into capital.
Yeah.
And I think most people, they reallyfocused on the funding, right?
(25:49):
Yeah, the funding on capital.
But the reality is it has ahuge benefit to our customers.
Bus service has sped up considerablysince we introduced congestion pricing
because less people are driving.
And so the buses, we have some busesthat have picked up five to seven minutes
worth of time coming into the citysince we introduced congestion pricing.
(26:09):
And those who continue to still ride,even their commutes are now better
because there are less cars on the road.
So ultimately, there are huge benefitsfor the region, not to mention clean air,
the fact that we're a congested system.
Unless you've lived in New York,you have no idea what noise is.
But it is amazing to be ableto hear a different New York,
(26:31):
especially at nighttime.
It's pretty amazing.
Alright.
One final fun question.
What's one thing you wish more peopleunderstood about the complexity
of running New York City Transit?
So I think most people see thefront facing employees, they see
conductors, bus operators, they seecustomer service station agents.
(26:55):
But they have no idea thelevel of expertise that goes
into running the system.
Our drainage system, for example,we take on 18, 17 million gallons
of water, a day when it's dry out.
Mm-hmm.
Now to be able to maintain a systemthat is not only free flowing so that
(27:17):
the water can go to the drains, butalso big pumping mechanisms to be able
to pump this water out into the sewersystem, is a huge task that no one
even knows happens behind the scenes.
When you talk about substations,no one knows what it's like to
maintain or operate a substation.
They have no idea.
When we talk about our car barns.
(27:38):
Nobody wants to replace it, a barn, right?
They say, oh, we want new cars, butwhy do you have to replace the barn?
Well, that barn doesn't have ceilingheights tall enough to be able to
repair the air compressors on the cars.
There is not enough space for an employeeto work safely in between the two
cars, much less get under the train.
So being able to look at how do we affectthis system and having our customers see
(28:04):
that it's not just a simple as the frontfacing employees, it's like a watch.
There's a whole host of things thatare going on behind the scenes,
and all you see is the time of day.
I love that analogy, Demetrius.
That's really good.
Yeah.
So they're just looking at the driveron their bus, not understanding
that that's the tip of the icebergwould be underneath the surface.
A lot going on to make it happen, huh?
(28:25):
Absolutely.
Well, great talking to the guy who's atthe very top of the iceberg, making it
happen, and it's wonderful that you evenknow all this because you came up through
the organization, so you know the placesto look and where we need the support.
Thank you so much again foryour time today, Demetrius,
and we wish you the very best.
I'm hoping I've been talking to yourmedia department about coming up there
and actually filming an episode of TransitUnplugged TV there next year to show them.
(28:49):
Maybe we can get into there, into asubstation and you can show us or one of
your guys can, you know, look at that.
See, we gotta keep thatrunning all day long.
I'd love, love to have you.
Love to have you.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Well, thank you so much for being withus and we wish you the best, Demetrius.
Thank you so much.
Good chating with you.
Thank you for listening to this week'sepisode of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.
(29:11):
We're so glad you're here.
My name is Julie Gates.
I'm the executive producer of theshow, and our goal is to create
programs that promote the great thingsgoing on in the transit industry
by providing you with behind thescenes access with industry executive
leadership so we can work together tofind innovative industry solutions.
We would love to have you be a partof the Transit Unplugged community by
(29:32):
having you sign up for our newsletter.
Head to the show notes to find the link.
Thanks for listening to Transit Unpluggedwith Paul Comfort, our favorite transit
evangelist, and we'll catch you next week.
Thanks for tuning in.
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