Episode Transcript
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Paul Comfort (00:05):
This is Transit Unplugged.
I'm Paul Comfort.
On today's episode of theTransit Unplugged podcast, we
talk about some of the hottesttopics in public transportation.
And.
They are written in a book called TheNew Future of Public Transportation,
which I put together with 30 of myfriends and leaders of top transit
agencies, consultants, and experts in thetechnology field from around the world.
(00:28):
The book is out now.
It is The New Future of PublicTransportation, basically the next
phase of my The book I wrote a fewyears ago, before the pandemic, called
The Future of Public Transportation,and Society of Automotive Engineers
reached out to me about nine monthsto a year ago and asked me if I would
be interested in writing an updatedversion, kind of a post pandemic version.
What are the hot topics now?
(00:48):
You know, new things that we weren'treally talking a lot about before.
Back then, cybersecurity, AI drivenadvancements, hydrogen fuel buses,
infrastructure challenges, workforceshortages, all of those things.
And so I accepted and invited these30 top leaders from around the world
to write on five topics, people,modal futures, zero emission vehicles,
data, funding and faring, and forone extra bonus, geographic futures.
(01:10):
later on in the podcast at the end,I'll go through each of them and what
their chapters are about, but this,as an intro, is an exciting time to
talk about these important issues.
On today's episode of the podcast,I, spent some time talking to two
of the guests who wrote in the book.
first is Dr.
Karen Philbrick, a friend ofmine, and executive director
Mineta Transportation Institute.
(01:31):
She wrote about cybersecurity, workforceshortages, operator mental health,
rebuilding ridership, safety in transit.
She talks about that on aninterview right after this opening.
Then after that, we hear from PaigeMalott, who is a high speed rail
researcher with the InternationalUnion of Railways and a consultant
with her own company P7 Strategies.
this is one of the hottest topics.
(01:52):
You know, we just had BrightlineTrains, break ground on the
Southern California, kind of L.
A.
to Las Vegas route they're going to have
so, it's on the mindsof people here in the U.
S., and of course, they really know howto do this well in Europe and Asia, and
she's seen half the rail systems in theworld, and talks about them on today's
(02:14):
podcast on the second part of the show.
And then on the third part, as Imentioned, we'll dive a little bit
into all the other, contributors tothe book and what their topics are.
It's a great day to celebrate thenew future of public transportation.
Now let's join my conversation with Dr.
Philbrick.
Great to have Dr.
Karen Philbrick with us as ourfirst guest on today's podcast.
(02:34):
Karen's a good friend of mine andExecutive Director of the Minetta
Transportation Institute, one ofthe top think tanks and study groups
in the country and the world whenit comes to public transportation.
Dr.
Philbrick, thank you so muchfor being with us tonight.
Karen Philbrick (02:47):
Thank you for having
me and thank you for your leadership
in putting together this book.
It's an indispensable resource fortransportation professionals and
people just interested in our sector.
You are phenomenal.
Thank you, Paul.
Paul Comfort (03:00):
Oh, thanks, Karen.
That's great.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah, the book is exciting.
And as we record this today on May Day,May 1st, the book has rocketed to number
one, Even before, today was supposed tobe the launch day, which is why we're
recording today, but Amazon put it outa little early, and it already went
to number one in multiple categories.
So very exciting, and I'm sure yourchapter is one of the big reasons why I
(03:21):
care, which is why I wanted you on theshow today, because you cover probably
more topics than anybody else in the book.
there are 30 chapters written by 30different individuals, mine is on people,
leadership and stuff, but your chapterreally digs into five hot topics, which
I know people are going to want to knowthe latest about, because you all have
done a lot of studies on these, and youhave some personal, knowledge about some
(03:44):
of these topics I think that'll be veryinteresting, and they are cyber security,
workforce shortages, operator mentalhealth, assaults on transit, overall
safety, and then rebuilding ridership.
You think we can diginto some of them today?
Karen Philbrick (03:56):
I think we
can, and I think we should.
Paul Comfort (03:58):
Yeah, good.
You know, I was just out in theMidwest part of the country with a
CEO, and he told me they just hada ransomware attack, and they had
just worked their way through it.
They didn't pay the ransom, but itwas very difficult, very challenging.
I actually did a presentation withhim, and his laptop was shut down.
He couldn't do anything.
He lost the presentation.
It was, you know, it's, that's smallpotatoes compared to what really
(04:20):
happens, but it has a big effect,doesn't it, on a transit agency.
Karen Philbrick (04:23):
Absolutely, it affects
every level of the transit agency
and potentially the riding public.
I mean, Paul, when we talk aboutour systems, cybersecurity has
to be a part of the conversation.
I mean, you've read the news yourselfthat multiple transit agencies over
the last 5 or 6 years have beenimpacted, not only here in California,
but even the systems in New YorkCity and everywhere in between.
(04:46):
Not only does it disrupt service, Itcan actually have a negative impact
on people's safety and viabilityif there is some sort of breach.
And I think the main takeaway,particularly that I'd like to emphasize is
the fact that 80 to 90% of cybersecuritybreaches are the result of staff members
(05:06):
who unknowingly open up malware orransomware within their own emails.
So having that IT security tips,training on such issues is absolutely
important to the well being and seamlessconnection of all of our systems.
Paul Comfort (05:21):
That's great.
That's good advice.
I know a lot of agenciesare working on that.
You know, I've talked to some seniorIT people in big companies and transit
agencies recently, and they told methey're literally getting thousands
of attacks every day against their,you know, they're just being hit
from, sometimes, you know, foreigncountries, it's coming from them, etc.
And so it's so important tokeep those security measures up.
Karen Philbrick (05:43):
And to make
sure that you are downloading
any of the different patches andother things that are happening.
But really, Paul, we need to trainpeople that when they get an email that
has a really cute dog or a cute cat orsomething else they're interested in,
good God, don't open it, move right along.
And, and, you know, that's talkingabout more of the software, if
you will, and the people focus.
(06:03):
I want to give one example,and this was in 2018 with the
Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART.
Prior to the pandemic, it wasthe fifth busiest passenger
rail system in the nation.
It's here in the Bay Area specifically,but in 2018, they found that 86%
of 1000 hardware devices, 86%.
(06:24):
That Cisco had supplied to them, containedhidden back doors on the devices that
sent information to foreign nationalsthat are hostile to American interests.
BART did everything right, as soonas they found this, everything
was replaced within 72 hours.
But that's the level ofgranular detail that we need.
We can't just trust what comesfrom suppliers and vendors.
(06:48):
We have to have RFPs and otherpaperwork that are very specific about
some of the technology safeguardsthat are being put into place.
Paul Comfort (06:55):
Wow, that's amazing.
And you guys at the Minetta TransportationInstitute, didn't you just have a
study or something on this topic?
Karen Philbrick (07:01):
Yeah, we've done quite
a few studies on this topic with our
MTI Research Associate, Scott Belcher.
In fact, some of that work hasresulted in congressional testimony.
And really, we tried to identify what wasthe issue within public transportation,
and we worked hand in glove withthe American Public Transportation
Association, commonly known as APTA,to help survey the different transit
(07:22):
agencies to determine where thosehotspots were and what best practices
could be introduced into our sectorto help with any of these issues.
So we continue that line of work.
We are paying very close attention to it.
Paul Comfort (07:35):
That's wonderful.
Let's move on to the next topicthen, which I know is near and
dear to both of our hearts, andthat is workforce shortages.
Post pandemic, a lot of transitagencies have had trouble.
What do you have to say about that?
Karen Philbrick (07:46):
I have more than you
can imagine to say about This is one
of the areas that I am particularlypassionate about, and I want to
just step back for a minute, Paul.
When you gave me the honor and theprivilege of asking me to contribute,
I sat and I thought, what, whatdo I get most passionate about?
What do I think are the big issues?
And workforce shortage was right upthere, because what I always like to
(08:08):
say is transportation touches us all,whether it's how we get from point A to
point B, or whether it's the food we eat.
For The devices we use and in fact someof the latest scientific literature
shows that people who are sociallyisolated have physical health that
can be the equivalent of people whosmoke up to 15 cigarettes a day.
So when you talk about how vitalconnection is, you're obviously
(08:31):
talking about public transportation.
Oh, I have goosebumps.
I just love this.
But we are suffering.
This started before the pandemic.
In fact, in 2019, we at theInstitute did some research.
That documented that shortage,but also reflected the percent
of the workforce that were women.
At that time, it was fewer than 15%.
We have seen some growth in that area, butwe are still woefully underrepresented.
(08:56):
APTA did a recent study thatlooked at workforce shortage.
They found that 96 percent ofagencies reported experiencing
such a shortage and that in manycases, it's impacted operations.
Furthermore, when you look at ourtransit operators, the frontline, the
people are making it happen every day.
Oh, this is, this is scary now.
(09:17):
43 percent of theoperators are 55 or older.
We're talking retirement folks, andwe are competing with every other
sector for that qualified workforce.
So when I think about that, I thinkhow are we going to get people excited?
How interested in joining our ranks?
So at the Institute, we've developedworkforce programs All the way into
(09:37):
preschool, so kids can start learningabout the industry and what exists for
their future, and we need to start young.
If we're starting when people are intheir 20s, we've missed that boat, and
we need to talk about jobs in transit ina different way that really reflects the
power of these positions and the impactthat they have on people's lives, as well
as their communities, and that shortage,last comment that we face, is that It's
(10:00):
from the front line to the C suite.
So we have opportunities acrossthat pipeline, regardless of
what people are interested in.
Paul Comfort (10:08):
I just heard, from Frank
White, in Kansas City recently that, from
the APTA CEO summit that he went to, inSavannah somewhere he got this number
that was announced there that the averageage of a CEO of a transit system is 58.
we're all getting towardthat retirement age.
It's something.
Well, this is good stuff.
That's right.
You've got great informationin the book about it as well.
and you are chapter four, by theway, in the book, right after mine.
(10:31):
I'm three, you're four, we'reright next to each other.
So, we're in the people section, youknow, so it's, Aaron Weinstein talks
about customer experience and I talkabout transportation leadership.
You talk about these workforceshortages, mental health, and then
Daphne LeBlanc talks about the future ofsuccession planning and labor shortages.
It's a great grouping ofchapters there together.
(10:51):
And let's switch into that topicthen for a minute if we could, Dr.
Philbrick, which isoperator mental health.
what are your thoughts on that?
Karen Philbrick (10:57):
I think that
we are not paying close enough
attention to mental health.
I think when we take ourselves out of thetransport sector and think of humanity,
we can never even try to understandwhat another person is experiencing.
And even though we may all present withhappy faces, we might have some serious
trauma that's happening underneath andparticularly in the transportation sector.
(11:20):
which tends to be relatively maledominated that can in times have
more of a machismo sort of culture.
People are not feeling comfortable,safe, or transparent enough to be
able to talk about some of the issuesthat they're really experiencing.
And for me, I'm a psychologistby training, double master's,
PhD, different disciplines.
(11:41):
My entire career hasbeen in transportation.
And so when somethinghappens in our industry, it.
It affects me deeply, not onlyintellectually and cognitively, but
emotionally, and as you might recall,we lost a great person in our industry
in 2022 when CEO Jeff Parker ofMARTA in Atlanta committed suicide by
(12:02):
laying down in front of his own train.
This was a wonderful man.
You've heard me tell this story before.
And nobody knew, including his wife andhis children, how bad he was suffering.
And I can't help but to wonder if we justallowed people a little bit more space.
To be that human and to really talkwith each other to provide that social
(12:22):
support that we would excel all togetherthat everybody would be raised up.
But unfortunately, I don't knowthat transit agencies are spending
the time, the money, or the or theresources to take intentional steps
to address this issue at present.
I do think there's movement in the air.
I do think that people are becomingmore comfortable talking about this,
(12:43):
but we need to get over that hump sothat collectively we can be better.
Paul Comfort (12:47):
That's good.
And then, you know, there's been a lotof talk about, crime on transit, assaults
on transit, you know, in New York City,it seems like every week there's a
story that comes out about somethingterrible that's happened on a platform.
where are we on that, doyou think, in the country?
Karen Philbrick (13:02):
Well, we are
improving, but we have a long
runway to really address this issue.
And I think about what youjust said in terms of assault.
Whether it's assault on the operator orassault on the rider, this is happening.
People being put into experiencesthat may not be comfortable.
And yes, we have trainingon de escalation.
(13:23):
We have some transit agenciesnot having operators do fare
enforcement, for example, whichcan reduce some of that tension.
But still, think about yougoing to your job every day and
wondering if you'll get spit on.
Hit,
kicked, punched, or verbally yelled at.
It's not a comfortable situation.
And if I may just go back.
Many, many years now, I started mycareer looking at operator response to
(13:47):
trauma, particularly person under thetrain incidents, whether that was a
grade crossing accident or a trespasserincident, and in thousands, literally
thousands of interviews I conducted,what emerged Was the profile of being
spat upon being more emotionallydamaging and difficult psychologically
than perhaps having an incident wheresomeone lost their life under the train?
(14:11):
Because, of course, theoperators can't swerve.
They have no control over whathappens, but they are left.
Hostage to watch what happens infront of them and that has a serious
negative emotional impact in some cases.
So, when I think about assault,I think about we can't presume
to know what the impact is onsomeone who's had that experience.
We need to put in more safetymeasures, more safeguards.
(14:34):
And when it comes to ridershipitself, you yourself have likely
read some of the most horrifyingstories of rape and other attacks
that happened on the actual train car.
It's just, it's absolutelydevastating, but we are working
as an industry to overcome that.
We have many, many examples ofhow assault is being addressed,
(14:56):
not only with the operators, buthelping to support the riding public.
In fact, the Institute was codified intolaw through California Senate Bill 1161.
To develop a survey to quantify theissue, because right now you can't
compare apples and oranges, and a smallagency might be recording data in a
different way than a larger agency.
So, get an accurate picture.
(15:17):
We're developing a template for a surveyto document the existence of this,
and then to look at best practicesfor mitigating that experience.
Paul Comfort (15:27):
That's great.
Lastly, let's jump intorebuilding ridership.
The transit world is coming back, and Ithink we're coming back strong, but a lot
of agencies are tapping out at around 7080 percent of their pre pandemic ridership
because we are in a new world now withhybrid work schedules, the three day city.
What are you seeing?
Karen Philbrick (15:45):
Well, I'm seeing it
depends on the area that you live.
So, I'm going to go back towhat I know best, and that's
Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
We have one of the lowest return towork rates in the nation, in large part
because we're in the Silicon Valleyand it's a tech driven economy where
people can do their jobs remotely.
So, what we're seeing is agencieslooking at ridership trends
(16:09):
and changing their service.
Maybe they no longer provide bimodalservice at the peak distribution hours.
Maybe they offer more evening serviceor more weekend service because they're
seeing riders using the system forreasons other than commuting to work.
And I think we need to reallypay close attention to that.
Certainly, we've seen ridershiprebound very strongly on the East
(16:29):
Coast, particularly in Washington, D.
C.
and New York City.
We do see some of our other agenciesstruggling because people are still
working through the cognitive mindset ofthe pandemic and feeling like exposure
might be strong, or they got used tobeing in their own vehicle and have
forgotten the ease, the convenience, thesustainability of using transit instead.
(16:52):
So I think we need to be nimble,we need to be able to pivot, we
need to look at the ridershipnumbers, and we need to adjust to
provide the best service possible.
And in doing so, we'llrebuild that ridership.
Paul Comfort (17:03):
That's good.
I always think aboutwhat Jeremy Yap told me.
He runs Singapore's LTA transit system.
And after the pandemic, he said, you know,the silver lining is I don't have the peak
of the peak of the peak anymore, where Ihave to put all my resources out there.
Now I can spread them out.
And serve more people throughout the day.
And I think, well, like you said, that'swhat a lot of transit agencies have done.
Dr.
(17:23):
Philbrick, thank you so much for beingnot only a part of our podcast today, but
an integral part of our new book, The NewFuture of Public Transportation, talking
even more in depth on all these topics.
Karen Philbrick (17:34):
Thank you for having me.
It was just delightful.
Paul Comfort (17:36):
Thank you so much.
You bet.
What a great interview with Dr.
Karen Philbrick, Executive Director ofthe Minetta Transportation Institute,
where she covered some of the hottesttopics affecting our industry that
she wrote about in my book, The NewFuture of Public Transportation.
Now we interview Paige Malott, whois a high speed rail consultant and
(17:59):
researcher with the International Unionof Railways, and she talks about what's
happening with high speed rail aroundthe world and here in the United States.
Thanks Let's listen in.
Great to have Paige Malott with us today.
She is a high speed rail consultant,a researcher, has her own consulting
firm, P7 Strategies, and has writtenan amazing chapter in my book, and it
(18:21):
is on the future of high speed rail.
Paige, thanks so much for being with ustoday on the podcast to talk about it.
Paige Malott (18:26):
Thanks for having me, Paul.
Glad to be here.
Paul Comfort (18:28):
Yeah, I, you
know, this is one of the hottest
topics, clearly in America rightnow, but also around the world.
In America, people are, know, all aboutBrightline trains right now, right?
Brightline trains in SouthernCalifornia over to Vegas is the latest.
Hot thing, they just did a groundbreaking,I actually got invited to it, uh,
it was just a couple weeks ago,wasn't able to make it, but, so,
higher speed rail, I know that's notreal traditional high speed rail,
(18:50):
is on people's minds here in the U.
S., and you told me, you justcame back from an amazing trip
to Korea, tell me about that.
Paige Malott (18:56):
That's right, yeah,
so I was able to visit Korea, visit
Seoul for their 20th anniversaryof their high speed rail system.
So Korea has the 4th high speed railsystem that opened in the world with their
line running from Seoul to Busan, and theyhad an amazing exhibit with historical
artifacts, with representations of futuretrains, with art projects, and we even
(19:18):
did a tour of the maintenance facility.
I was able to go there with theInternational Union of Railways
and talk about a little bitof research that I'm doing.
On high speed rail stations atairports, so it was a really good time.
great to check it out andhave that firsthand experience
to bring back to the States.
Paul Comfort (19:32):
Yeah.
A long time ago, it might have been, Idon't know, 15 years ago when I was a
county administrator, I did a trip toChina and I got to ride on the real high
speed rail, Maglev, outside of Shanghai.
And I was just so impressed with that.
And then when I was in Baltimore atthe MTA, my boss, the Secretary of
Transportation and the governor went toJapan to ride their high speed railway.
(19:53):
And we had a study going onthat was federally funded to
potentially build in the future.
A high speed rail linebetween Washington, D.
C.
and Baltimore, which would be likea 15 minute ride, and there's still
a group that's doing the study.
but you've been all over the world.
Tell us what's happening with high speedrail around the world, and then we'll
segue to the United States, and you cantell us, why is it taking us so long?
Paige Malott (20:14):
Sure, so I've
had the opportunity to ride and
witness 10 of the 21 high speedrail systems around the world.
That's in Africa, in Asia, and in Europe.
And most recently, just in this pastOctober, Indonesia opened their 1st
high speed rail system, connectingJakarta to Bandung, and that operates
(20:36):
at, it was 320 kilometers per hour,so roughly 200 miles per hour.
miles per hour and true high speed.
So, this line has been wildly popular,similar to what we saw in Morocco,
with the results there, operatingat 200 miles per hour and greater.
That reduced travel times between Jakartaand Bandung in your from roughly 6 hours
(20:58):
by driving down to 40 minutes by train.
So it was, it was a huge success andthey're already looking at expansions.
also looking at Morocco, the linefrom Tangier to Casablanca, that takes
roughly 90 minutes and it was a similarjourney time on conventional rail and
on a car about 5 to 6 hours there.
So it was really game changingtransportation for citizens that has
(21:19):
reduced the need to drive or take anairplane between these destinations.
Paul Comfort (21:24):
is 200 miles per hour
considered the cutoff if you're above
that, your high speed, I mean, whattradition, you know, real high speed?
Paige Malott (21:31):
So, 186 miles per hour is
what the high speed classification is.
And it's also the speed thattrains can compete with air travel.
So what we're looking at is anythinggreater than 106 miles, 186 miles
per hour is high speed rail.
The next step down is 125 to 186is inner city rail, or what we call
(21:54):
in the states higher speed rail,
Paul Comfort (21:55):
and then
Paige Malott (21:56):
anything below
125 is conventional rail.
Paul Comfort (21:59):
Okay, so the Brightline
train in Florida is the higher
speed, but the one they're proposingout west is going to be 200 miles
per hour, so that one would beclassified as a true high speed rail.
So, what are some of thefastest trains in the world?
Do you know?
I mean, how fast are they going?
It seems like the one in ShanghaiI was in was really fast.
Paige Malott (22:17):
Yeah, so China has the
fastest high speed trains in the world.
They also have the most highspeed lines in the world as well.
And these have really changedwhere people can go in the country.
It's serving rural areas, as wellas connecting the bigger cities.
And what we've heard is, uh, theessentially the mayors and the towns are
(22:38):
getting demand from the folks in townsaying, when is the station coming here?
It doesn't matter whatthe size of the town is.
People are excited for it, so it'sreally seeing those game changing
outcomes and connecting places thatare looking for more opportunities.
Paul Comfort (22:51):
Yeah, I like the phrase
here that I've heard used, which is,
high speed rail is great for placeswhere it is too long to drive, but too
close to fly, really, to get out togo, yeah, take any, you know, spend an
hour and a half to get on your airplaneto park, but do your bags and fly.
So, uh, if it's a niche.
Uh, evidently right in that spot.
(23:12):
Why is it, why is it sohard here in America?
I mean, we've got, like I mentioned,in Baltimore, they were studying
this before I got there, which waslike eight, nine years ago, and
they're still studying it today.
Then you've got the California HighSpeed Rail Project, which everyone
still has very high hopes for, but itjust seems to be taking a long time.
In your opinion, Paige, what's going on?
Paige Malott (23:32):
All right, so, you
know, we have the the too short to
fly too long to drive radius, whichis about 500 miles from a city center.
So we're looking at city pairswithin those those radiuses that
could be served by high speed rail.
And we currently have a gap ofthat in America where there may be
existing inner city trains, but.
But they have been underservedand under invested in.
(23:52):
So they're not being utilized by people.
I think a great example of thisis from Chicago to Cincinnati.
We've got a corridor that takes roughly90 minutes to fly, five hours to drive.
And there is an intercity trainbetween these cities, except it takes
nine and a half hours to get there.
The train comes three times.
Wait, wait, it gets better.
(24:12):
Nine and a half hours to get there.
The train comes three times a week.
And it leaves Cincinnatiat 1 in the morning.
Now, these are cities, you know, thathave a population area of, close to
like 1 to 2 million people, right?
And so they're sizable cities,goes through Indianapolis as well.
So, these folks have been historicallyunderserved by inner city rail.
And I think we are looking at howwe can have these game changing
(24:33):
solutions from under investmentin existing passenger rail.
The Brightline West is going to be agreat leading project for that because,
well, everyone, everyone in the States.
It ends up in Las Vegas at some time.
It's a city that attractspeople from everywhere.
You know, it's not necessarily,being somewhere on the coast.
Everyone comes there to have fun.
And I think having a rail line thereconnecting into LA, particularly with the
(24:55):
Olympics coming up, is going to be a greatopportunity for people to see firsthand
what actual high speed rail is in thiscountry and how that can deliver results.
Paul Comfort (25:04):
I know there's a
lot of environmental regulations.
There's people that sue to stop thingsfrom coming through their neighborhood.
These are some of theissues that I've experienced
personally in my previous jobs.
Oh, and, and of course, nowadayseverything is going up in costs and, but
what is taking so long here in the U.
S.?
Why can't we get, you know, a real highspeed above 180 mile per hour train?
Paige Malott (25:23):
I think part of the, the
issue is kind of looking at what we
need to do to implement fast trains.
1 of the rules that we have is that if wehave a grade level crossing, so where cars
intersect with intersect with trains thatwe can't have speeds that that go over.
125 miles an hour.
(25:44):
That's basically the regulation there.
So, so when we're looking tohave trains that are competing
with speeds airplanes, right?
Like, 186 miles an hour trains andhaving those competitive travel times.
We're needing to build gradeseparation for that, and that's
going to cost more money.
So it's going to take a little bitlonger to do, it's going to have
higher infrastructure costs, andthat all takes political will and
(26:08):
business partners and money to do.
And getting all of that lined up takestime, particularly when we haven't had
the generational investments in raillike other countries in Europe have.
But I think we're getting to a pointnow where we're seeing other countries,
such as Morocco, such as Indonesia, Thathave had these projects that were able
to get them off the ground quickly andhave seen the results and it's showing
(26:30):
that as a well resourced country,we should be able to do the same.
Paul Comfort (26:35):
Yeah, I think it requires
sustained political support and that
sometimes is hard to get because we'returning people over in office every two
to four years sometimes and, the pendulum,political pendulum sometimes swings.
So, what do you see as the future?
of high speed rail.
I mean, that is the subjectof your chapter and people
can read about it in the book.
It's available now.
But, uh, what do you think thefuture is in just a few sentences?
Paige Malott (26:57):
The future of high speed
rail, I see, is being incorporated into
other mega projects that we have in theUnited States, incorporating high speed
rail stations at airports, planninghigh speed rail alongside interstate
expansions, and being able to see all ofthese projects and transportation systems
working together instead of in silos.
I believe we're going to have gamechanging opportunities for cities that
(27:19):
have been historically underservedby rail, and it's really going to
bring about a good opportunity forGrowth and traffic congestion and
sustainability in the United States.
Paul Comfort (27:30):
That's great.
I hope your prediction andyour future comes true.
That's great.
Paige Malott thank you so much for beingnot only a part of our podcast today,
but also a contributor to our book, TheNew Future of Public Transportation.
The title of your chapter,which is Chapter 8, is The
Future of High Speed Rail.
Thanks again.
Thanks so much, Paul.
(27:53):
What great interviews today with, , twoof the contributors to the book.
Now I'd like to take a few minutesand share with you the rest of the
contributors to the book and allthe topics that are included in it.
As you know, I've written about abook a year since I left the MTA as
CEO in Baltimore six years ago, andthey've covered all kinds of topics.
My first book was Full Throttle.
(28:13):
Lessons On Leadership.
The next was The Future ofPublic Transportation, which was
the predecessor to this book.
Then it was a children's book and thena book on Conversations on Equity and
Inclusion in Public Transportationwhich was number one on Amazon for
six weeks and then, I did a cookbooklast year featuring recipes and
stories from public transit executivesaround the world called ComfortFood.
(28:37):
In this post COVID world, there'senough changes happening in the transit
industry that it merits and warrantsa new book with new subject matter.
I was able to get 30 top transitand technology leaders from
around the world to write chapterson their areas of expertise.
And man, they're very well writtenchapters from these leading figures from
(28:57):
topics such as hydrogen fueled buses toAI driven advancements to cyber security.
So much has changed in thelast four or five years.
and so it's exciting to have all ofthis information compiled into a book.
It's great for people who are interestedin public transportation, the future of
cities, sustainability, it's focused onthose topics and I want to share with you
(29:18):
some of the people who are in the book.
Actually, I'm going to take a fewminutes and actually walk you through
everyone who wrote in the book becauseI think each of them deserves some
recognition for what they've done.
First off, I was very honored that MarkMiller, wrote the forward to the book.
Mark was one of the people who broughtme to Trapeze at the time, and now
Modaxo, and, he, was the founderof Trapeze, and now is the head of,
(29:38):
Volaris and, still very involved withModaxo and all the work we're doing.
He wrote the forward, and itwas a very nice, kind forward.
He's one of the smartest guys I know, andit was an honor to have him in the book.
And then, Mohammad Mezghaniwrites the first chapter.
He kinda kicks off the book.
Mohammad, as you know, is a CEO.
of the International Transportation Union,known as UITP, and he writes about the
(29:59):
future of public transportation globally.
It's a fantastically writtenchapter that, you need to read.
Then we break the book into sections.
There's a section on people,a section on modal futures,
the modes of transportation.
Then a whole section onzero emission vehicles.
There's so much talk about that.
I wanted to have it comefrom multiple perspectives.
Then we go into data and big data and howit's being used in public transportation
(30:22):
with several chapters there.
And then of course funding and faringwith all the transit agencies ready to
hit the fiscal cliff this year in the U.
S.
and Canada and around the worldas the COVID money runs out.
We talk to people about what are youdoing about that and also faring.
Are we going to do thiszero fare thing or not?
We talk both sides of that.
And then we look at somespecial cases, geographic
futures, for what it looks like.
(30:43):
And so, those, each of those areashas multiple authors who wrote it.
This book is hefty.
Not as hefty as my first one,Future of Public Transportation,
which was about 450 pages.
This one is 350 pages.
We kept it 100 pages lighterfor you, but it's still rich
and dense of great information.
The chapters on people arewritten by Aaron Weinstein.
(31:03):
Customer Experience Extraordinairewrites a chapter on the future of
customer experience, and you know me,I'm a people person, so my chapter
is on the future of transportationleadership, and I'm speaking on that,
by the way, all over the country andthe world at various conferences,
and have a new conference coming up.
I'm going to be the keynote speaker.
I'm announcing here today, coming upat a state conference in In the middle
(31:27):
of the United States, we'll tell youmore about that coming soon, where
I'll be sharing there in September.
I spoke at CUTA and the SouthwestTransit Association, on that topic
along with Frank White from Kansas City.
The third chapter, in this area ofpeople is written by my good friend, Dr.
Karen Philbrick you mayhave heard of her before.
She's very famous in the industry.
She is the Executive Directorof the Minetta Transportation
(31:49):
Institute in California.
And she writes an all encompassingchapter on the future of workforce
shortages, mental health,assault, and rebuilding ridership.
Then we hear from Daphne LeBlanc, whowrote a chapter on the future of labor
shortages and succession planning.
She's one of the most successfultransit industry recruiters in America.
Then we switch into modal futures, and Iasked Harold Humphrey, who was in charge
(32:11):
of bus transportation in the cities ofDallas and Atlanta, to write a chapter
on the future of bus transportation.
Nat Ford, former chair of APTA,industry leader, and now head of
Jacksonville Transit, writes onthe future of autonomous vehicles.
He's been working in that area for years.
Paige Malott who is a high speed railresearcher with the International Union
of Railways, and the second guest ontoday's podcast, Then, Laura Hendricks,
(32:36):
who is the chairman of the NorthAmerican Transit Alliance and the CEO of
Transdev the largest contractor in thecountry, writes a chapter on the future
of public transportation contracting.
My friend Roger Helmy with Modaxowrites about the future of integrated
mobility, as does my pal, Ron Brooks,write about the future of paratransit.
He's very active in that field.
(32:56):
Jody Godfrey writes on thefuture of transit safety.
Brett Koenig writes on the future ofsmart infrastructure asset management.
Carl Atencio, who is in charge ofmaintenance for here in the U S for
one of the best train companies Iknow of, Rocky Mountaineer, writes on
the future of rail fleet maintenance.
And then my pal Magda Robertsonfrom Australia writes on the
(33:20):
future of automation and heavy railfrom Australia and New Zealand.
And then Juan Carbonell writes onthe future of mobility as a service.
Who better than him to handle that topic?
Then we move into zero emission vehicles.
There's been so much talk this year abouthow battery electric buses didn't make
the grade in the cold weather states asand in Canada, and many of them are moving
(33:40):
to hydrogen, but we cover all the topics.
We talk to Craig Cipriano,who talks about the future of
zero emission transformation.
He heads up that topic forone of the nation's largest,
engineering consulting firms.
Then Doran Barnes,former chair of APTA and.
the CEO, longtime CEO of FoothillsTransit, writes on the future of
ZEB and hydrogen fueled buses.
His chapter tells a story abouthow he ended up with the largest
(34:04):
hydrogen fleet in America right now.
Kurt Conrad, from the home of thePro Football Hall of Fame, heads up
the transit system there in Ohio,writes on the future of how hydrogen
fueled buses work, and he's oneof the smartest guys I know on the
topic, and also a great humorist.
Gary Waitz writes on the future ofEVs and Monica Backman from Northern
Virginia writes on the future ofequity, climate change, and EVs.
(34:27):
What's it sound like to you?
I mean, aren't these some of thebiggest names in transit writing on,
really, their areas of expertise?
Let's plow through the last 10 chapters.
Simon Reid, who worked at Transport forLondon for such a long time and helped
them in this area, writes on the futureof contactless payments and big data.
Dave Jackson writes onthe future of data and AI.
And Jean Pierre Barakat from Canadawrites on the future of cyber security
(34:52):
of vehicles and infrastructure.
Very hot topic since so many transitagencies are being hit by it.
with ransomware and cyberattacks.
Then we move into funding and faring.
What's happening with the fiscal cliff?
And are we going to do zero fares or not?
Well, we talk about it.
Davey Kim, who is the former Secretaryof Transportation in California, writes
on what's going on with road chargingand the future of transit funding.
(35:14):
Noah Berger, a big advocate of zerofares, writes on what's from outside of
Boston, and Miva writes about the futureof zero fares, and Rich Sampson, who
debated him for me at an event we heldlast year at the ThinkTransit Conference,
writes about the future of faring.
Rich is the Executive Director ofthe Southwest Transit Association,
representing eight states.
And then we move into geographic futures.
(35:35):
Scott Bogren, the Executive Director ofthe Community Transportation Association
of America, my good friend for thelast 30 years, writes on the future
of rural and tribal transportation.
Here in the U.
S.
And then we jump overseas, to Australia,and Samantha Abidero, who is head of
transport in Brisbane, Australia, writeson what they're doing to get ready for the
(35:56):
Olympics and zero emission and the futureof transportation in that city and region.
And then my good friend, PeterVarga, anchors the book in Chapter
30, former chair of APTA andhead of the Rapid, writes on the
past, present, and future of U.
S.
federal transportation funding.
Tris Hussey (36:17):
Thanks Paul, for that
great introduction to your book.
I know we're all anxiousto start reading it.
This is Tris Hussey, editorof Transit Unplugged.
And thank you for listening tothis week's special episode,
celebrating Paul's newest book.
The New Future of Public Transportation.
And thanks to our guests, Dr.
Karen Philbrick and Paige Milan talkingabout their contributions to Paul's book.
(36:40):
Coming up next week on the show, wehave something very special for you.
We have Andy Lord head of transportfor London, the world's largest
public transportation network.
In this great conversation withPaul Andy talks about what it's
like managing the world's largestpublic transportation network.
And his career thatstarted off in aviation.
(37:02):
And how that applies to public transport..
Did you know that you could emailPaul a question about public transit
or leadership or anything like that?
Just drop him a line at PaulComfort at transit unplugged.com.
He'll read your question and Hey, hemight even answer it on the podcast.
Transit Unplugged isbrought to you by Modaxo.
At Modaxo we're passionate aboutmoving the world's people and at
(37:26):
Transit Unplugged, we're passionateabout telling those stories.
So until next week, ridesafe and ride happy.