July 9, 2025 • 29 mins
What’s really going on behind the scenes of U.S. public transportation policy? In this special edition of Transit Unplugged Insider, Executive Producer Julie Gates turns the mic on our usual host, Paul Comfort, for a revealing look at the shifting political and funding landscape in Washington—and what every transit executive needs to know right now.
From what’s actually happening with FTA leadership to surprising details about the Trump administration’s transit funding priorities, Paul breaks down the top three issues impacting the future of public transportation. This is the intel your grant writer, government affairs lead, and CEO will want to hear.
Also in this episode: the latest on congestion pricing in NYC, what’s happening with reauthorization, and why safety is the defining metric of this political moment.
Podcast Credits:
Transit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo
- Creator, Host, + Producer: Paul Comfort
- Executive Producer: Julie Gates
- Producer + Newsletter Editor: Chris O’Keeffe
- 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
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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.
(00:00):
You know, a lot of times when I'm atconferences, people come up to me and
they, they ask me various questions.
What's happening in the industry?
Or what are you doing?
Where are you going next?
Where can I go to a book signing?
Well, today we're trying somethingnew on Transit Unplugged.
I'm Paul Comfort with my co-host JulieGates, and today we're gonna take you
inside the world of Transit Unpluggedand inside my world a little bit.
So this is Transit Unplugged Insider,thanks for being with us today, and thanks
(00:23):
to, uh, my special co-host Julie Gates.
Hi Paul.
Good to see you.
Hey, Julie is, uh, the executive producerof our programs here at Transit Unplugged
and the head of the Modaxo MediaGroup, which oversees what we're doing.
Julie, tell us what we'regonna be doing today.
Well, I mean, I think that the mostimportant thing is we're gonna cover
the top three issues every transitexecutive needs to know to thrive
(00:44):
today 'cause it's been a moving target.
We have a new administration in,so rules change, leaders change.
So we're gonna get into that.
That's.
That to me is the highest priority.
But we're also gonna get into wherepeople can get to know you and get
to be a part of the Transit Unpluggedcommunity and find out where we're
gonna be and what we're doingand what projects are coming up.
Yeah, let's get going.
I think the, the, um, the premise behindthis is we're talking about things that
(01:06):
we normally don't get a chance to talkabout on our regular interview shows, and
we wanna try this on a more regular basis.
So, uh, at the end we'll tell you how toemail us and let us know what you think
about it as you're listening to this.
Think.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'd like to know more ofthat, less of this, whatever.
Alright, well I think we need to getinto the, the, the good stuff, the meat
of today's episode, and that is thetop three issues that every transit
(01:27):
executive needs to know to succeed today.
The first one is about the FTA leadership.
What's the status with Marc Molinaro'snomination as the Federal Transit
Administration Administrator?
What's happening there?
Sure.
Well, as you know, Julie, I'mconnected with a lot of organizations.
And, uh, work on, you know, onissues on Capitol Hill that are
promoting public transportation.
(01:48):
So I hear lots of whispersand things that are going on.
It's something that has not really beenannounced publicly, but I've been told
by multiple sources is that the FTAnominee Marc Molinaro, most folks know,
he was up before the Senate BankingCommittee and received a positive,
um, you know, vote from the committee.
So it's been referred to the fullSenate now, but it hasn't come
on the Senate's calendar yet.
What I've been told is that hehas been appointed as a special
(02:09):
employee, uh, kind of like, um.
Like Elon Musk, people heardof that title with Elon Musk
when he was a special employee.
Mm-hmm.
Has a limited timeframe.
I think it's 120 daysor something like that.
Uh, more of an advisory role.
He can't bind the organization.
Uh, the deputy administrator,Tariq Bokhari has been sworn in.
He was sworn in on April22nd, and he is the official.
You know, acting directorof the agency right now.
(02:31):
But Marc is there, is what I've been told.
He's been there for a couple weeks now.
Uh, and, uh, but he is gettingin the mix of things and helping
the organization overall.
So that's, uh, something thatyou haven't heard really anywhere
So he'll have a limited time, like 120days or something in that role then if
it's similar to the Elon Musk situation.
Yeah.
He got a bipartisan vote out ofthe committee and, and, uh, there
are unions that are supporting him.
(02:53):
And so the thought is he won'thave any trouble being confirmed
once his name actually gets put onthe calendar of the full Senate.
So the thought is within that amountof time that this should take place.
Okay.
Topic number two of the topthree issues that every transit
executive needs to know today.
It is public transportation,federal funding.
There was a lot of fear thatthe Trump administration would
(03:14):
significantly cut public transit funds.
What's going on?
Yeah,
that's a great question.
And uh, again, these are questionsthat we can't always get to when
I'm talking to another executive.
So we, that's one of the reasonswhy we wanna do this show is to
kind of keep people up to dateon what's really happening in
Washington DC as we understand it.
So after the July 4th recess, theHouse of Representatives is expected
(03:35):
to mark up the transportationappropriations bill for next year.
Uh, the Senate is working toward abipartisan markup of its transportation
bill, as most folks, uh, probably know.
There was a continuing resolutionor C.R., which would take us through
the end of this federal fiscalyear, which ends on September 30th.
The new fiscal year starts on October 1st.
Um, and so, people were concerned, asyou mentioned, you know, oh, Trump's
(03:58):
gonna tear apart transportation.
You know, kinda people were concerned morethat they were gonna follow the model of
the Department of Education where LindaMcMahon is there kind of downsizing and
taking apart the Department of Education.
They basically announced that, but that'snot what's happening in transportation.
And the proof was in the pudding, right?
The president submitted his budget.
And it was an actual increaseof funding for transportation.
(04:20):
Let's walk through some of the detailsbecause they haven't been widely
covered, so the, the current fundingresolution we're under for FTA funding,
the Federal Transit Administration,provides them $20.5 billion
apportion for public transportation.
The requests from the WhiteHouse increased that 3.4% to
$21.2 billion, so an increase.
(04:40):
Uh, and then when transit, theFormula Transit Formula grants were
looked at, uh, the current FY 25 thatwe're operating on, the continuing
resolution is around $14.3 billion.
Again, President Trump hasrequested an increase in those
funding, uh, a 2% increase.
And then the big one that everyonewas worried about, I'd heard
(05:01):
this from many, many people.
Oh, they're gonna kill CIG grants,the Capital Improvement Grants, um,
the Capital Investment Grants, no,they didn't, they didn't kill it.
The, the president's request, uh, hada slight decline of around 4%, uh,
but still requested from 3.96 billionto $3.8 billion, and they've also
included $783 million for emergencyrelief funding when transit is affected.
(05:25):
So overall, the, the thought is that,um, there is, uh, basically continued
support alongside the IIJA, formula fundssaw a small boost, CIG grants dropped
slightly signaling, uh, discretionary railproject funding, but is still substantial.
And now we have some emergency relief,clearly funded, ensuring resources
(05:46):
for unforeseen transit disruptions.
So overall, not bad.
Pretty good compared to whatthe expectations were, right?
As they say BTE.
. Yeah, so the other thing Iwanted to mention was there's a
big, it's a back burner, right?
But it's very important fortransit and that is our, what they
call, um, reauthorization bill.
Most folks know if you've read my book,the New Future Public Transportation,
(06:08):
there's a great chapter, the last chapterin the book by Peter Varga, talking about
federal funding and how the, in 1964, youknow, we all, it, it got started, right?
Uh, with the Urban Mass TransportationAct and how it's gone every five
to six years, there's been a newreauthorization, which authorizes
Congress to spend money over the nextfive years on public transportation.
Well that expires at the end of 2026.
(06:30):
So the House of Representatives,Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, you might hear the words HouseT&I Committee, they have a subcommittee
on highways and transportation thatis working on that reauthorization.
I actually went to Capitol Hill.
They did a listening session.
They had a bunch of groups there.
One of the groups I'm involvedwith, the North American Transit
Alliance, testified on it as didCTAA and APTA and the Bus Coalition.
(06:54):
They were all there.
Uh, testify.
I didn't personally testify, butwas there to support and talk to
the members staff that was there.
Uh, and then they had a publichearing where they had people come
and testify and now they're involvedin writing that Reauthorization
Act, they're still open to input.
And what I've been told just thisweek is that they plan to, they hope
to have that drafted complete, uh,by the end of summer, by the end
(07:16):
of August, uh, and then go in afterLabor Day come in and doing some other
work and then have it on the floor.
That's what they told me, their stafftold me by the end of the year, uh,
so that they can go through the voteand then it'll be sent to the Senate.
Uh, for their considerationin 2026 at some point.
So the good news isthat process is ongoing.
Things have not ground to ahalt in Washington when it
(07:37):
comes to public transportation.
So matter of fact, quite the opposite.
They're moving forward in a strong way.
Oh, that's such a relief 'causethere's been so much concern.
How about we move into topic numberthree, which is, is related and that's
the Trump administration priorities.
Biden administration was reallyleaning heavily into electric
fleets, electric vehicles.
What's important to the Trumpadministration when it comes
(07:57):
to public transportation?
This will be like, kind of like a, a cheatsheet for everyone who's in leadership
to know what talking points to usewhen they're putting things forward.
So they're speaking to the administration,who's deciding who's getting funding.
Yeah, that's right.
The previous administration wasfocused, as you mentioned, on
battery, electric buses, low carbon,
so the new administration, that'snot a priority to them, although.
(08:20):
You know when the Secretary ofTransportation spoke at the APTA,
at the APTA legislative conference,he's pretty clear that they're
not opposed to battery electric.
They're just opposed to federal mandates.
They want the local folks to decide.
You know what, what's best for you?
For instance, there are partsof our country where there's a
lot of compressed natural gas.
That is a lower emission fuel.
Places like Kansas City,Fort Worth, et cetera.
(08:41):
There's big places up in Canada,uh, where I've been up there,
uh, where there's a lot of CNG.
So the idea that I'm understanding is theTrump administration wants you to make
your local decision and they're not gonnaprioritize your request based on the fact
whether it's battery, electric or not.
And the other focus that I've heard isobviously we've all heard it, is safety.
Right?
Right.
Safety is number one.
(09:01):
It really is with this administrationwhen it comes to transportation funding
and public transportation in general.
I mean, the Secretary of Transportation'sridden the New York City Metro system
and talked to them about, you know,you've gotta do more on safety.
Uh, when we interviewed Randy Clarkerecently, the CEO of WMATA, he
told me that, you know, they hada letter sent to them, uh, that
required them to respond about whatare you doing to improve safety.
(09:23):
So we've seen really a shift, Julie, overthe last couple years where we were moving
away from police on transit and enforcingof fares, et cetera, to now swinging back
the pendulum, swinging back the other way,uh, where it is more focused on safety.
I think the other thing we're gonnahear coming out of Washington, the
whispers I'm hearing is a more focuson the core principles of not only
safety, but efficiency, reliability,and the customer experience, customer
(09:46):
satisfaction, they really want peoplewho, um, who use transit to be satisfied
with the services they're getting.
They want to be focusedon improving families.
They've even tied that into some of thefunding requests for prioritization.
So I think we're seeing a return totraditional, um, KPIs, key performance
indicators for transit (10:03):
safety, efficiency, reliability, customer service.
Those are the factors that I'm hearingthat new administration is focused on.
You know, as our transit agencies acrossNorth America are figuring out messaging.
I mean, they're, they've gotmarketing teams pushing out social
media, they've got people writinggrants, all of these things.
It seems to me, one of themessages I'm seeing that appears
to be really effective is pushingeconomic development, how transit is
(10:26):
helping with economic development.
And I know we've seen lots of examplesof that in our, in our filming when we've
been on location for Transit Unplugged TV.
There's a lot of episodes.
If people wanna sneak speak onhow to do TOD, you wanna share
a couple of those episodes?
Like who does it?
Well, I, I think, um, Kansas City,the KCATA has done TOD really well.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Frank White's out there.
(10:46):
Mm-hmm.
Just, I just saw him this week onLinkedIn talking about it again.
Yeah.
Uh, he's a good friend of theshow and doing a great job.
And also, uh, MikelOglesby, uh, in, um, Tucson.
Tucson, which is our number two watchedever show right behind Brisbane.
Uh, we did a big segment thereabout the $4 billion of economic
investment that their light rail linehas brought in over the last decade.
And so, uh, and we were justdown with Coree Cuff Lonergan.
(11:09):
Uh, in Broward County and, uh,their episode of the television
show will be coming out in August.
And, um, she's talking about the valueof, for the county, they're a county
agency, the value to the county or theeconomic development that the investment
in public transportation will bring.
So I think you're right.
That is another big factor when it comesto how transit can improve a community.
Yeah, I mean, our shows are reallymeant to be kind of like helpful guides
(11:31):
for everyone working in the industry.
So if you wanna pop on and look at anyof the Transit Unplugged TV episodes,
they're on YouTube and we've got atleast four really good shows talking
about transit oriented development,we've got the KCATA, I think SacRT
in Sacramento was mentioning it.
That's right.
Memphis MATA has a good story too.
So if you need like some tips on how todo it, check out what your colleagues
are doing and we've covered their storiesfor you, so you can check them out.
(11:54):
Alright, well, do you wanna dosome, uh, industry hot topics?
Do you wanna make a quick transitioninto that for a little bit?
Okay.
What about congestion pricing?
This has been such a big on-again,off-again story going on in New York City.
What, what are you hearing?
What's the latest?
Yeah, so we, it's, it'sa great question, Julie.
We've had a couple shows with people inNew York, in the past, but that's the
(12:18):
last update's been like six months ago.
Mm-hmm.
I think most people know that ingeneral, congestion charging, you
know, they have it in Singapore, theyhave it in London, they have it a few
other places where basically there's atag reader that reads your tag as you
come into a predefined area, uh, oran easy pass, and you'll get a charge
in an area that is heavily congested.
And the thought is it will reducecongestion in that area and
(12:40):
reduce the smog, and mitigate thepollution that's in that area.
So New York had talked about doing itfor a long time, New York City, uh, and
they finally did it and launched it,the Central Business District Tolling
Program on January 5th of this year.
And it applies to vehicles enteringManhattan, south of 60th street.
It's called the Congestion Relief Zone.
And during peak hours driversare charged $9 per entry.
(13:02):
The toll is about 75% lower overnight.
Over time, the tolls are intended toincrease to $12 by 2028 and $15 by 2031.
What's the impact been?
Well, it's still earlyin the program, right?
We've only had about four or fivemonths, about five months worth
of data, but so far it looks liketraffic in daily traffic in the
congestion zone has dropped around 10%.
(13:24):
Around 70 to 80,000 less vehiclesdecline over the previous year.
Vehicles are now moving, we are told,five to 10% faster during the peak
periods, so it has reduced trafficcongestion some in New York City.
How much money has it generated?
Well, so far, for the first four monthsof 2025 through the end of April, it's
generated about $216 million, and soit's tracking to collect around $500
(13:50):
million a year from the congestioncharging, and those funds are earmarked
for the MTAs capital program, uh,including essential repairs and upgrades.
And I'm happy to kindof get a preview today.
We've just gotten the thumbs up thatI'm gonna be able to interview the
new president of MTA, New York City.
That'll be an upcomingepisode later this year.
Uh, now what's happening onthe legal side of things?
(14:11):
Most folks know the Trump administrationattempted to revoke federal approval and
threatened to withhold funding in New Yorkas related to that, but the MTA secured a
temporary injunction and a federal judgehas blocked the Trump administration's
attempt to cut funding keeping tollingin place, at least through this month,
and they may give some extensions.
So that's the current status of it.
That's interesting.
Um, I do a weekly Transit Unplugged NewsMinute for those of you who don't know,
(14:34):
and I came across a report on this too.
This report was saying that the tollis, uh, reducing traffic delays by 25%,
this particular report and that theysaid that drivers are saving 17 minutes
for every hour that they previouslyspent an hour in their car there.
It's just so it's interesting to watch.
Are you getting any vibes of othercities in the U.S. giving this a
shot or they, is everybody kindof all eyes on New York right now?
(14:57):
All eyes are on New York.
I mean, there's always been talkabout maybe in LA or in Chicago,
there's been some discussion, butnothing serious as far as I've heard.
Okay.
One other hot topic and then we'llmove into where you're gonna be so our
audience can have a chance to build a, abigger community and, and work together.
I'm curious about something thatyou covered in a podcast episode
recently, something I'd never heardof before called Green Hydrogen.
(15:19):
What do you know?
What is this?
Yeah.
So, you know, most folks know thathydrogen is one of the fuels that
we're using to power buses now,um, the, the four big fuels right
now for buses are clean diesel,uh, which is still the majority of
vehicles on the road in America.
Two would be compressed natural gas, CNG.
Um, three would be this hydrogen fueland four would be battery electric.
(15:42):
So battery electric has been the up andcoming technology over the last decade.
It's been really pushed bythe Biden administration.
As I mentioned, it won't be pushedby the Trump administration.
They basically announced thatthey're not prioritizing that or
giving you a priority based on that.
Uh, but they're notgonna oppose it either.
It's up to the locals, what thesecretary said at the APTA conference.
So hydrogen though.
And in my book right here,I have two or three chapters
(16:05):
focused on that, uh, on hydrogen.
'cause I, I really believe itis an up and coming technology
for those who are interested in,um, cleaner emissions from it.
So green hydrogen, uh, is a, is aclean fuel produced by using renewable
electricity, uh, like solar or wind.
Um, a lot of regular hydrogencan produce, be being used.
Um, natural gas, the ideais it's electrolysis.
(16:28):
The process is to split the watermolecule into hydrogen and oxygen, right?
H2O and you take out the hydrogenand that becomes a powered fuel.
And the only only water vaporis the byproduct, right.
Of that.
Mm-hmm.
So it's a super clean.
I've heard people even, you know,drinking, talk about all kinds of things,
drinking and all that, which I would neverrecommend anybody do, but don't do it.
I've never seen it.
It's very clean.
So, unlike traditional hydrogen madefrom natural gas, green hydrogen has
(16:51):
zero carbon emissions because it's used.
The, the power source used to createthe electrolysis is a renewable source,
you know, such as wind or solar.
That's the idea.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Well thank you that that'ssomething I hadn't heard about yet.
I'd heard about the hydrogen,but not the green hydrogen.
Okay.
Well I think we need to do an in caseyou missed it segment and that is what
(17:11):
are some recent shows that our audienceshould not miss or they'll be left behind?
'cause you've been talking a lot of reallyinteresting newsmakers in our industry.
Yeah.
Michele Stiehler is our, uh, fromBoston, the MBTA paratransit manager.
That's our biggest listened to showprobably of the last year or two.
I t talks about what's happening inBoston when it comes to paratransit.
(17:32):
For those of you who are headedto Boston, like I will be in
September for the APTA conference.
Uh, it's a good kind of, um.
Uh, predicate to getting there,understanding about what's
going on in the Boston area.
As for our television show,uh, I would encourage people to
tune into the Tucson episode.
People always ask you, you know,what was your favorite show?
And I don't really have a favorite show.
Uh, they're all great, you know, it'slike, ask, I have six children ask me,
(17:54):
which one is your favorite children?
Yeah, exactly.
I'm not gonna tell you that, at least.
Right.
But, but, um, keep that to yourselfor my nine grandkids, right?
So, um, but I, uh, but I can say theshow for me last year that was the most
fun to make was in Fairbanks, Alaska.
It was such a great experience there.
Uh, the team that was up inFairbanks was very welcoming.
(18:14):
They were just coming out of a long winterand, uh, so the spring was in everybody's
step, and it was a fantastic area.
For this year, this past year,so far, it's been Tucson.
Tucson was such a blast.
Uh, and there's so many fun, interestingthings that I did not expect.
You know, the amazing food scene wedid there with a guy in the restaurant
and, and the whole scene about,you know, gangsters being caught in
(18:37):
the hotel that we were staying inand all that kind of great stuff.
It was, um, fun, interesting storiesand a great transit story with
Mikel Oglesby and his team thereabout how transit has really become
integral to the community of Tucson.
So those are two shows onthe TV side I'd recommend.
I think I'll throw one intoo from my point of view.
Um, you did something a little bitdifferent with one of our episodes,
which I think would be reallyinteresting for people to watch, and
(18:59):
that was with Washington, with WMATA.
You did a "How Do I Get There?" episode.
And it's really a great way for, youknow, other transit agencies may wanna
model making videos or you know, maybewe can come and shoot for you, whatever.
But this kind of idea of showing peoplehow we can get places step by step.
Do you wanna talk a littlebit about that episode?
(19:21):
Yeah, sure.
So, you know, when we think about episodesof our Transit Unplugged TV show, we do
12 a year by the way, it's a monthly show.
This podcast is weeklyinterviewing a different executive.
But, uh, for 2027, 2025, wethought it'd be fun to do a show.
Jaime Cuadra, our, our video directoractually had the idea for me initially
and said it'd be great to do ashow all about how do I get there.
(19:41):
In every show we do one segment,how do I ride local transit
to get to an iconic location.
You know, maybe it's the, uh, uh, it'sa castle or it's a downtown, or it's
the convention center or whatever.
So, um, and we show, okay,this is how you ride it.
You get on this bus, you paythis amount, and you ride.
It takes 20 minutes and you get there.
So it is again, an on-ramp for peoplehow to use public transportation.
(20:04):
It familiarizes them withthem and socializes the
concept of riding with them.
We did a show all about WashingtonDC, what a great show, right?
I mean, what a great city.
It's got, you know, the, themall, the monuments, right?
Uh, the music that's there.
And so we did that.
We rode the bus, we rode the metro.
We rode bikes, we rode scooters.
We rode a water taxi.
We rode the streetcar, we rodethe metro, we rode it all.
(20:25):
We even rode a tourist bus, uh,and showed you how to get around
the city and you don't need a car.
And like Randy Clarke said, theCEO we interviewed, he's the only
interview we did on that show.
He's like, oh, renting a car.
That'd be a big mistake, is theCEO parking is very expensive.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, heavilycongested and all that.
But I also wanna throw in a quick note.
We don't have all of ourepisodes picked out yet for 2026.
(20:48):
Right.
So if your city isinterested in being featured.
It's all positive, all upbeat.
You get hundreds of thousands ofviews around the world, let us know.
Reach out and let me knowif you're interested.
We have about six or seven episodesthat we're pretty locked in on, but
I've got four or five openings leftfor later in the year that we could
do, or even earlier in the year.
Let us know if you're interested in being.
There's no cost to a city, transit agency.
The only cost is your time andenergy of helping us produce it
(21:10):
and put it together and identifyinglocations we can visit, et cetera.
Yeah, just drop it in thenotes of the show episode.
We, we would love to hear from you.
Okay.
Well, let's wrap things up with whereTransit Unplugged is going to be.
How can our community connect with usto build better public transportation?
Where in the world isPaul Comfort going to be?
What's coming up?
Yeah.
One of the great things about that Ilove about Transit Unplugged is we've
built it into a whole community, right?
(21:31):
Mm-hmm.
We have thousands of people, 2,500people are on our newsletter list,
uh, and we have thousands of peoplethat kind of follow the show and
what we're doing, and they knowabout the TV show and the podcast.
What they may not be fully aware ofis that we also have a whole live
program segment where we go and dolive CEO roundtables around the world.
We bring a bunch of CEOs together onone stage and we do a live program.
(21:53):
People can watch, we sometimes recordthem and play 'em afterwards on
Transit Unplugged, but not always.
We've done 'em from places, fromBarcelona, right to Kansas City and
many cities in between, uh, wherewe bring three or four CEOs together
and we ask them what are the trendsthat are affecting them right now,
and what's it like to be a CEO.
So you can come out and meet us
and greet us and be part of the team.
We'll get you on camera if you can, or, orwe'll maybe even have you on the podcast.
(22:16):
Chris, uh, you know, our producerof the podcast and I recently
were at the CTAA Expo in SanDiego, and he had a great idea.
Why don't we just do an openmic and invite people to talk
on, you know, on the show.
And so we did.
And so we're gonna try more of that.
So anyway, here's where we're coming.
We're gonna be filming inConnecticut, coming up in mid-July.
With Ben Limmer and CT Transit,we're filming a full episode
of Transit Unplugged TV.
(22:37):
We're gonna show you the place wherehamburgers were invented in America, and
we're gonna eat one exactly how they'remade there as a little hint, they don't
let you put mustard on it, really.
And um, and we're gonna go toMark Twain's house, you know,
and hopefully get a tour of that.
And then we're gonna show youall the great things they've
got going on in transit there.
At the end of July, I'm happy to saywe're gonna be going to the Southwest
(22:58):
Transit Association SWATA conference,um, with our buddy Rich there.
Uh, the whole team, Julie, youcan mention this if you want.
We're going to podcast movement.
Talk about that.
Oh, well, we just wanna make surethat we're always providing you the
highest quality of programming soyou know what's going on in your
industry and you're connected.
And so this is kind of us gettinga workshop on how to do better
at podcasting, and YouTube too.
(23:19):
, It's really interesting in ourindustry, on the media side, to
see how much YouTube has reallytaken over for video podcasting.
It is huge.
So we just wanna make sure we'reproviding you with the best quality
content possible, so you're upto date on everything and we know
what we're doing, so we're excited.
Our entire team will be going to that one.
Yeah.
And if you're listening to thispodcast on traditional platforms of
(23:39):
Spotify or, or Apple or some other,uh, TransitUnplugged.com, you may
not realize that this is our firstvideo episode, uh, we've ever done.
Uh, for, we've been doing a hybridshow on YouTube where when I interview
people, it's audio, but we'll putup some pictures of when I was
talking to them or interviewing them.
This is the first one we'vedone full video with Julie and
I, and so, uh, stop listeningright now and go over to YouTube.
(24:01):
No, I'm just kidding.
Go over to YouTube and check it out.
Just check us out atTransit Unplugged Podcast.
Put that in on YouTube.
Then I'm excited to be the keynotespeaker in Kentucky at their Kentucky
Transit Association on August 27th.
Uh, I'll be speaking there largelyon the topic of my new book on,
um, uh, and some other topics.
Five Traits of a FutureTransit Leader there as well.
And then shortly after that, the next weekI think I'll be, at the Midwest Transit
(24:25):
Association Conference, keynote speech.
I think that's in Kansas City.
that's on September 4th and I'llbe moderating, uh, a CEO panel.
We're filming an episodeof Transit Unplugged TV.
Our big international episode thisyear we're filming is in Italy, and
so we'll be going there in September.
We're gonna tour Milan.
Florence and Rome.
I just booked the rooms actuallythis morning, uh, for that trip.
And so we're excited.
(24:46):
Uh, we're gonna talk to the transitleaders in all three cities.
It'll be great.
And then of course we'll be atAPTA Transform, later in September,
mid-September, where I'll bemoderating the CEO roundtable.
We're already lining up theCEOs who are gonna be on it.
That'll be at the Vontas boothon the trade show floor there.
So a lot happening.
A lot of, um, events where youcan come and kind of see us
in person if you'd like to.
I can't wait.
I, I knew we were shooting in Milan.
(25:07):
I didn't realize you're gonna be in Rome.
I would love to see a video of youtrying to cross the street in Rome.
Oh yeah.
I've never been there, so maybe we'll try.
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
Well I can't wait to see what youguys learn and, and I can't wait
to hear about their transit system.
'cause that is a very,very, busy, busy street.
Like it's crazy.
It's good.
It's fun.
Yep.
Excellent.
(25:28):
Well, this is great.
So that's kind of the, the summaryof what we've got going on.
This is our first episode, kinda givingyou an update on what you need to know,
uh, a little more behind the scenes.
Paul is so wired in, he's, he's in a lotof closed door meetings with a lot of
influencers so he's always respectfulabout not, you know, putting anyone out
in, in the limelight that doesn't needto be, but he can share information.
(25:49):
So thank you for doing that, Paul.
This has been fun.
Should we get feedback on if we shoulddo more of these kinds of episodes?
That'd be great.
Uh, you can drop a note as Juliementioned in the comments of the
podcast, where you hear it, or you canemail us at info@transitunplugged.com.
And for those of you who are interestedin a little more behind the scenes
information of what's happeningin our larger Modaxo Media Group,
hold on for two more minutes andJulie's gonna give you an update.
(26:10):
Transit Unplugged is, was the, um,you know, kinda the foundation for
a group that our boss Rod Jones puttogether called the Modaxo Media Group.
And the thought was, we'd like to sharewhat's happening in the industries
that we serve as a software company.
We never promote our software.
but the idea is that we wannapromote our industries that we serve.
And, um, so you heading up the grouphas been, have helped us produce
(26:31):
and behind the scenes handle allthe business and the finance side of
everything for the last few years.
But now we're actually entering intonew products, uh, and new pro and
new areas that we're focusing on.
You wanna tell us
about that a little bit?
Yeah.
I'm gonna start by saying we couldn'tdo this if we weren't able to add
some really key people to our team.
So in addition to Jaime Cuadra, who'sour video director, who makes Transit
(26:52):
Unplugged TV look great, and Tatyana,who's in London, who does an amazing.
Social media program for us, we've nowadded two superstars that are allowing
us to expand and provide you withmore content that hopefully we you
find useful in your day-to-day life.
So I just wanna say welcomeaboard to Cyndi Raskin.
She brings deep transit experiences,worked in the Florida, up and down
(27:12):
Florida transit industries, and she'shelping us really make the TV and
video part of our, our work just shine.
And then we also brought in ChrisO'Keeffe, who has developed and
produced award-winning podcasts.
Uh, he's worked on all kindsof, who's, who's from MIT
and Amazon, Cirque de Soleil.
He is helping us.
scale our podcast programs, and that'swhere we're leaning in right now.
(27:34):
So a lot of us in the transitspace are also interested in
other ways we move people.
So if you want to know a littlebit more about what's going on
with parking and curb management,that impacts transit a lot.
We are starting a newshow called Parking Live.
We have two really great voices, onebased in the UK, one based in Chicago.
(27:55):
We have Jade Neville and Matt Darst.
They are big influencers in that space.
They both have done a lot to make parking.
I mean, who knew parking was afull industry, but it truly is.
So we've just started Parking Live.
You can find out more information aboutthat if you check them out on LinkedIn.
And then Chris is also helping us
spearhead a new, uh, airport and aviationpodcast called The Aviation Report.
(28:16):
And we're in the beginning stages ofthat, but a lot of, we're trying to do
the same deep dive in industry like we'redoing for transit with Transit Unplugged.
We're now doing this for aviationairports and parking and curb space.
So stay tuned and we willshare more info as it unfolds.
Well, thanks again, Julie, for being,uh, joining me on this, this episode, the
special episode of Transit Unplugged, thepodcast, uh, Transit Unplugged Insider.
(28:39):
I think we're gonna call it.
Love it.
And as we show you theinside, what's happening?
Any final thoughts you have?
No, just thanks to everyonethat I, I've find the transit
community so inspirational.
Um, I've never worked in an industrywhere the leaders worked together so well.
There's no rivalry.
There's no competition.
Maybe there's playful competition whenwe're all up against, you know, for awards
or things, but for the most part, thespirit of the people here is incredible.
(29:02):
So it's just an honor for us.
to create programming to help keeppeople connected and informed.
Very good.
And thank you for being with us.
today on this episodeof Transit Unplugged.
Uh, be sure to tune in everyweek on your favorite platform.
Check us out on YouTube if youwanna see as well as hear some
of what we're talking about.
We've got some great guestscoming up right around the corner.
You know, a lot of times when I'm atconferences, people come up to me and
they, they ask me various questions.
What's happening in the industry?
Or what are you doing?
Where are you going next?
Where can I go to a book signing?
Well, today we're trying somethingnew on Transit Unplugged.
I'm Paul Comfort with my co-host JulieGates, and today we're gonna take you
inside the world of Transit Unpluggedand inside my world a little bit.
So this is Transit Unplugged Insider,thanks for being with us today, and thanks
(00:23):
to, uh, my special co-host Julie Gates.
Hi Paul.
Good to see you.
Hey, Julie is, uh, the executive producerof our programs here at Transit Unplugged
and the head of the Modaxo MediaGroup, which oversees what we're doing.
Julie, tell us what we'regonna be doing today.
Well, I mean, I think that the mostimportant thing is we're gonna cover
the top three issues every transitexecutive needs to know to thrive
(00:44):
today 'cause it's been a moving target.
We have a new administration in,so rules change, leaders change.
So we're gonna get into that.
That's.
That to me is the highest priority.
But we're also gonna get into wherepeople can get to know you and get
to be a part of the Transit Unpluggedcommunity and find out where we're
gonna be and what we're doingand what projects are coming up.
Yeah, let's get going.
I think the, the, um, the premise behindthis is we're talking about things that
(01:06):
we normally don't get a chance to talkabout on our regular interview shows, and
we wanna try this on a more regular basis.
So, uh, at the end we'll tell you how toemail us and let us know what you think
about it as you're listening to this.
Think.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'd like to know more ofthat, less of this, whatever.
Alright, well I think we need to getinto the, the, the good stuff, the meat
of today's episode, and that is thetop three issues that every transit
(01:27):
executive needs to know to succeed today.
The first one is about the FTA leadership.
What's the status with Marc Molinaro'snomination as the Federal Transit
Administration Administrator?
What's happening there?
Sure.
Well, as you know, Julie, I'mconnected with a lot of organizations.
And, uh, work on, you know, onissues on Capitol Hill that are
promoting public transportation.
(01:48):
So I hear lots of whispersand things that are going on.
It's something that has not really beenannounced publicly, but I've been told
by multiple sources is that the FTAnominee Marc Molinaro, most folks know,
he was up before the Senate BankingCommittee and received a positive,
um, you know, vote from the committee.
So it's been referred to the fullSenate now, but it hasn't come
on the Senate's calendar yet.
What I've been told is that hehas been appointed as a special
(02:09):
employee, uh, kind of like, um.
Like Elon Musk, people heardof that title with Elon Musk
when he was a special employee.
Mm-hmm.
Has a limited timeframe.
I think it's 120 daysor something like that.
Uh, more of an advisory role.
He can't bind the organization.
Uh, the deputy administrator,Tariq Bokhari has been sworn in.
He was sworn in on April22nd, and he is the official.
You know, acting directorof the agency right now.
(02:31):
But Marc is there, is what I've been told.
He's been there for a couple weeks now.
Uh, and, uh, but he is gettingin the mix of things and helping
the organization overall.
So that's, uh, something thatyou haven't heard really anywhere
So he'll have a limited time, like 120days or something in that role then if
it's similar to the Elon Musk situation.
Yeah.
He got a bipartisan vote out ofthe committee and, and, uh, there
are unions that are supporting him.
(02:53):
And so the thought is he won'thave any trouble being confirmed
once his name actually gets put onthe calendar of the full Senate.
So the thought is within that amountof time that this should take place.
Okay.
Topic number two of the topthree issues that every transit
executive needs to know today.
It is public transportation,federal funding.
There was a lot of fear thatthe Trump administration would
(03:14):
significantly cut public transit funds.
What's going on?
Yeah,
that's a great question.
And uh, again, these are questionsthat we can't always get to when
I'm talking to another executive.
So we, that's one of the reasonswhy we wanna do this show is to
kind of keep people up to dateon what's really happening in
Washington DC as we understand it.
So after the July 4th recess, theHouse of Representatives is expected
(03:35):
to mark up the transportationappropriations bill for next year.
Uh, the Senate is working toward abipartisan markup of its transportation
bill, as most folks, uh, probably know.
There was a continuing resolutionor C.R., which would take us through
the end of this federal fiscalyear, which ends on September 30th.
The new fiscal year starts on October 1st.
Um, and so, people were concerned, asyou mentioned, you know, oh, Trump's
(03:58):
gonna tear apart transportation.
You know, kinda people were concerned morethat they were gonna follow the model of
the Department of Education where LindaMcMahon is there kind of downsizing and
taking apart the Department of Education.
They basically announced that, but that'snot what's happening in transportation.
And the proof was in the pudding, right?
The president submitted his budget.
And it was an actual increaseof funding for transportation.
(04:20):
Let's walk through some of the detailsbecause they haven't been widely
covered, so the, the current fundingresolution we're under for FTA funding,
the Federal Transit Administration,provides them $20.5 billion
apportion for public transportation.
The requests from the WhiteHouse increased that 3.4% to
$21.2 billion, so an increase.
(04:40):
Uh, and then when transit, theFormula Transit Formula grants were
looked at, uh, the current FY 25 thatwe're operating on, the continuing
resolution is around $14.3 billion.
Again, President Trump hasrequested an increase in those
funding, uh, a 2% increase.
And then the big one that everyonewas worried about, I'd heard
(05:01):
this from many, many people.
Oh, they're gonna kill CIG grants,the Capital Improvement Grants, um,
the Capital Investment Grants, no,they didn't, they didn't kill it.
The, the president's request, uh, hada slight decline of around 4%, uh,
but still requested from 3.96 billionto $3.8 billion, and they've also
included $783 million for emergencyrelief funding when transit is affected.
(05:25):
So overall, the, the thought is that,um, there is, uh, basically continued
support alongside the IIJA, formula fundssaw a small boost, CIG grants dropped
slightly signaling, uh, discretionary railproject funding, but is still substantial.
And now we have some emergency relief,clearly funded, ensuring resources
(05:46):
for unforeseen transit disruptions.
So overall, not bad.
Pretty good compared to whatthe expectations were, right?
As they say BTE.
. Yeah, so the other thing Iwanted to mention was there's a
big, it's a back burner, right?
But it's very important fortransit and that is our, what they
call, um, reauthorization bill.
Most folks know if you've read my book,the New Future Public Transportation,
(06:08):
there's a great chapter, the last chapterin the book by Peter Varga, talking about
federal funding and how the, in 1964, youknow, we all, it, it got started, right?
Uh, with the Urban Mass TransportationAct and how it's gone every five
to six years, there's been a newreauthorization, which authorizes
Congress to spend money over the nextfive years on public transportation.
Well that expires at the end of 2026.
(06:30):
So the House of Representatives,Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, you might hear the words HouseT&I Committee, they have a subcommittee
on highways and transportation thatis working on that reauthorization.
I actually went to Capitol Hill.
They did a listening session.
They had a bunch of groups there.
One of the groups I'm involvedwith, the North American Transit
Alliance, testified on it as didCTAA and APTA and the Bus Coalition.
(06:54):
They were all there.
Uh, testify.
I didn't personally testify, butwas there to support and talk to
the members staff that was there.
Uh, and then they had a publichearing where they had people come
and testify and now they're involvedin writing that Reauthorization
Act, they're still open to input.
And what I've been told just thisweek is that they plan to, they hope
to have that drafted complete, uh,by the end of summer, by the end
(07:16):
of August, uh, and then go in afterLabor Day come in and doing some other
work and then have it on the floor.
That's what they told me, their stafftold me by the end of the year, uh,
so that they can go through the voteand then it'll be sent to the Senate.
Uh, for their considerationin 2026 at some point.
So the good news isthat process is ongoing.
Things have not ground to ahalt in Washington when it
(07:37):
comes to public transportation.
So matter of fact, quite the opposite.
They're moving forward in a strong way.
Oh, that's such a relief 'causethere's been so much concern.
How about we move into topic numberthree, which is, is related and that's
the Trump administration priorities.
Biden administration was reallyleaning heavily into electric
fleets, electric vehicles.
What's important to the Trumpadministration when it comes
(07:57):
to public transportation?
This will be like, kind of like a, a cheatsheet for everyone who's in leadership
to know what talking points to usewhen they're putting things forward.
So they're speaking to the administration,who's deciding who's getting funding.
Yeah, that's right.
The previous administration wasfocused, as you mentioned, on
battery, electric buses, low carbon,
so the new administration, that'snot a priority to them, although.
(08:20):
You know when the Secretary ofTransportation spoke at the APTA,
at the APTA legislative conference,he's pretty clear that they're
not opposed to battery electric.
They're just opposed to federal mandates.
They want the local folks to decide.
You know what, what's best for you?
For instance, there are partsof our country where there's a
lot of compressed natural gas.
That is a lower emission fuel.
Places like Kansas City,Fort Worth, et cetera.
(08:41):
There's big places up in Canada,uh, where I've been up there,
uh, where there's a lot of CNG.
So the idea that I'm understanding is theTrump administration wants you to make
your local decision and they're not gonnaprioritize your request based on the fact
whether it's battery, electric or not.
And the other focus that I've heard isobviously we've all heard it, is safety.
Right?
Right.
Safety is number one.
(09:01):
It really is with this administrationwhen it comes to transportation funding
and public transportation in general.
I mean, the Secretary of Transportation'sridden the New York City Metro system
and talked to them about, you know,you've gotta do more on safety.
Uh, when we interviewed Randy Clarkerecently, the CEO of WMATA, he
told me that, you know, they hada letter sent to them, uh, that
required them to respond about whatare you doing to improve safety.
(09:23):
So we've seen really a shift, Julie, overthe last couple years where we were moving
away from police on transit and enforcingof fares, et cetera, to now swinging back
the pendulum, swinging back the other way,uh, where it is more focused on safety.
I think the other thing we're gonnahear coming out of Washington, the
whispers I'm hearing is a more focuson the core principles of not only
safety, but efficiency, reliability,and the customer experience, customer
(09:46):
satisfaction, they really want peoplewho, um, who use transit to be satisfied
with the services they're getting.
They want to be focusedon improving families.
They've even tied that into some of thefunding requests for prioritization.
So I think we're seeing a return totraditional, um, KPIs, key performance
indicators for transit (10:03):
safety, efficiency, reliability, customer service.
Those are the factors that I'm hearingthat new administration is focused on.
You know, as our transit agencies acrossNorth America are figuring out messaging.
I mean, they're, they've gotmarketing teams pushing out social
media, they've got people writinggrants, all of these things.
It seems to me, one of themessages I'm seeing that appears
to be really effective is pushingeconomic development, how transit is
(10:26):
helping with economic development.
And I know we've seen lots of examplesof that in our, in our filming when we've
been on location for Transit Unplugged TV.
There's a lot of episodes.
If people wanna sneak speak onhow to do TOD, you wanna share
a couple of those episodes?
Like who does it?
Well, I, I think, um, Kansas City,the KCATA has done TOD really well.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Frank White's out there.
(10:46):
Mm-hmm.
Just, I just saw him this week onLinkedIn talking about it again.
Yeah.
Uh, he's a good friend of theshow and doing a great job.
And also, uh, MikelOglesby, uh, in, um, Tucson.
Tucson, which is our number two watchedever show right behind Brisbane.
Uh, we did a big segment thereabout the $4 billion of economic
investment that their light rail linehas brought in over the last decade.
And so, uh, and we were justdown with Coree Cuff Lonergan.
(11:09):
Uh, in Broward County and, uh,their episode of the television
show will be coming out in August.
And, um, she's talking about the valueof, for the county, they're a county
agency, the value to the county or theeconomic development that the investment
in public transportation will bring.
So I think you're right.
That is another big factor when it comesto how transit can improve a community.
Yeah, I mean, our shows are reallymeant to be kind of like helpful guides
(11:31):
for everyone working in the industry.
So if you wanna pop on and look at anyof the Transit Unplugged TV episodes,
they're on YouTube and we've got atleast four really good shows talking
about transit oriented development,we've got the KCATA, I think SacRT
in Sacramento was mentioning it.
That's right.
Memphis MATA has a good story too.
So if you need like some tips on how todo it, check out what your colleagues
are doing and we've covered their storiesfor you, so you can check them out.
(11:54):
Alright, well, do you wanna dosome, uh, industry hot topics?
Do you wanna make a quick transitioninto that for a little bit?
Okay.
What about congestion pricing?
This has been such a big on-again,off-again story going on in New York City.
What, what are you hearing?
What's the latest?
Yeah, so we, it's, it'sa great question, Julie.
We've had a couple shows with people inNew York, in the past, but that's the
(12:18):
last update's been like six months ago.
Mm-hmm.
I think most people know that ingeneral, congestion charging, you
know, they have it in Singapore, theyhave it in London, they have it a few
other places where basically there's atag reader that reads your tag as you
come into a predefined area, uh, oran easy pass, and you'll get a charge
in an area that is heavily congested.
And the thought is it will reducecongestion in that area and
(12:40):
reduce the smog, and mitigate thepollution that's in that area.
So New York had talked about doing itfor a long time, New York City, uh, and
they finally did it and launched it,the Central Business District Tolling
Program on January 5th of this year.
And it applies to vehicles enteringManhattan, south of 60th street.
It's called the Congestion Relief Zone.
And during peak hours driversare charged $9 per entry.
(13:02):
The toll is about 75% lower overnight.
Over time, the tolls are intended toincrease to $12 by 2028 and $15 by 2031.
What's the impact been?
Well, it's still earlyin the program, right?
We've only had about four or fivemonths, about five months worth
of data, but so far it looks liketraffic in daily traffic in the
congestion zone has dropped around 10%.
(13:24):
Around 70 to 80,000 less vehiclesdecline over the previous year.
Vehicles are now moving, we are told,five to 10% faster during the peak
periods, so it has reduced trafficcongestion some in New York City.
How much money has it generated?
Well, so far, for the first four monthsof 2025 through the end of April, it's
generated about $216 million, and soit's tracking to collect around $500
(13:50):
million a year from the congestioncharging, and those funds are earmarked
for the MTAs capital program, uh,including essential repairs and upgrades.
And I'm happy to kindof get a preview today.
We've just gotten the thumbs up thatI'm gonna be able to interview the
new president of MTA, New York City.
That'll be an upcomingepisode later this year.
Uh, now what's happening onthe legal side of things?
(14:11):
Most folks know the Trump administrationattempted to revoke federal approval and
threatened to withhold funding in New Yorkas related to that, but the MTA secured a
temporary injunction and a federal judgehas blocked the Trump administration's
attempt to cut funding keeping tollingin place, at least through this month,
and they may give some extensions.
So that's the current status of it.
That's interesting.
Um, I do a weekly Transit Unplugged NewsMinute for those of you who don't know,
(14:34):
and I came across a report on this too.
This report was saying that the tollis, uh, reducing traffic delays by 25%,
this particular report and that theysaid that drivers are saving 17 minutes
for every hour that they previouslyspent an hour in their car there.
It's just so it's interesting to watch.
Are you getting any vibes of othercities in the U.S. giving this a
shot or they, is everybody kindof all eyes on New York right now?
(14:57):
All eyes are on New York.
I mean, there's always been talkabout maybe in LA or in Chicago,
there's been some discussion, butnothing serious as far as I've heard.
Okay.
One other hot topic and then we'llmove into where you're gonna be so our
audience can have a chance to build a, abigger community and, and work together.
I'm curious about something thatyou covered in a podcast episode
recently, something I'd never heardof before called Green Hydrogen.
(15:19):
What do you know?
What is this?
Yeah.
So, you know, most folks know thathydrogen is one of the fuels that
we're using to power buses now,um, the, the four big fuels right
now for buses are clean diesel,uh, which is still the majority of
vehicles on the road in America.
Two would be compressed natural gas, CNG.
Um, three would be this hydrogen fueland four would be battery electric.
(15:42):
So battery electric has been the up andcoming technology over the last decade.
It's been really pushed bythe Biden administration.
As I mentioned, it won't be pushedby the Trump administration.
They basically announced thatthey're not prioritizing that or
giving you a priority based on that.
Uh, but they're notgonna oppose it either.
It's up to the locals, what thesecretary said at the APTA conference.
So hydrogen though.
And in my book right here,I have two or three chapters
(16:05):
focused on that, uh, on hydrogen.
'cause I, I really believe itis an up and coming technology
for those who are interested in,um, cleaner emissions from it.
So green hydrogen, uh, is a, is aclean fuel produced by using renewable
electricity, uh, like solar or wind.
Um, a lot of regular hydrogencan produce, be being used.
Um, natural gas, the ideais it's electrolysis.
(16:28):
The process is to split the watermolecule into hydrogen and oxygen, right?
H2O and you take out the hydrogenand that becomes a powered fuel.
And the only only water vaporis the byproduct, right.
Of that.
Mm-hmm.
So it's a super clean.
I've heard people even, you know,drinking, talk about all kinds of things,
drinking and all that, which I would neverrecommend anybody do, but don't do it.
I've never seen it.
It's very clean.
So, unlike traditional hydrogen madefrom natural gas, green hydrogen has
(16:51):
zero carbon emissions because it's used.
The, the power source used to createthe electrolysis is a renewable source,
you know, such as wind or solar.
That's the idea.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Well thank you that that'ssomething I hadn't heard about yet.
I'd heard about the hydrogen,but not the green hydrogen.
Okay.
Well I think we need to do an in caseyou missed it segment and that is what
(17:11):
are some recent shows that our audienceshould not miss or they'll be left behind?
'cause you've been talking a lot of reallyinteresting newsmakers in our industry.
Yeah.
Michele Stiehler is our, uh, fromBoston, the MBTA paratransit manager.
That's our biggest listened to showprobably of the last year or two.
I t talks about what's happening inBoston when it comes to paratransit.
(17:32):
For those of you who are headedto Boston, like I will be in
September for the APTA conference.
Uh, it's a good kind of, um.
Uh, predicate to getting there,understanding about what's
going on in the Boston area.
As for our television show,uh, I would encourage people to
tune into the Tucson episode.
People always ask you, you know,what was your favorite show?
And I don't really have a favorite show.
Uh, they're all great, you know, it'slike, ask, I have six children ask me,
(17:54):
which one is your favorite children?
Yeah, exactly.
I'm not gonna tell you that, at least.
Right.
But, but, um, keep that to yourselfor my nine grandkids, right?
So, um, but I, uh, but I can say theshow for me last year that was the most
fun to make was in Fairbanks, Alaska.
It was such a great experience there.
Uh, the team that was up inFairbanks was very welcoming.
(18:14):
They were just coming out of a long winterand, uh, so the spring was in everybody's
step, and it was a fantastic area.
For this year, this past year,so far, it's been Tucson.
Tucson was such a blast.
Uh, and there's so many fun, interestingthings that I did not expect.
You know, the amazing food scene wedid there with a guy in the restaurant
and, and the whole scene about,you know, gangsters being caught in
(18:37):
the hotel that we were staying inand all that kind of great stuff.
It was, um, fun, interesting storiesand a great transit story with
Mikel Oglesby and his team thereabout how transit has really become
integral to the community of Tucson.
So those are two shows onthe TV side I'd recommend.
I think I'll throw one intoo from my point of view.
Um, you did something a little bitdifferent with one of our episodes,
which I think would be reallyinteresting for people to watch, and
(18:59):
that was with Washington, with WMATA.
You did a "How Do I Get There?" episode.
And it's really a great way for, youknow, other transit agencies may wanna
model making videos or you know, maybewe can come and shoot for you, whatever.
But this kind of idea of showing peoplehow we can get places step by step.
Do you wanna talk a littlebit about that episode?
(19:21):
Yeah, sure.
So, you know, when we think about episodesof our Transit Unplugged TV show, we do
12 a year by the way, it's a monthly show.
This podcast is weeklyinterviewing a different executive.
But, uh, for 2027, 2025, wethought it'd be fun to do a show.
Jaime Cuadra, our, our video directoractually had the idea for me initially
and said it'd be great to do ashow all about how do I get there.
(19:41):
In every show we do one segment,how do I ride local transit
to get to an iconic location.
You know, maybe it's the, uh, uh, it'sa castle or it's a downtown, or it's
the convention center or whatever.
So, um, and we show, okay,this is how you ride it.
You get on this bus, you paythis amount, and you ride.
It takes 20 minutes and you get there.
So it is again, an on-ramp for peoplehow to use public transportation.
(20:04):
It familiarizes them withthem and socializes the
concept of riding with them.
We did a show all about WashingtonDC, what a great show, right?
I mean, what a great city.
It's got, you know, the, themall, the monuments, right?
Uh, the music that's there.
And so we did that.
We rode the bus, we rode the metro.
We rode bikes, we rode scooters.
We rode a water taxi.
We rode the streetcar, we rodethe metro, we rode it all.
(20:25):
We even rode a tourist bus, uh,and showed you how to get around
the city and you don't need a car.
And like Randy Clarke said, theCEO we interviewed, he's the only
interview we did on that show.
He's like, oh, renting a car.
That'd be a big mistake, is theCEO parking is very expensive.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, heavilycongested and all that.
But I also wanna throw in a quick note.
We don't have all of ourepisodes picked out yet for 2026.
(20:48):
Right.
So if your city isinterested in being featured.
It's all positive, all upbeat.
You get hundreds of thousands ofviews around the world, let us know.
Reach out and let me knowif you're interested.
We have about six or seven episodesthat we're pretty locked in on, but
I've got four or five openings leftfor later in the year that we could
do, or even earlier in the year.
Let us know if you're interested in being.
There's no cost to a city, transit agency.
The only cost is your time andenergy of helping us produce it
(21:10):
and put it together and identifyinglocations we can visit, et cetera.
Yeah, just drop it in thenotes of the show episode.
We, we would love to hear from you.
Okay.
Well, let's wrap things up with whereTransit Unplugged is going to be.
How can our community connect with usto build better public transportation?
Where in the world isPaul Comfort going to be?
What's coming up?
Yeah.
One of the great things about that Ilove about Transit Unplugged is we've
built it into a whole community, right?
(21:31):
Mm-hmm.
We have thousands of people, 2,500people are on our newsletter list,
uh, and we have thousands of peoplethat kind of follow the show and
what we're doing, and they knowabout the TV show and the podcast.
What they may not be fully aware ofis that we also have a whole live
program segment where we go and dolive CEO roundtables around the world.
We bring a bunch of CEOs together onone stage and we do a live program.
(21:53):
People can watch, we sometimes recordthem and play 'em afterwards on
Transit Unplugged, but not always.
We've done 'em from places, fromBarcelona, right to Kansas City and
many cities in between, uh, wherewe bring three or four CEOs together
and we ask them what are the trendsthat are affecting them right now,
and what's it like to be a CEO.
So you can come out and meet us
and greet us and be part of the team.
We'll get you on camera if you can, or, orwe'll maybe even have you on the podcast.
(22:16):
Chris, uh, you know, our producerof the podcast and I recently
were at the CTAA Expo in SanDiego, and he had a great idea.
Why don't we just do an openmic and invite people to talk
on, you know, on the show.
And so we did.
And so we're gonna try more of that.
So anyway, here's where we're coming.
We're gonna be filming inConnecticut, coming up in mid-July.
With Ben Limmer and CT Transit,we're filming a full episode
of Transit Unplugged TV.
(22:37):
We're gonna show you the place wherehamburgers were invented in America, and
we're gonna eat one exactly how they'remade there as a little hint, they don't
let you put mustard on it, really.
And um, and we're gonna go toMark Twain's house, you know,
and hopefully get a tour of that.
And then we're gonna show youall the great things they've
got going on in transit there.
At the end of July, I'm happy to saywe're gonna be going to the Southwest
(22:58):
Transit Association SWATA conference,um, with our buddy Rich there.
Uh, the whole team, Julie, youcan mention this if you want.
We're going to podcast movement.
Talk about that.
Oh, well, we just wanna make surethat we're always providing you the
highest quality of programming soyou know what's going on in your
industry and you're connected.
And so this is kind of us gettinga workshop on how to do better
at podcasting, and YouTube too.
(23:19):
, It's really interesting in ourindustry, on the media side, to
see how much YouTube has reallytaken over for video podcasting.
It is huge.
So we just wanna make sure we'reproviding you with the best quality
content possible, so you're upto date on everything and we know
what we're doing, so we're excited.
Our entire team will be going to that one.
Yeah.
And if you're listening to thispodcast on traditional platforms of
(23:39):
Spotify or, or Apple or some other,uh, TransitUnplugged.com, you may
not realize that this is our firstvideo episode, uh, we've ever done.
Uh, for, we've been doing a hybridshow on YouTube where when I interview
people, it's audio, but we'll putup some pictures of when I was
talking to them or interviewing them.
This is the first one we'vedone full video with Julie and
I, and so, uh, stop listeningright now and go over to YouTube.
(24:01):
No, I'm just kidding.
Go over to YouTube and check it out.
Just check us out atTransit Unplugged Podcast.
Put that in on YouTube.
Then I'm excited to be the keynotespeaker in Kentucky at their Kentucky
Transit Association on August 27th.
Uh, I'll be speaking there largelyon the topic of my new book on,
um, uh, and some other topics.
Five Traits of a FutureTransit Leader there as well.
And then shortly after that, the next weekI think I'll be, at the Midwest Transit
(24:25):
Association Conference, keynote speech.
I think that's in Kansas City.
that's on September 4th and I'llbe moderating, uh, a CEO panel.
We're filming an episodeof Transit Unplugged TV.
Our big international episode thisyear we're filming is in Italy, and
so we'll be going there in September.
We're gonna tour Milan.
Florence and Rome.
I just booked the rooms actuallythis morning, uh, for that trip.
And so we're excited.
(24:46):
Uh, we're gonna talk to the transitleaders in all three cities.
It'll be great.
And then of course we'll be atAPTA Transform, later in September,
mid-September, where I'll bemoderating the CEO roundtable.
We're already lining up theCEOs who are gonna be on it.
That'll be at the Vontas boothon the trade show floor there.
So a lot happening.
A lot of, um, events where youcan come and kind of see us
in person if you'd like to.
I can't wait.
I, I knew we were shooting in Milan.
(25:07):
I didn't realize you're gonna be in Rome.
I would love to see a video of youtrying to cross the street in Rome.
Oh yeah.
I've never been there, so maybe we'll try.
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
Well I can't wait to see what youguys learn and, and I can't wait
to hear about their transit system.
'cause that is a very,very, busy, busy street.
Like it's crazy.
It's good.
It's fun.
Yep.
Excellent.
(25:28):
Well, this is great.
So that's kind of the, the summaryof what we've got going on.
This is our first episode, kinda givingyou an update on what you need to know,
uh, a little more behind the scenes.
Paul is so wired in, he's, he's in a lotof closed door meetings with a lot of
influencers so he's always respectfulabout not, you know, putting anyone out
in, in the limelight that doesn't needto be, but he can share information.
(25:49):
So thank you for doing that, Paul.
This has been fun.
Should we get feedback on if we shoulddo more of these kinds of episodes?
That'd be great.
Uh, you can drop a note as Juliementioned in the comments of the
podcast, where you hear it, or you canemail us at info@transitunplugged.com.
And for those of you who are interestedin a little more behind the scenes
information of what's happeningin our larger Modaxo Media Group,
hold on for two more minutes andJulie's gonna give you an update.
(26:10):
Transit Unplugged is, was the, um,you know, kinda the foundation for
a group that our boss Rod Jones puttogether called the Modaxo Media Group.
And the thought was, we'd like to sharewhat's happening in the industries
that we serve as a software company.
We never promote our software.
but the idea is that we wannapromote our industries that we serve.
And, um, so you heading up the grouphas been, have helped us produce
(26:31):
and behind the scenes handle allthe business and the finance side of
everything for the last few years.
But now we're actually entering intonew products, uh, and new pro and
new areas that we're focusing on.
You wanna tell us
about that a little bit?
Yeah.
I'm gonna start by saying we couldn'tdo this if we weren't able to add
some really key people to our team.
So in addition to Jaime Cuadra, who'sour video director, who makes Transit
(26:52):
Unplugged TV look great, and Tatyana,who's in London, who does an amazing.
Social media program for us, we've nowadded two superstars that are allowing
us to expand and provide you withmore content that hopefully we you
find useful in your day-to-day life.
So I just wanna say welcomeaboard to Cyndi Raskin.
She brings deep transit experiences,worked in the Florida, up and down
(27:12):
Florida transit industries, and she'shelping us really make the TV and
video part of our, our work just shine.
And then we also brought in ChrisO'Keeffe, who has developed and
produced award-winning podcasts.
Uh, he's worked on all kindsof, who's, who's from MIT
and Amazon, Cirque de Soleil.
He is helping us.
scale our podcast programs, and that'swhere we're leaning in right now.
(27:34):
So a lot of us in the transitspace are also interested in
other ways we move people.
So if you want to know a littlebit more about what's going on
with parking and curb management,that impacts transit a lot.
We are starting a newshow called Parking Live.
We have two really great voices, onebased in the UK, one based in Chicago.
(27:55):
We have Jade Neville and Matt Darst.
They are big influencers in that space.
They both have done a lot to make parking.
I mean, who knew parking was afull industry, but it truly is.
So we've just started Parking Live.
You can find out more information aboutthat if you check them out on LinkedIn.
And then Chris is also helping us
spearhead a new, uh, airport and aviationpodcast called The Aviation Report.
(28:16):
And we're in the beginning stages ofthat, but a lot of, we're trying to do
the same deep dive in industry like we'redoing for transit with Transit Unplugged.
We're now doing this for aviationairports and parking and curb space.
So stay tuned and we willshare more info as it unfolds.
Well, thanks again, Julie, for being,uh, joining me on this, this episode, the
special episode of Transit Unplugged, thepodcast, uh, Transit Unplugged Insider.
(28:39):
I think we're gonna call it.
Love it.
And as we show you theinside, what's happening?
Any final thoughts you have?
No, just thanks to everyonethat I, I've find the transit
community so inspirational.
Um, I've never worked in an industrywhere the leaders worked together so well.
There's no rivalry.
There's no competition.
Maybe there's playful competition whenwe're all up against, you know, for awards
or things, but for the most part, thespirit of the people here is incredible.
(29:02):
So it's just an honor for us.
to create programming to help keeppeople connected and informed.
Very good.
And thank you for being with us.
today on this episodeof Transit Unplugged.
Uh, be sure to tune in everyweek on your favorite platform.
Check us out on YouTube if youwanna see as well as hear some
of what we're talking about.
We've got some great guestscoming up right around the corner.
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