Saturday, April 13

Registration

Bus & Paratransit CEOs Committee

Rail Transit CEOs Committee

Opening General Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

What are the attributes of a great transit system? Despite all the hype today about the latest innovations, it really is not about the technology or the mode, but comes down to quality and frequency of service, meeting the specific needs of all types of transit riders, the role of buildings, streets and sidewalks, and above all, getting transit in and to the right places.

Keynote speaker Christof Spieler, author of Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of U.S. Transit, will discuss how geography, politics, and history all conspire to define – and complicate – our very different transit systems, but that the ultimate goals for all remain pretty much the same.

• Paul P. Skoutelas, President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC

• Christof Spieler, PE, AICP, LEED AP, Director of Planning, Huitt-Zollars, Inc., Houston, TX

CEO Introductions

Lightening Round Attendee Introductions

• Leanne P. Redden, Executive Director, Regional Transportation Authority, Chicago, IL

Networking Break

Leadership Session: Building and Protecting the CEO Brand

In today’s world of instantaneous “breaking news!” and relentless social media, the transit CEO’s reputation can go from good-to-bad (or bad-to-good) in an instant, often based on factors entirely outside the control of the CEO. How can the transit CEO build, maintain, and protect his or her personal brand while navigating the challenges of operating a complex, multi-headed organization? This session explores the issue of one’s personal brand – expert advice on how to create it and CEO lessons-learned on how to immunize it from the threats inherent in the job.

• Elizabeth Presutti, AICP, Deputy Director, Chief Administrative Officer, Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte, NC

• Tess Vismale, CMP, DES, Chief Event Executioner, iSocialExecution, Inc.; Speaker; Event Evangelist, Dahlia+ Agency, Melrose, MA

• Phillip A. Washington, Chief Executive Office, Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, CO
• Donna DeMartino, Board Member, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), San Marcos, CA
• Gary C Thomas, National Rail & Transit Lead, H. W. Lochner, Inc., Dallas, TX
• Jorge Cruz-Aedo, Chief Executive Officer, Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority, Corpus Christi, TX

Public Transportation CEO Coordinating Council

Welcome Reception

Renew friendships and introduce yourself to your colleagues at this high energy gathering that is sure to set the tone of professional development and networking for the seminar.

 

Sunday, April 14

Registration

Breakfast

Building Your LinkedIn Profile

Stop in and meet one-on-one with Dahlia+'s Tess Vismale, CMP, DES, an expert on enhancing your LinkedIn credentials and networking page. Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Labor Issues Update

Greg Dash returns to discuss and analyze recent trends in U.S. labor and labor relations. Please bring the labor reports, provided at the APTA registration desk, with you to the session. 

• Gregory Dash, President, John A. Dash & Associates, Havertown, PA

Networking Break

Technology Session: When is the Right Time to Commit to New Technology?

Technology advances relentlessly, and no sooner do you buy one model, the next model arrives. For major technology decisions – electric versus CNG buses; financial and management software; ticketing and scheduling apps – how to choose and when to commit to new technology can have profound and expensive consequences. In this session, CEOs discuss the factors that drove their big technology decisions, and how they turned out.

• Jeff Hiott, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Washington, DC

• Tina Quigley, Senior Vice President Business Strategy, Brightline Trains Florida LLC, Las Vegas, NV
• Joanna M. Pinkerton, President/CEO, Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), Columbus, OH
• Vernon J. Everitt, Transport for London, London, United Kingdom
• Dr. Joshua Schank, Ph.D., Managing Principal, InfraStrategies LLC, Los Angeles, CA

Luncheon: How Changing Demographics Will Impact Transit and Cities

The world was a stationary place for a long time, but that’s not the case today. Demographic shifts are dramatically changing where people live, how they live, how long they live, and their quality of life. Mike Alexander, Director of the Center for Livable Communities at the Atlanta Regional Commission, explores the shifts that are shaping, and reshaping, our world and, importantly, those that use and depend on public transportation.

• Dawn Distler, Chief Executive Officer, METRO Regional Transit Authority, Akron, OH

• Mike Alexander, Director, Center for Livable Communities, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), Atlanta, GA

Leadership Session: Building a Solid CEO-Board Relationship and Successful Board-CEO Techniques

Drawing on their new book, Building a Solid Board-CEO Partnership, David Stackrow and Doug Eadie will describe – and lead discussion about – the preeminent keys to building and maintaining a close, productive, and enduring relationship between the board and CEO, including: meticulously managing the board-CEO working relationship; updating the board’s governing structure; developing the board’s self-management capacity; and actively engaging board members in shaping their governing decisions and judgments.

Following the discussion, CEOs Nuria Fernandez, David Genova, and Matt Carpenter will describe techniques they have successfully employed in cementing the working relationship with their boards.

• David M. Stackrow, Sr., CPA, Member, Board of Directors, Capital District Transportation Authority, Albany, NY
• Doug Eadie, President & CEO, Doug Eadie & Company, Clearwater, FL

• David M. Stackrow, Sr., CPA, Member, Board of Directors, Capital District Transportation Authority, Albany, NY

• Hon. Nuria I. Fernandez, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Washington, DC
• Matt Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority, Ann Arbor, MI
• David Genova, Director of Transit Advisory Services, Hatch, Denver, CO

Networking Break

Building Your LinkedIn Profile

Stop in and meet one-on-one with Dahlia+'s Tess Vismale, CMP, DES, an expert on enhancing your LinkedIn credentials and networking page. Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis.

MaaS: The Story So Far

Vernon Everitt of Transport for London will discuss what a fully integrated mobility ecosystem looks like.

• Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., Chief Executive Officer, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Jacksonville, FL

• Vernon J. Everitt, Transport for London, London, United Kingdom

30-second Scrum: Big versus Small - Contrasting Worlds

On many issues, large and small transit systems see the world very differently, reflecting the type of services provided, their ridership and customer needs, and the underlying politics that impact funding and public perceptions. This session will contrast big and small through rapid-fire questions, and a max of 30-second responses, to a CEO of a small system and a CEO of a large system on a wide range of professional, personal, and serendipitous issues, with a dose of audience peppering as well.

• Leanne P. Redden, Executive Director, Regional Transportation Authority, Chicago, IL

• Dorval R. Carter, Jr., Immediate Past Chair, APTA; and President, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago, IL

• Carl G. Sedoryk, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Monterey-Salinas Transit, Monterey, CA

Sunday Reception

Monday, April 15

Breakfast

General Session: FTA Update

The Honorable K. Jane Williams, Acting Federal Transit Administrator, will discuss transit-related issues in the President’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2020 Budget, provide an update on FTA programs/initiatives, and take questions from CEOs. Joining her from the FTA will be Kelley Brookins, FTA Region 5 Administrator, Matt Welbes, Executive Director, and Henrika Buchanan, Acting Associate Administrator for Safety & Oversight.

• Hon. Nuria I. Fernandez, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Washington, DC

• Hon. K. Jane Williams, Deputy Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC

• Kelley Brookins, Regional Administrator, Region 5, Federal Transit Administration, Chicago, IL
• Matthew Welbes, Executive Director, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC
• Henrika Buchanan, Vice President - National Practice Consultant, Transit/Rail, HNTB Corporation, Arlington, VA

Building Your LinkedIn Profile

Stop in and meet one-on-one with Dahlia+'s Tess Vismale, CMP, DES, an expert on enhancing your LinkedIn credentials and networking page. Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Legislative Update

Congress is in session and the potential for major legislative action is high, including reauthorization of the Fast Act, a new infrastructure bill, and a myriad of other initiatives. APTA’s Ward McCarragher will provide an update on the latest activities in Washington, APTA’s approach and plans to advance the public transportation agency agenda, and the challenges ahead.

• Ward W. McCarragher, Vice President-Government Affairs and Advocacy, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC

Networking Break

General Session: Homelessness, Affordable Housing, and Ridership - Three Converging Challenges

TOD is credited with transforming transit station areas into thriving mixed-used developments that attract big-name retail, corporate offices, and posh new residential areas. Rising land values and rents, however, can push those most dependent on public transit further away, and make housing even less affordable. The result can be growing homelessness near transit stations, negatively impacting ridership and the transit experience. A panel of transit CEOs on the front lines of addressing homelessness offer best practices and options for meeting these converging and interrelated challenges.

• Peter M. Rogoff, Managing Partner, Contorta Group, Seattle, WA

• Gary C Thomas, National Rail & Transit Lead, H. W. Lochner, Inc., Dallas, TX
• Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, CA
• John M. Lewis, Jr., Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte, NC
• Kevin B. Quinn, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink), New Westminster, BC

Greetings from Chicago Mayor

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, serving his final days as Mayor of Chicago, has been a strong supporter of public transportation across his career, including his time in Washington as a Member of Congress and Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama, and during his eight years as mayor. Mayor Emanuel will offer his thoughts on public transportation and his experience as mayor of the nation’s third largest city.

• Dorval R. Carter, Jr., Immediate Past Chair, APTA; and President, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago, IL

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel, City of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Luncheon: The New Media - Where Younger People Get Their News

Long gone are the days when the family sat down before Walter Cronkite to hear the evening news. Media-savvy Millennials look to Reddit, Facebook, Vox, and Twitter for information on the events shaping their world, media sources many older Americans know little about. Michael Barthel, Senior Researcher at Pew Research, and Nick Johnston, Editor-in-Chief at Axios, will discuss how younger people today get their news, what news gets reported, and what it means for transit agencies that often are impacted by the news.

• Jennifer Bergener, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Orange County Transportation Authority, Orange, CA

• Michael Barthel, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Center, Washington, DC
• Nick Johnston, Editor-in-Chief, Axios, Arlington, VA

Who Owns the Data: Have We Reached the Tipping Point?

One of the most potent challenges in the new mobility environment is the ownership and control of data – from maps and route planning to trip histories and travel patterns. How long will Goggle Maps be free and what happens when, as appears to be the case in some instances, Goggle starts charging for data about a transit agencies own customers? Should data be public or is it appropriate for a technology company to sell access to its data? Should APTA lead an effort to define the rules for transit data? This will be a candid strategy session to discuss how public transportation agencies, and APTA as the voice of the industry, can and should tackle this issue.

• Paul C. Jablonski, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), San Diego, CA

• Tna Morch-Pierre, Sr. Director, Innovation, Transdev, Lombard, IL
• Dr. Joshua Schank, Ph.D., Managing Principal, InfraStrategies LLC, Los Angeles, CA

CEO Rap

An hour of un-programmed time for CEOs to discuss whatever is on their minds. 

• Phillip A. Washington, Chief Executive Office, Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, CO

Networking Break

Moving On - Life After the C-Suite

All transit CEOs eventually must consider whether to remain in a current position, switch to a new transit property, or leave the CEO role for a new position in or out of the industry. When is the right time to leave? What factors should be weighed when considering a new job? Speakers will discuss the professional and personal factors they considered in making fundamental career decisions, whether changing to a new transit CEO position or to something entirely different, including retirement.

• Paul P. Skoutelas, President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC

• Richard J. Simonetta, Richard J. Simonetta, Winter Haven, FL
• Raymond J. Melleady, Executive Vice President, United Safety & Survivability Corporation, Exton, PA
• Robert H. Prince, Jr., Principal, Footprince, Jacksonville, FL

Closing Reception

Join your fellow CEOs as you reflect on the lessons learned at the 2019 Transit CEOs Seminar, and take this time to make connections to strengthen your leadership and agency.