Join APTA and APTA's Center for Transportation Excellence (CFTE) for insights from transit funding measures on the November 2025 ballot.  This post-election webinar will provide timely analysis and actionable insights for transit agencies, advocates, and stakeholders committed to the future of transit. 

The webinar will also include discussion exploring how advocacy campaigns and transit providers can work together to build strong, coordinated partnerships that improve public understanding and voter support for transit initiatives.

Speakers: 

• Art Guzzetti, Vice President - Policy and Mobility, APTA
  
• Jessica Grennan, Executive Director, APTA Center for Transportation Excellence
• John Dulmes, Executive Director, Michigan Public Transit Association
• Matt Raymond, President & CEO, Celtis

This webinar will introduce APTA members to the fundamentals of Safety Certification—what it is, why it matters, and how it adds value—while showcasing Baltimore’s real-world experience. The session will cover:

• What Safety Certification is?
• Why it is required?
• Steps in the process?
• Best practices from APTA’s Recommended Practice on Safety Certification

It will highlight MDOT MTA’s CBTC project, where new technology played a central role in risk reduction and Safety Certification. The presentation will explore CBTC’s impact on train throughput and protections, and how Hitachi’s CENELEC certifications aligned with FTA’s Safety Certification process.

Panelist:

• Kevin Jones, TSSP, WSO-CSSD/CSE, PTSCTP, TSSP; Principal, DSS+; Pittsburg, PA

Get ready for the APTA Legislative Advocacy Fly-In by attending this briefing webinar.

We are hosting the Advocacy Fly-In for APTA members to visit with their Members of Congress on October 22. Online registration is available for the 2025 Fly-In.

This webinar will share our latest advocacy tools and messaging guides, discuss the Advocacy Day Soapbox platform, and prepare participants for effective meetings on Capitol Hill.

Panelists:

• Beth Holbrook, Chair, APTA Legislative Committee; and Trustee, Utah Transit Authority
• Raymond Melleady, Chair, APTA Business Member Board of Governors; and President, Ster Seating
• Caroline Decker, Chair, APTA Business Member Legislative Subcommittee; and Chief Governmental Affairs Officer, GFT Inc.
• Stephen Kendrick, APTA, Senior Program Manager, Communications and Marketing
• Jared Bonina, APTA, Policy Analyst, Policy Development and Research, GAA
• Kevin Schutlze, President, Soapbox Consulting, LLC

Moderator:

• Jillian Kinder, Legislative Representative, APTA Government Affairs and Advocacy

Although data indicates that transit systems are safe - in fact, transit riders are less likely to be the victim of a crime as compared to car drivers - riders’ perception that systems are not safe has led to negative customer satisfaction surveys and in some cases, a reduction in, or an aversion to, transit - even more so in the post-COVID era.

We interviewed executive leaders in transit to understand their challenges related to safety and security on their systems and the strategies they have implemented to address them. When available, we also assessed available data to understand the efficacy of these strategies. The analysis enabled us to glean common themes, trends, and associated best practices on how agencies are addressing safety and security concerns and perceptions on their systems.

This analysis provides transit agencies with recommendations on specific strategies with proven success. By addressing passenger and community safety - both perceived and actual - transit systems can enhance overall safety performance, customer satisfaction, and potentially increase ridership. All of these factors can support agencies as they transition from the era of COVID into a positive, “new normal” for transit.

Project Team:

• Bonnie Epstein, PSTA, Co-Coordinator;
• Lance MacNiven, WSP, Co-Coordinator;
• Kim Tucker, Orange County Transportation Authority;
• Mary Hill, TriMet; Arlana Johnson, Chicago Transit Authority;
• John Urgo, Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District

Mega-events—whether global sporting spectacles, major cultural festivals, or high-profile civic celebrations—place extraordinary demands on transit systems. They also present rare opportunities to accelerate infrastructure upgrades, strengthen regional partnerships, and elevate the customer experience in ways that endure long after the crowds go home.

Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with executives, operations leaders, customer experience specialists, and public–private partners—as well as real-world case studies from agencies including Transport for London, NJ Transit, CapMetro, COTA, and MARTA—this session presents a proven framework for planning, delivering, and sustaining transit excellence across the three critical phases of a mega-event: Pre-Event, During Event, and Post-Event.

Four strategic pillars underpin the framework:

• Partnerships: Building purposeful, high-value alliances early, from event organizers to tech providers, with clear roles, shared goals, and legacy-focused agreements.
• Customer Information: Delivering real-time, intuitive, and unified “wayfeeling” through consistent visual language, integrated mobile tools, and event-specific wayfinding.
• Service & Operations: Prioritizing reliability and flexibility, deploying ambassador programs, and using “gateway” events to pilot innovative technology and staffing models.
• Safety & Security: Combining visible human presence, CPTED-informed design, and targeted tech pilots to enhance both actual and perceived safety. Participants will gain insight into how agencies can turn high-profile moments into long-term strategic wins—turning smooth game-day performance into sustained ridership, improved public perception, and embedded operational improvements. The session will share our golden timeline—a practical planning roadmap showing when and how to align investments with each stage of the event lifecycle—and a toolbox of replicable tactics ready for adaptation across agency sizes and contexts.

Key takeaways:

• Proven tactics for forging enduring partnerships and unlocking funding through mega-events.
• Methods for delivering seamless, stress-free journeys under peak demand.
• Strategies to embed temporary improvements—lanes, shelters, wayfinding—into the permanent network.
• Practical tools for post-event retention and building a positive ridership legacy.

Whether preparing for the next global spotlight or a regional showcase, attendees will leave with a clear, actionable blueprint to prepare, perform, and prevail—turning short-term challenges into lasting transit success.

Project Team:

• Justin Umagat, King County Metro, Co-Coordinator
• Sam Sargent, VTA, Co-Coordinator
• Howaida Kamel, MBTA
• Juan Carbonell, Masabi
• Paul DesRocher, Colorado DOT
• Jamie Adelman, DART

Congratulations, you made it! You’ve reached the top of your organization and now have the chance to shape the future of transportation in your region. But with leadership comes a flood of new and competing demand.

Running a transit agency means navigating a constant mix of daily crises and strategic decisions, often without a clear roadmap.

That’s where The CEO Compass: Strategies for New Transit Executives comes in.

Through candid interviews with 30 transit leaders from 13 U.S. states and Canada, we highlight the hard-earned insights that helped them lead with clarity, confidence, and impact. This guide distills their wisdom into four high-impact areas: Mobilization, Stakeholders, Connections, and Succession.

Whether you're planning your first 100 days or thinking about the legacy you’ll leave behind, The CEO Compass offers real-world leadership strategies for the industry from the ultimate experts, other transit CEOs.

Project Team:

• Jay Rank, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, Co-Coordinator
• Charlotte Obodzinski, Pace Suburban Bus, Co-Coordinator
• Michael Henry, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
• Nicole Ramos, OMNITRANS
• Shanita Wilkinson, WMATA

Transit agencies face a critical challenge in determining how to balance internal staff and third-party experts when delivering major capital expansion programs. Agencies new to capital delivery may struggle with early decisions due to limited in-house expertise – missteps that can jeopardize a program’s long-term success. For others, a perceived imbalance during expansion can be difficult to correct midstream.

 Our capstone team conducted several months of industry research on recent capital expansion programs across the United States, seeking to better understand if there was a “right” balance between public and private sector staffing when advancing a capital expansion program. Through discussions with industry leaders, survey findings, and case studies, we found that there was not a simple, “one-size fits all” answer. Each program that we researched employed a unique approach to capital expansion that was shaped by the history and needs of the implementing agency (or agencies) and various location-specific drivers, such as political dynamics, governance models, funding structure, program scope, and more. In all cases, however, the principles of sound upfront planning, clear roles and governance, strong communication, and adaptability help to set a program up for success. This paper offers strategic insights and valuable takeaways for agencies regardless of where they are in the program lifecycle and what approach they have or plan to take.

Project Team:

• Katherine Ward, NJ Transit, Co-Coordinator
• Leann Caver, C-TRAN, Co-Coordinator
• Amanda Vandegrift, WeGo Public Transit
• Stephen Loehr, MTA Construction and Development
• Ben Stupka, Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan
• Schneider St. Preux, Miami-Dade Transit

Transit agencies are asked to deliver safe, reliable service while simultaneously demonstrating measurable economic and social value to their communities. Federal, state, and local leaders, as well as the public they represent, increasingly demand to see clear, human-centered outcomes from transit investments. Our capstone investigates how some agencies are using communications in response to this challenge to build long-lasting, resilient support for their major capital programs.

Through interviews with leading transit agencies across the country and consultations with APTA leadership, our team sought to identify how agencies can more effectively frame their benefits in ways that resonate with all stakeholders across all funding levels. The result is the “Transit Trifecta”: a framework that integrates Brand, Data, and Story into a cohesive strategy for building trust, demonstrating value, and earning enduring support.

Our findings show that when agencies successfully align these three elements, they create more than temporary momentum for a single project; they build resilient, long-term advocacy. This advocacy extends from riders and community members to elected officials and funding partners. Agencies that master the Transit Trifecta not only enhance their ability to compete for federal and state resources but also strengthen local coalitions, improve the case for ballot initiatives, and ensure the sustainability of their systems for decades to come.

Project Team:

• Arya Rais-Firouz, AtkinsRealis, Co-Coordinator
• Erin Mitchell, Metro Transit, Co-Coordinator
• Tiffany J. Gunter, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation
• Kelli Shields, Trinity Metro
• Jeff McCormack, AECOM

AI is one of the most meaningful developments of our time, yet the transit industry has been slow to embrace this technology. This capstone explores how public transit agencies can adopt AI solutions responsibly by establishing a framework that identifies key risks, outlines governance surrounding AI, and implements policies to put appropriate guard rails on usage. This framework will be supported by use cases from a variety of transit agencies at various points on the AI adoption spectrum, providing real world examples of how AI can help agencies achieve efficiencies through this technology. The end goal is to provide the tools that will bridge the gap between the pervasiveness of AI solutions and the hesitation of the transit industry to adopt them.

Project Team:

• Jacki Lenners, Mountain Line, Co-Coordinator
• Myat Ohn, Jacobs, Co-Coordinator
• Jorel Joseph, Keolis
• Melissa DuMond, Kimley-Horn
• Jennifer Donaldson, Stacy Witbeck

This interactive session is designed to empower individual transit professionals with practical AI tools they can use immediately to boost productivity. Through live demonstrations and real-time audience participation, you'll learn how to transform mundane daily tasks into automated workflows and turn information overload into actionable insights. Get hands-on experience with free AI solutions you can implement without IT approval and walk away with a personalized toolkit to reclaim hours in your workday.

• Introducer: Jannet Walker-Ford, Business Line Executive, Advisory and Planning, WSP
• Keynote Introduction: Paul Skoutelas, President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association
• Keynote Speaker: Solomon Abiola, CEO, Guidance Technologies
• Closing Remarks:  Paul Skoutelas, President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association