Transit Professionals

The Next Generation

When we think about our industry's history, we remember that it was shaped by individuals.  Many of us remember them as names in books - Daniel Longstreet, Edward Dana,  Dr. Thomas Conway. 

Some of us have been privileged to know, work with and learn from long-term industry professionals.  For me, Bob Buchanan, Karl Burkhardt, Pete Cipolla, Jim Cromer, Dean Hetrick, Lou Olsen, Frank Trombly, and John Williams aren't just names - they've been co-workers, bosses, friends, and, most important of all, teachers.

A General Manager pointed something out a few months ago - those of us who started our transit careers in the 1950's & 1960's make up most of the senior generation in transit.

I submit that one of our great responsibilities to the industry is to recognize the next generation of transit professionals - sometimes before they know that's what they are.  I am reminded of a couple of people. 

A bus driver in Dallas, filling in as a part-time substitute supervisor/dispatcher, who quietly demonstrated the capabilities of a computer database at the same time a full-time dispatcher was telling us "it can't be done."   He's now a full-time supervisor, and I hope his career keeps progressing.

A high-school graduate in Boston, going on to college, who was explaining some of his ideas for rationalizing route numbers at a suburban transit system where he'd interned.  His recommendations were quite good, and I wish him a long career in the industry.

Our next generation of transit managers may be closer than we think - right outside the office in the drivers' room - the visiting member of the local fan organization who shows an interest in the business side of transit - the man or woman who's today's bus cleaner/fueler.  Going back many years, the president of one nationwide transit organization had started his career by delivering drinking water to track gangs on the local street railway.

Let's keep an eye out for these folks.  As we help and encourage them into a career which has been good to us, we repay those who've helped us, we repay the industry itself, and we serve future generations of passengers.