Fare Free Got CVTD Running

About the relationship, he stresses, “It’s been very successful.”

Ready for Change

Up until last year, CVTD was managed by First Transit. Beutler explains that the agency just came to a point where they felt they had the services in-house to do what was needed to do.

“They were a very great partner,” he says. And of the transition, adds, “It has gone smoother than I would have expected and that’s a credit to everyone that works here and also a credit to First Transit.”

For CVTD, bringing things in-house has been a positive change. Beutler says they have been able to focus all of the staff in the same direction and have been able to deal with those challenges that are faced each day.

“That’s not to say that we may not look at contracting in the future.” He adds with a laugh, “That’s one thing I’ve learned in this industry, it’s that if you’re too rigid, you lose opportunities. We’re all about trying to take advantage of the opportunities for us so that means you have to be somewhat flexible and never say never.”

He stresses that remaining flexible is the main piece of advice he has for others in transit. “We need to not do things because we’ve always done them this way.

“I know that’s something that I see a lot in the industry and we miss a lot of opportunities because we’re not willing to get a different perspective,” he says.

“The way forward hasn’t been charted yet. Although we can learn from the past and we very much study that, we look at how do we apply those lessons learned for the future. The future is ours to determine.”