Director of Maintenance – East Region for First Transit
First Transit
Dave Larsen, director of maintenance, First Transit (East Region), has been described as fair, honest and a great person to work for whose dedication to his managers is without question. After serving four years in the U.S. Army as a diesel technician, Larsen began his career with First Transit more than 13 years ago as a technician in Southern California at the age of 22 while attending Saddleback College.
After two years, he was promoted to a maintenance supervisor, and three years later became a maintenance manager of a fleet of more than 170 transit buses, where he assisted Foothill Transit to transition the facility from a diesel fleet to alternate fuel.
Steadily moving up the company ladder, he next served as a district maintenance manager for First Transit’s contracts providing transportation service for the RTD in Denver, Colo. While in that position he maintained the daily activities of the Maintenance Departments of the Denver and Longmont locations, including 169 buses and 52 employees.
Now 35 years old, Larsen is currently the East Region’s director of maintenance for First Transit for the past two and a half years, supporting more than 50 contracts with more than 2,200 vehicles. He is responsible for ensuring compliance of all local, state and federal laws and regulation for all locations in the region and reviews and audits each location to identify trends and training issues and provide resources and action plans to assist where necessary.
“Our goal is to provide safe and reliable transportation. Knowing that our customers are depending on our vehicles to arrive on schedule, it is essential that our locations are following the First Transit policies and procedures to ensure we perform maintenance to the highest standards. I enjoy assisting our location managers, and ensuring that these standards are exceeded.”
“I enjoy the public transit industry because it is constantly evolving. The advancements in technology and sustainability continue to improve the transportation experience for the customers.”
