Christina O’Claire is helping King County Metro move into the future through an evolving array of strategic performance and planning initiatives. Her greatest strength is her ability to quickly grasp both data and policy concepts and use her interpersonal skills and sound judgment to guide management, elected officials and the public through programs and processes that are transforming public transportation in the Seattle metropolitan area.
O’Claire is currently engaged in leading or providing key support in the following projects for Metro Transit: keeping the agency focused on a landmark new Strategic Plan and analyzing and reporting on progress toward the plan’s goals and objectives; establishing performance metrics for the agency’s $1.2 billion budget and business plan; developing a “Community Mobility Contracts” program in which local cities will partner with Metro to “buy back” service slated for reduction or new services; establishing the agency’s first long-range plan since the mid-1990s; leading Metro’s technical team to develop and analyze data and business process improvements as part of the International Bus Benchmarking Group.
After earning a BA in economics and biology and a master’s in public affairs, O’Claire worked as an intern in Metro’s market development section. Her drive for excellence allowed her to move into the King County Department of Transportation’s director’s office. She led a landmark study, “HealthScape,” that promoted public health by demonstrating linkages between land use, transportation, air quality and health. In the director’s office she was a voice for transit, ensuring that major development projects considered impacts to transit riders during construction and design.
As the Washington State Department of Transportation prepared to bore a tunnel along the Seattle waterfront to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, she facilitated discussions that contributed to the department paying Metro $32 million for transit services to mitigate the project’s traffic impacts. When Metro faced a multimillion dollar decision to replace its aging electric trolley fleet — a quiet, emissions-free Seattle institution — O-Claire played a key role. She led a team through a maze about vehicle maintenance, power and facilities data to compare the benefits and costs of modern electric trolleys with diesel or diesel-electric hybrids. Based on the report’s findings, Metro is procuring a new fleet of electric trolley buses that will begin service in 2015.
In 2012 and 2013, O’Claire led a difficult regional review and update of Metro’s Strategic Plan and Service Guidelines. The plan and guidelines incorporate leading-edge industry best practices for using objective data and design criteria to guide service investments while balancing productivity, social equity and geographic distribution of services.
"[My favorite part about what I do is] the people I work with — I have an amazing team of professionals that truly care about the quality of service that we deliver. I have a motto that I am only as good as my team — and I am fortunate to have a wonderful team.”
“As a mom of two young kids, I am proud of the fact that I work for King County Metro and that I am planning the future. My hope is that years from now people in King County have even more access to the places they want to go and with more connected mobility options than today.”
“My true passion is being active in the outdoors with my family and friends. Living in Seattle, I am fortunate to do be so active locally biking, swimming, skiing, or backpacking — just to name a few. This spring, I competed in my first Olympic Triathlon. I am looking forward to finding the next race!”
