Michael Walk, Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) director of Service Development, is an innovative leader who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the residents of the Baltimore region in his quest to provide them with better transit service. From his first days at MTA he has been included as a de-facto member of the senior leadership team, helping drive many changes that have been implemented over the past five years. He utilizes his expertise is organizational psychology, data analysis, measurement, database management and survey design to develop a data- and performance-oriented culture in transit operations.
Walk began his career at MTA charged with starting up a new performance management program for MTA operations; he was later promoted as the agency’s first chief performance officer in charge of the new Office of Performance Management where he managed six staff members dedicated to the gathering, analysis and reporting of empirical data to inform business decisions. In this role, Walk set up measurement processes and held operating divisions accountable for trends in their performance metrics. Through measurement, analysis and ongoing monitoring and enforcement, MTA was able to cut its operations’ overtime budget by half, or $30 million over four years. He also spearheaded the program to expand performance measurement from operations to all parts of MTA, initiated a text-message-based real-time customer satisfaction measurement tool, and led a taskforce that resulted in a reduction in farebox failure rates through a self-funding program.
As a result of Walk’s success in performance measurement, he moved to overseeing the service planning for MTA’s core bus network, comprising 62 routes that carry 68 million trips per year, representing 65 percent of MTA’s ridership. He oversees an operating budget of $1.9 million and staff of 38, including transit planners, schedulers, analysts and traffic checkers.
In order to bring change to a service that has long been perceived as a mode only for captive riders, Walk began a sweeping planning program — the Bus Network Improvement Project — to identify and implement ways to make the system more reliable, better serve passengers’ needs and new developments, and provide a system with levels of service that would be attractive to a broader ridership base. As part of the Bus Network Improvement Project he has led the collaborative development of recommendations for a complete route restructuring, a high frequency bus network, more streamlined and efficient routes, and improved passenger amenities.
Walk succeeded in making the planning process extremely broad and inclusive, working with local business leaders, representatives of other regional entities, and a team of transit rider advocates to develop a plan to significantly improve the transit network. This process, through Walk’s leadership, also included MTA’s most inclusive public outreach process to-date utilizing pop-up meetings at major transfer centers and an actively managed crowd-sourced virtual town hall.
Most importantly, Walk is a blessed father of five children and is continuously supported by his wife, Lisa, without whom none of his accomplishments would have been possible.
“In public transit, every day brings a different challenge and literally every minute counts. I know that by making transit service better, I am having real, tangible, positive impact not only on someone’s trip, but on his or her quality of life, on the sustainability of the region, and on the long-term viability of the planet.”
“The more that public transit enables freedom to live and move without a car, the better it becomes. Part one of that comes from making better planning decisions, including land use, better system designs, better amenities, and better pedestrian access. Part 2 comes from incorporating increasing levels of real-time, multi-modal information to enable travelers to make informed decisions on the fly. Part 3 is by recognizing that transit riders use multiple methods of travel, including walking, biking, car sharing, taxis, and more. The more that public transit integrates seamless transfer between these multiple modes, the more successful and freeing our transportation system will be.”
