A New Year to Tell Our Story

Dec. 19, 2014
The start of a new year brings a new chance to tell the public of transit's importance.

As we roll into the new year, some of us take this opportunity to take stock, and, if course corrections are warranted, resolve to shape up in the coming months. I see this every January at the health club as a stream of new members wander around the weight machines or hang on the support bars of a slow moving treadmill hoping that being towed will leave a few extra pounds behind. By the end of February the crowd thins and those who remain tend to be dedicated to regular exercise or committed to embracing a new lifestyle motivated by professional coaches, better information and new tech gadgets for tracking progress. The newer exercise technology ranges from a simple activity monitoring device to a sophisticated wristwatch/computer that monitors heart rate, swim stroke, bike cadence, power output  and more. It’s easier to make changes and tackle those big goals when you have the right information and technology to engage, motivate, guide, and even entertain you.

Inform, engage, motivate, guide and entertain seems like a good way to approach change and improve systems  and we hope that Mass Transit does this for readers. In our cover stories this past year, we profiled the best practices of transit agencies across the U.S., Canada and Lyon, France, plus the project management experience of newly installed secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx. Our feature stories provide the “point A to point B” of large and complex projects, from the planning and timelines to the latest equipment and technologies, all yours to incorporate into your operations. We focus on these best practices because, especially in risk-adverse transit, where reliability is paramount, proven trumps promises. We include useful insights and anecdotes from the people who can inspire new ways of thinking about solving problems.

Like losing weight, facing challenges in transit won’t be easy.  As is the case nearly every year, transportation funding remains uncertain and far from resolved. Can we hope to someday have a long-range plan, in the range of five to 10 years? It’s up to all us to make the transit story clear – that transit is an investment in our future that pays immediate dividends in jobs, congestion remediation, healthy lifestyles and livable neighborhoods. These objectives are proven outcomes of transit projects and should be the basis for justifying expenditures in our national transportation infrastructure. When you have the opportunity in the coming year I hope you will tell our story to your congressmen so we can build support at the federal level that rivals local enthusiasm for transit, and the will to pay what it takes to build.

I’ll be making a few modest resolutions in the coming weeks, such as keeping up with email and creating more folders to keep all the documents sorted. By the end of January we’ll see how that’s working. (It may take me that long to figure out all the functions of my new training device, too).  

We wish you a healthy, fulfilling and productive new year.