Fast fact about yourself: I can field-strip a stroller with one hand and change a diaper with the other.
What’s your best experience on transit and what made it memorable? Due to a school bus driver shortage, STA has helped Spokane Public Schools in getting kids to school. My favorite experience, not as a rider, but as an observer, happened just a few weeks ago. Best part? It wasn’t flashy. It was just a regular weekday morning when I saw one of our 60-foot electric buses pull up to the high school, packed with students with not even standing room left. No press, no ribbon cutting, just a clean, quiet zero-emissions bus doing its job. I had this moment where I thought, “We built that. This is what the work is for.” It reminded me that transit is about people getting where they need to go. That moment will likely be one that I think about for a long time.
Christian Bigger likes to say he was born into transit, starting as a vehicle service attendant at Community Transit when he was 19, where he fueled, cleaned and inspected buses. After nearly a decade in the industry, Bigger has held nine different roles across two transit agencies that progressively grew in leadership, technical depth and impact. From apprentice and journeyman technician to engine lead and shop foreman, Bigger climbed through the ranks by staying curious, showing up for his team and embracing every challenge with a smile.
As someone who started by cleaning buses, Bigger says he takes great pride in his career growth, demonstrating that anyone can rise to lead transformational projects if they’re willing to put in the work, learn relentlessly and never lose sight of their goals. During his time at Spokane Transit Authority (STA), he moved quickly from diesel technician to technical projects manager to fleet transition manager, and now, zero-emission fleet and facilities transition manager.
Prior to assuming his current role, Bigger recognized the industry’s shift to electrification and decided to build the skills needed to lead it. After earning an associate degree in diesel power technology and spending many years wrenching on buses, Bigger enrolled in Penn State University’s Energy and Sustainability Policy program. He’s currently going through the bachelor's program while working full time, preparing himself to help guide STA’s large-scale clean energy transition.
In his current role, Bigger oversees electric bus and charging operations, supports capital planning, manages vendor relationships and evaluates new technologies while ensuring employees and facilities are future ready. Through these responsibilities, he manages one of the most ambitious electric bus deployments in the country, with 25 percent of the fixed-route fleet already transitioned and a goal of being 100 percent zero emission by 2045. His work strategically bridges maintenance, operations, planning and nearly every other department at STA to ensure the zero-emissions transition is smooth and methodical.
For instance, a major accomplishment has been keeping STA’s 12 Proterra buses operational despite the company’s 2023 bankruptcy while keeping up with the Federal Transit Administration’s standard 20 percent spare ratio. Currently, 80 percent of the Proterra buses are operational on any given day. To support this, Bigger led creative strategies to source parts, retrofit as needed and refurbish components that are no longer available.
These 12 Proterra buses have now logged over 500,000 reliable miles since 2023, proving the power of a persistent maintenance team and support from STA leadership throughout. For the community, the environmental impacts are undoubtedly real. STA’s battery-electric buses (BEBs) operate in corridors serving historically underserved populations, reducing emissions and noise in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by air pollution.
While he has successfully grown his career, Bigger says he's most proud of his work extending outside of STA to help shape the future of zero-emissions transit nationwide. He’s currently leading STA's efforts to establish industry standards for BEB useful life benchmarks and to standardize BEB telematics and data frameworks. Bigger hopes to share this work, which may directly influence how agencies plan, procure and evaluate zero-emission fleets across the industry.
He's also spearheaded some of the first fire suppression and mitigation strategies for BEBs housed inside enclosed transit depots. He regularly shares these innovations and lessons learned through workgroups, including CTE’s Zero Emission Bus Resource Alliance and peer roundtables across the Pacific Northwest. In recognition of its industry contributions, STA was a 2025 nominee for ACT Expo’s Leading Public Fleet of the Year Award. Previous accomplishments for Bigger include receiving the STA & Washington State Department of Transportation Wall of Fame in 2023; placing 13th in American Public Transportation Association’s Nationals Roadeo; and placing second in Washington State Transit Association’s Maintenance Competition Roadeo in 2018.
Is there a specific experience that led you to where you are today?
I have a vivid memory from around the age of 10 or so when my uncle told me "those who are always talking know only what they know, but those who are always listening know not only what they know, but also now know what the other person knows." At the time, it was his polite way of saying be quiet (I was quite the chatterbox then), but he has no idea how much I took that to heart. That mindset of staying curious, asking questions and being excited to learn from others has shaped every step of my career. I've intently listened to the wonderful mentors and leaders that I've been blessed to have so far throughout my career, but I've also listened to the operators, passengers, technicians, the planners, the supporters and even the skeptics. And so far, that’s made all the difference.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Friends and family have asked me this a lot over the years, and my answer’s always the same: Transit doesn’t judge. You need a ride from point A to point B? Hop on. You want to go from servicing buses to becoming the zero-emission fleet and facilities transition manager? You can work for that, too. What I love most is that transit makes room for everyone—passengers and professionals alike. It gave me a path, and it didn’t care where I started, only that I kept moving forward.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is keeping up with how fast everything is changing. The technology behind zero-emissions transit is evolving rapidly, but a lot of the hardware and software still feels half-baked. On top of this, we’re asking a highly skilled diesel workforce to relearn their craft around batteries, high-voltage safety and charging systems. It’s a lot to manage supporting the people, the technology and the long-term vision all while keeping buses on the road and service running reliably.
What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of and why?
I’m most proud of helping STA achieve over two million zero-emission miles and supporting the operations that got us there. What stands out the most from those efforts was leading STA's zero-emissions bus maintenance team to win STA’s 2023 Wall of Fame award. Seeing our team’s hard work celebrated across the agency was one of the most meaningful moments of my career.
What is an accomplishment you would like to work towards in your career?
Right now, I just want to continue to lead the transformation of public transit into something that’s not just cleaner, but truly future-ready. Whether it’s through supporting STA's long-term goals like our next zero-emissions bus rapid transit line or building a net-zero campus, or maybe even stepping into a senior leadership role, I want my work to create long-term impacts for both the industry and the community I care deeply about.
What is your best advice/tip/best practice you can share from your area of expertise?
Working in vehicle maintenance taught me that very few problems have true dead ends with no solution. Technicians, almost naturally, are constantly finding ways to adapt, improvise and move things forward, whether the manual says it’s possible or not. That mindset stuck with me and has shaped how I lead today. With enough creative and strategic thinking, there’s almost always a solution. It’s also given me deep respect for the people behind transit, especially in operations, who quietly keep everything running and make big challenges like electrification actually succeed. Sure, the end-goal matters, but the people make it possible.
About the Author
Megan Perrero
Editor in Chief
Megan Perrero is a national award-winning B2B journalist and lover of all things transit. Currently, she is the Editor in Chief of Mass Transit magazine, where she develops and leads a multi-channel editorial strategy while reporting on the North American public transit industry.
Prior to her position with Mass Transit, Perrero was the senior communications and external relations specialist for the Shared-Use Mobility Center, where she was responsible for helping develop internal/external communications, plan the National Shared Mobility Summit and manage brand strategy and marketing campaigns.
Perrero serves as the board secretary for Latinos In Transit and is a member of the American Public Transportation Association Marketing and Communications Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism with a concentration in magazine writing and a minor in public relations from Columbia College Chicago.