Katerina Moreland, Ph.D., PTMP, has worked in, around and with public transit entities, including university, municipality and private entities, for the last 18 years. Beginning as an undergraduate student with a strong opinion and rising to the senior associate director for transit operations at Clemson University and now the transit finance and compliance administrator at the Greenville Transit Authority (GTA), she achieved many milestones along the way.  

She began her transit career as a disgruntled student, tired of getting left behind by the bus on the way to class after work. Through persistence and tenacity, she was challenged by university leadership to “fix the system.” With eagerness, resolve, copious hours doing ridership counts and unwavering support from mentors and administration, she realigned the university’s parking and transit system as the basis of her master’s thesis. That system was implemented in January 2010 and by August 2012, she was hired as the senior associate director for parking and transportation services (PATS), managing the same system she created.  

During her tenure, she rebranded and developed Clemson University’s transit system from a leadership team of one and six drivers to a leadership structure employing 30 people and two multi-million dollar purchased transportation contracts. She also launched two mobile applications to make connecting with these services easier and more accessible. She studied for and received a commercial driver’s license to better support her team and share in the workload that established her team as trusted, reliable transportation providers. 

Moreland spent nearly 13 years in her role elevating the transit operation from four leased vans operating on two routes to a fleet of over 25 buses operating eight fixed-route services and an overnight on-demand program. She also created a bus rental program to provide transportation services to university departments, generating over $500,000 in expense reductions in her last year.  

At GTA, she draws on her educational background in transportation engineering, accounting and her lived experience implementing transit signal priority in key corridors of the network, validating the agency’s automatic passenger counter system and leading the procurement and budgetary process.  

She earned her doctorate in civil engineering in 2019, focusing on mutual aid agreements between transit agencies. In 2024, she earned the designation of parking, transportation and mobility professional through the International Parking and Mobility Institute. This was followed by spearheading the effort to achieve Accredited Parking Organization designation for Clemson University in 2025. 

Moreland served on the Transportation Association of South Carolina (TASC) Board of Directors for over a decade as a member, secretary, vice president and president. She served as the communication professor for the civil engineering senior design course, emphasizing clear, direct communication with a focus on the user, not just math. She led the internship program for PATS, hosting over 15 interns. She has continued that program in Greenlink, hosting her first intern this summer.  

Is there a specific experience that led you to where you are today?  

My melted ice cream. As a college student without a car wanting cheap ice cream, I took the bus to the grocery store about 1.5 miles from campus. I had never used public transit. I bought my ice cream, boarded the wrong bus, rode an hour, ended up back at the grocery store before finally getting back to campus and my room. I got back with sugared milk…not ice cream. I didn’t give up on the bus. It did spark a passion to make the bus better. I use this example with leadership to explain transit convenience and utility. Everyone understands how sad melted ice cream is.  

What do you enjoy most about your job?  

I enjoy most impacting people’s everyday life, ideally for the better. Every decision we make impacts someone and their family; that is a humbling fact. 

What’s the most challenging part of your job?  

I must remember not to take business personally. Transportation is a people-centric business that is extremely personal. Changes do not benefit everyone, and someone will be mad. We do the best we can to benefit as many people as possible.  

What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of and why?  

I am most proud of earning my Ph.D. and donning the Clemson University purple doctoral robe. It was a goal I set for myself the moment I worked my first graduation ceremony and saw the robes. Owning them wasn’t enough, I wanted to earn them. It was 15 years, marriage, two kids, a bachelors, a masters, four doctoral topics, a full-time job and loads of mentors and support, between seeing and earning the robe. The robe is mine now.  

What is an accomplishment you would like to work towards in your career? 

I want to be a Federal Transit Administrator Triennial Reviewer. I love transit, auditing, traveling, working with new people and process improvement. Sitting idle in retirement, when that day comes, does not sound fun, so the potential of traveling, continuously analyzing and staying involved in the industry sounds intriguing, but it requires work and learning now to be knowledgeable and credible to secure such a position and perform it to the caliber I expect of myself.  

What is your best advice you can share from your area of expertise?  

Do not use ‘everyone’ and ‘no one.’ There are always exceptions to those words. Every person deserves to be recognized.