John Duklewski has been the executive director of the Transportation Association of Maryland (TAM) since March 2017, having previously served two years as TAM’s executive assistant. Under his leadership, TAM’s membership has surged by 155%, revenue has increased by 184% and attendance at TAM’s annual conferences has improved by 271%. He has secured grant funding, allowing TAM to expand its training initiatives and increase its monetary investment in member training by 1,189% over the past decade.  

Duklewski successfully secured the codification of state transit funding for local transit systems and increased funding for nonprofit transportation providers statewide. Under Duklewski’s guidance, TAM secured an additional $50,000 in funding for the Senior Rides Program, maintaining critical funding. Duklewski was responsible for TAM’s 2024/2025 Maryland Legislative Receptions, which resulted in the establishment of minimum funding levels during the 2024 legislative session.  

He introduced the first ever TAM Capitol Hill Day. Reinforcing the importance of connecting decisionmakers at the federal level to those directly impacted at the local level, 22 TAM member organizations attended.  

Duklewski has participated in relevant conferences to learn best practices and share with TAM membership. He has conducted knowledge sharing opportunities with other associations to learn how to better grow TAM’s offerings and provide applicable, appropriate and relevant opportunities and identified a significant need related to training for smaller systems.  

Under his leadership, Duklewski helped TAM create a curriculum for a financial management for transit agencies and nonprofits. He launched TAM’s inaugural training forum in 2025, specifically designed to address the needs of maintenance staff across the state  for free or at low-cost.  

For the second consecutive year, Duklewski received funding for training from the local metropolitan planning organization. This funding source enabled TAM to provide a record 11,750 training hours—an increase of nearly 10% compared to 2024—hours which would not have been available otherwise. Both the 2024 and 2025 TAM Annual Conferences experienced record attendance and sold out all vendor spaces. His partnership with the Maryland Transit Administration enables TAM to provide relevant and timely trainings that align with administrative goals.  

He also participated in the 2025 Community Transportation Association of America Leadership Academy Cohort 7.  Before joining TAM, he was an associate at the Public Sector Consulting Group, where he coordinated meetings between legislators and business organizations and implemented inter-state cooperation with the Delaware Chamber of Commerce. He has also served as an editor and writer for Maryland Business for Responsive Government.  

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

Like so many people, I fell into community transportation by accident, but what kept me here is the people. Not just remembering the people who rely on my members for mobility, but the people at those agencies themselves. It’s a people industry, and the vast majority of us are really outstanding folks, doing the best they can. I’ve been the personal recipient of more kindness, respect and help from my members than is my due, and it’s a privilege to return it. 

What do you enjoy most about your job?  

Every day is different. There’s always something new to work on, some new training we are developing, some new legislative effort we are working to help or reform. Beyond that, the members change too. There’s always turnover, so I get to meet some of the most curious and outstanding people around on a regular basis as I meet them on my member visits and, of course, our annual conference. 

What’s the most challenging part of your job?  

Without question, the legislative advocacy. We don’t make campaign contributions, we can’t attend $500-a-plate dinners. Our strength is and must be grass roots, and we need to be persuasive in an environment in which transit is almost never the loudest voice they are hearing from. We’re a critical industry in a state in which the vast majority of citizens don’t always understand how critical it is to their daily lives as well. It’s a continuing fight, a joyful if sometimes frustrating one, to make sure we’re at the table. 

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

It’s unquestionably the passage in 2024 of House Bill 950. It set a floor for locally operated transit system funding for the first time, staved off budget cuts and provided a level from which we can advocate for future funding. It was a whole-of-state-transit organizing effort, and I’m also eternally grateful to the members who helped provide the muscle to get us across the finish line. 

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

On the legislative side, getting real dedicated funding for local transit support on a sustainable basis that can increase over time. On the development effort, I want TAM itself to be the certifying agency for Maryland transit, providing a rotating syllabus of the most necessary transit and professional development, geared precisely to our transit system’s needs. 

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

You’re always more capable than you think, braver than you fear, and people are more willing to help than you imagine.