- One word to describe yourself: Assiduous
- Alma Mater: Hofstra University via Uniondale High School
- Favorite book: "Cien años de soledad" by Gabriel García Márquez
- Favorite TV show" Currently "Billions", but I still watch "Knight Rider" reruns when they’re on
- Favorite movie: "Dark Knight"
- Favorite hobby(s): Coaching my nephews football team, sailing, jiu-jitsu and traveling
- Fun fact about yourself: I have a very strong entrepreneurial spirit, two examples of this are: I helped start a nonprofit (Uniondale Knights Youth Football) in an underserved community for my nephews team. I also started my own boutique tax practice that I have been running for 4 years.
- Favorite station or stop that you have ever visited or frequent (and why): 90 Street-Elmhurst Ave/ Roosevelt Avenue stop on the 7 train, simply put this place is home to me.
- Favorite route you have ever ridden or frequent (and why): NYC 7 Train (Flushing Main Street to Time Square -42 Street) A ride from Flushing to Manhattan on the 7 train is like a perfect portrait of the world and what it’s supposed to be. 167 different languages are spoken in Jackson Heights alone and in the roughly hour ride from Flushing to Manhattan you are in neighborhoods that place you and your senses feel like you have visited multiple countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. It’s a place where an Indian woman buying Mexican tortillas in a Korean grocery store in a Turkish neighborhood is normal and part of the multicultural experience.
Omar Antonio Alvarado is the Director of Schedule & Planning for the NICE System & New Orleans. He also does extensive work with other properties including Central Florida University, Lower Hudson Valley, and various street-car projects across the US. He is an expert in the Trapeze and Clever CAD system and uses various other analysis tools to deliver the best possible value and service to his clients and passengers. Alvarado has built a small but extremely effective team of transit experts that are both data and service driven. They are guided by Alvarado's energy, passion and commitment to customer service.
Though extremely successful at his mission, Alvarado continues to look for ways to grow by attending conferences and seminars and has been active in NYPTA. Through his continued education, Alvarado has also begun using smart cities thinking in his planning, painting pictures for municipalities and civic leaders.
Alvarado is a true transit advocate and uses every opportunity to promote transit as an asset and an engine for economic growth. He was a major contributor to the Nassau County 5 Year Transit Development Plan. The living document vision plan is used as a road-map for Nassau County and imagines the systems growth and evolution over time. The TDP also gives County leaders hard facts that tie a robust transit system to more access to jobs with direct economic benefits to the county.
His innovative approach to planning and scheduling has led to some innovative ideas that include;
- Micro-Transit Flexi Service: First of its kind micro transit solution in Elmont NY that combines a semi-fixed route service with on-demand off-route stops/pickups that is fully accessible using smaller cut-a-way vehicles
- GOMOBILE: The development of nation’s first bus only mobile ticketing solution in 2013. Currently, mobile ticketing makes up approx. 10% of our fares.
- Headway Mgmt: Introduced the headway management concept to Nassau County and has begun to replace hard time point based scheduling with headway service. This process also included a full stop usage analysis & rebalancing that led to a rebalancing project that has sped up service.
- Relief Cars: The strategic use of relief cars has led to efficiencies in operations. Alvarado studies the systems he works with and replaces buses not-in-service buses with cars to switch out operators reducing the need for peak hour buses.
- MAAS: Alvarado has worked with agencies to introduce concepts such micro-transit, bike share, connectivity, smart cities and TOD.
- LINK: Micro Transit solution that uses 3 -14 passenger cut-a-ways hailed completely from an app. customers are able to hail a vehicle from their exact location and destination. The LINK system allows customers in the 7 square mile service area to connect to rail-road terminals and other major bus lines.
Alvarado is truly one of the youngest and brightest minds in public transit today. He is the perfect example of how service and innovation can transform our industry and grow the future of transit.
Alvarado regularly works with riders groups to find solutions to improving service for commuters and students. He has helped introduce new express routes to the system and has partnered with companies such as the Transit App and Masabi to leverage technology to improve service and the user experience. He has been more active in the industry while attending local and national conferences, including publishing a paper on mobile fare payments. Alvarado has a long and bright future ahead in the transit industry.
"I don’t think it was any specific even that has lead me here, so much as I think this is a result and culmination of a lot of small things snowballing into one. I think living in New York City my entire life and growing up around this industry gave me a different perspective and appreciation for what public transit is and how it affects everyone from the daily commuter to the business owners along high density corridors and even the tax payers who don’t use transit on a daily basis. Additionally, I think not having any formal transit training has given me a different point of view as well. My background is in finance and economics, which is not the usual path to working in transit and particularly planning and scheduling."
"The direct impact I make on countless people’s days and the ability to build a team around me to help make every system we work with better. In my role, I have the opportunity to make an impact on multiple systems and multiple cities at the same time. I enjoy refining and sometimes rebuilding things when necessary to help make riders experience on public transit better each day. However, this impact doesn’t happen without a great team. The ability to build a team that is customer focused and analytics driven is something that I have cherished in my time in this role."
"I would have to say it’s brining in a data driven outlook and process to both Nassau county and New Orleans. Data, in both properties, is now used to drive performance. These analytics have allowed us to make improvements and roll it out for the customer faster than ever before."
"Be malleable, be open to change, but never sacrifice the fundamentals."
