Photo credit: Ken Bordelon/APTA

Photo credit: Ken Bordelon/APTA

Michael Melaniphy's unanimous selection as the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) new president/CEO was based in large part on his broad experience in the industry, having been an executive in both public transportation agencies as well as in a business member company. In this wide-ranging interview, METRO Magazine discussed with Melaniphy how that experience informs what he will do next.

You had mentioned in various public statements that one of your early priorities is that you'll be on the road traveling, meeting members in their locations. Where will you go first?

In my first weeks on the job, I will schedule introductory meetings around my conference and other industry obligations. The idea would be to see multiple members, whenever possible, when I arrive in a city. I intend to schedule such meetings with a broad cross-section of APTA members, including various visits to facilities, not only office headquarters but bus garages, rail yards and factory floors. I also plan to meet our members' local and national stakeholder partners as well, such as regional FTA and FRA offices and other policy and regulatory partners. The intent is to maximize the opportunities out of every trip I make, especially in my first year.

I have also charged staff with identifying the top things we should do outside these initial official commitments. One of the most important things I know, and want others to know, is that while I have 23 years in this industry in a broad variety of positions, there are many, many things I have yet to learn and experience, and want to learn, so I see this aspect of what I will do as key to better serving the membership of APTA. Learning something new every day was something Bill [Millar] also mentioned and it has certainly been part of my involvement in our complex and diverse industry.

Your background, as coming from both the supply and operations side of the industry, is seen as a plus to many APTA members. How do you see this coming into play the most, particularly in the near future?

The most important part of my background is that I am able to see multiple sides of most situations in our industry. APTA is such a big tent — and that size and its diversity are at the root of our strength. Having been exposed to that breadth gives me credibility to talk about these subjects from different perspectives and to shape better policies for us in the long term. I also have the benefit of having visited hundreds of transit agencies, and many suppliers, over the years.

As I walked around EXPO in New Orleans meeting many of the suppliers and attendees on the floor, it reminded me of how broad our industry is and how many people that I have built relationships with over the years. It was rewarding to be able to share stories and personal memories with so many attendees. During EXPO, I had the opportunity to spend some time on the showfloor with FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff and his staff. Of course, he knows our industry's size and breadth, but it was beneficial to be able to share some of my experiences and observations from both sides of the industry.
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Photo credit: Ken Bordelon/APTA Melaniphy says that walking around the APTA EXPO show floor and meeting many of the suppliers and attendees reminded him of how broad the industry is and how rewarding it was the to share stories and personal memories with them.

Photo credit: Ken Bordelon/APTA
Melaniphy says that walking around the APTA EXPO show floor and meeting many of the suppliers and attendees reminded him of how broad the industry is and how rewarding it was the to share stories and personal memories with them.

What do you think it will take for a long-term authorization bill to finally get passed? What are the fundamental roadblocks in your view and how can we best overcome them?

This of course was a theme running throughout the Annual Meeting's agenda and in many of the committee meetings there. Most of the nation and their elected representatives understand the importance of spending on transit and highways. Infrastructure jobs are local jobs. The key stumbling block, of course, is funding these needed increases, particularly in these fiscally challenging times. It will be a challenge, in these economic times, to craft a consensus around a funding solution that balances fiscal responsibility with our future economic needs and obligations. Our country has faced tough crises in the past, and has worked through them and achieved great success in funding, and we will do so again. The solutions at the end of the day will be found if everyone understands the need to get to this balance, and it is our job to help everyone understand what is needed to get there.

In my previous position, I had the opportunity to spend some time getting to know the new member of Congress that served the district where the company I worked for was headquartered. He happened to be an unabashed Tea Party supporter and is now a member of the new Tea Party Caucus in the House. We invited him to come to our offices and spend a couple of hours discussing our business, what we do, how we make money, and how federal public transportation funding was important to our business and how it aligned with many Tea Party initiatives and values. These include supporting small business, public-private partnerships, infrastructure investments that make for more efficient delivery of goods in the supply chains of many industries in a region, economic development, and on and on - in short, the list of arguments listed in our new update of 'The Business Case For Investment In Public Transportation.'

In addition, we showed him how these investments, in many ways, support small businesses all over the country, an issue especially important to him, including businesses in many areas of the country that are in economic distress, such as in rural areas and small cities, where in fact, many manufacturing plants that supply the industry are located. He came away from those discussions as a firm ally of ours. He said, 'I get it — this works for me.' Had we not made that outreach to this unlikely supporter and dismissed the effort as a waste of time, we would never have made that conversion. He is now a connection for us to the Tea Party Caucus and other conservative members.

As I enter this new role, there are more and more stories I am hearing from both our public and private sector members that are very similar to that experience. I have no doubt we can succeed. Remember that the majority of members of the current Congress were not in office when the last surface transportation authorization legislation was passed. We simply need to keep at it, every day.

You have spent a lot of time with Bill in the past few months in transition. What do you see as his most important contribution that many may not know about?

The thing that was the most impressive to me during the past few weeks, and I knew this somewhat but may not have had the fullest appreciation before, is his stature with so many other associations and officials around the world. This includes not just professional but personal relationships.
A key part of his legacy is the breadth of the network he brought to APTA around the world and to associations outside our industry. It also demonstrates the international esteem not only with which he is held, but also, that of our association. It was brought home to me in his farewell dinner in New Orleans; prominent people from our government as well as from all over came into New Orleans early prior to the start of the official week, just to pay tribute to him. That speaks volumes.

Where do you see the association or industry — or both — in the next decade?

Where both the association and the industry I believe are going, is so exciting. Our influence and contribution to our society and economy, in the U.S. as well as abroad, will only get dramatically bigger. Many Americans already 'get it,' as evidenced by the long success we have had in local and state ballot initiatives all throughout the country.

Once we get the next authorization passed and are beyond the current political noise, we as an industry are going to do some wonderful things. There are so many innovations we really have yet to offer on a widespread scale, whether they are public-private partnerships or other new project delivery and financing models; sustainability and mobility management initiatives; next-bus or next-train technologies; vehicle health monitoring systems that tell our technicians what to replace and when; or ones we haven't even seen yet. We will be in position to provide step-change in the future of our country's economic path forward.

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