A self-proclaimed “China-Latina,” Michele Wong Krause was born in Hawaii of Japanese, Chinese, and Native Hawaiian ancestry on her father’s side, while her mother was born in Monterey, Mexico. 

With these roots, Wong Krause has set a number of firsts in her career, including being the first Latina Chair of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board and the first female chair of Asian descent of the American Public Transit Association (APTA).

Finding A Passion for Transit

An attorney by trade, Wong Krause is currently a solo practitioner, with a degree in Law from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, but has also served as an associate municipal judge, which would eventually serve as the launchpad for her involvement in public transit.

“I knew a Dallas City Council Member and former Dallas Municipal Judge, Vonciel Jones Hill, who asked if I was interested in filling an open position on DART’s board because the person leaving was of Asian descent and she was hoping to maintain the diversity,” explains Wong Krause. “I said yes, because growing up I used public transit. In fact, I even made a point to locate my office near a DART rail station so my clients were able to get to my office even if their only way to get there was by using transit.”

While on the DART board, Wong Krause says her passion for public transit solidified after seeing how critical it was not only for the health of cities, but also its impact on residents in the community who rely on transit to get to work, shopping, doctor’s appointments, and more. 

With that passion, she dove headlong into her position on the board, where she was eventually named chair, which eventually led her to become more involved with APTA.

“I understood the best way to become more knowledgeable in a quicker way was to be a part of APTA, because the association gives you that focused understanding of transit at all levels, both nationally and internationally,” she explains.

With her unique perspective, Wong Krause not only focused on the community at large during her time as DART board chair but also on the hurdles that prevented the Latino and Asian communities from gaining access to transit.

“For both sides language was a huge barrier that needed to be overcome,” she says. “Addressing Spanish speakers was an easy task because the language is similar across several cultures. With a growing Asian community in Dallas, though, we really had to try to provide information for several different communities, including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian.”

Becoming APTA’s Chair

In 2023, Wong Krause was named chair of APTA, where she served her term pushing the value of diversity and inclusion in both the way transit services were provided and in growing today’s workforce for tomorrow. 

She also focused on the business case for transit as a way to build political consensus.

“I love the metric that APTA uses, which says for every dollar invested in transit, there is a five-dollar rate of return on that investment,” she explains. “It’s not always something elected officials realize, so we as an industry have to do a better job of communicating that because it’s what really resonates with them.”

Having just recently wrapped her term as chair, Wong Krause says she is most proud of her work with APTA’s Bus Manufacturing Task Force, which was headed up by the association’s Immediate Past Chair Dorval Carter Jr.

“We’ve had a dramatic decrease in bus manufacturers over the last 10 years, which has essentially left us with just two at a time where federal investment and local mandates are at their highest,” she says. “Through the task force, we identified some key issues, which are already being addressed. We hope by addressing these issues going forward, our manufacturers will be able to build and deliver buses at a faster rate, and I am immensely proud to have been part of that.”

Growing Diversity, Inclusion 

With the past two FTA Administrators being Latina and a number of high-profile CEO positions being filled by women, Wong Krause says she is heartened by the strides the transit industry is making to be more diverse and inclusive from both a cultural and gender perspective.

“I am optimistic because the percentages were pretty skewed toward it historically being a male-dominated industry, but now we are seeing a change,” she says. “For instance, I went to a CEO seminar this year and a majority of the people who attended were female, which was amazing. It gives me hope to see this industry evolve right before my very eyes, but we also need to continue that pace.”

When asked for the advice she would give young women in the industry looking to climb the proverbial ladder in transit, or any industry for that matter, Wong Krause says it’s all about education and always taking the extra step to learn more from peers in the industry.

“It all comes down to what you know, so you really have to be willing to volunteer to go to a conference or seminar that can help build your knowledge,” she says. “In tandem, you also have to find someone that you can look to as a mentor. So, some advice I’d give is to either shadow someone doing the job you are interested in or offer to take them to coffee or dinner to find out how they got to where they are. Sometimes, you’ll be amazed at how similar someone’s life experiences are to your own, which can help you really grow overall.”