Jason Jordan, Center for Transportation Excellence

Jason Jordan, director of the Center for Transportation Excellence, joins the CTPodcast to discuss the 2012 election season's transportation ballot initiatives — and transit's success at the polls. Jordan, whose organization follows all transportation initiatives, says there were 62 total ballot initiatives in 18 states in 2012, of which 47 passed (a 76% approval rate). This success, according to Jordan, can be attributed to presenting the public with specific plans so they understand what they're buying; accountability and transparency; coalition building and community outreach; good messaging; and timing.

Listen Here (23:11)

Mark L. Burton, University of Tennessee's Center for Transportation Research

Professor Mark Burton, Ph.D., Director of Transportation Economics at the University of Tennessee's Center for Transportation Research, discusses the role of rural public transportation in local economic development, with an emphasis on increasing regionalism, rural demographics and infrastructure investment. Additionally, the conversation turns to the impact of jurisdictional boundaries and the value of a mobile workforce. "Transportation is essential to any and all parts of the rural econom — it's fundamental," says Burton. 

Listen Here: (17:17)

Jud Smith, Co-President, Dallas Smith Corporation

Dallas Smith Corporation Co-President Jud Smith joins the CT Podcast to discuss his company's work in the low-floor bus industry. Dallas Smith's low-floor Friendly Bus and Friendship Bus were developed with the company's advanced low-floor, axle-less technologies that it first crafted for its automobile trailer business. It wasn't until company leaders, on an airport shuttle bus, witnessed the loading of a passenger with a disability in a wheelchair that they were inspired to enter the bus field. Smith sees plenty of growth opportunities in the transit field, and also spotlights his thoughts on where bus technology and population demographics are leading the industry.

Listen Here (26:22)

Patrick McKinney, GM, Bluefield Area Transit, Bluefield, WV

Yesterday, we focused on Hurricane Sandy's impact across New Jersey. Several hundred miles away from the Atlantic coast, the storm had an entirely different effect — dropping significant amounts of wet snow. In southern West Virginia, Bluefield and its environs saw up to two feet. In this edition of the CTPodcast, Bluefield Area Transit General Manager Patrick McKinney talks about how his system prepared for the storm, and dealt with its aftermath. Service is back underway in Bluefield, but McKinney is quick to note that four other West Virginia operators are still closed due to downed trees, power outages and impassable road conditions. Providing transit service in West Virginia's hills is always challenging — Hurricane Sandy just made it even more difficult.

Listen Here (13:13)

Michael Vieira, President New Jersey Council on Special Transportation

Michael Vieira, President of the New Jersey Council on Special Transportation — which represents each of the state's 21 county-coordinated community transit operations, as well as more than 100 additional community-based transit providers — talks with the CT Podcast about community transportation's response to Hurricane Sandy. From evacuations prior to the storm's arrival to providing life-sustaining dialysis and chemotherapy trips in the aftermath, Vieira discusses the kind of public service currently ongoing across New Jersey of  which we can all be proud.

Listen Here (10:19) 

David Johnson, KC Streetcar Authority Board Member

David Johnson, Board Member with the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, joins the CT Podcast to discuss the campaign to finance and build a two-mile modern streetcar line connecting KC's River Market area with the Central Business District and its burgeoning arts district. A true public-private partnership, the fare-free system hopes to move more than 2,700 daily riders once construction is complete in 2015. Johnson, who blogs on the issue here, knows that a more vibrant community with additional street traffic is one key outcome from the proposed streetcar's arrival.

Listen here (20:47)

Elena Wilken, Co-Director, Colorado Association of Transit Agencies

Elena Wilken, co-director of the Colorado Association of Transit Agencies (CASTA) joins the CT Podcast to discuss her transit advocacy work on behalf of Colorado's 70 public and community transit agencies. Stressing simple ideas that are both people-based and that leverage the work of local and state partners, Wilken understands that the right message is tailored to the audience with an emphasis on people and the impact of effective transit.

Listen here (18:17)