Comfort’s Corner: Is It Time to Call It Regional Rail?

Paul's on vacation this week so our producer Tris Hussey is in the host's chair for this episode. News in this episode: Proterra goes public on the NASDAQ US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg highlights and thanks the transit industry for its work getting people vaccinated. Robert Yu was tapped as President and General Manager for Oahu Transit Services. Vince Pellegrin, COO of Metro Transit retires after 24 years at the agency. We wish him the best on his retirement. The Chicago Transit Authority has ended capacity limits on buses and trains. Because the federal mask mandate is still in effect, they will deploy employee volunteers to help the public understand the rules and what the CTA is doing to keep them safe. Our feature interview is with Stewart Mader of VAX Transit. Beyond spearheading getting transit agencies involved in rolling out vaccines in the U.S., Canada, and U.K., he's been doing a lot of thinkings about the future of transit. After talking about the success of VAX Transit, they move on to discuss the role of commuter rail in our new reality. Stewart, and Paul, both feel a sea change is needed. Commuter rail is better thought of as regional rail that gets people into the city from outlying areas. This is a discussion we need to continue in another episode. Related to masks and health, both Stewart and Elea Carey talk about communicating health and safety, and masks, to the public. Stewart mentions his article in Mass Transit with advice on masks for transit agencies and Elea talks about how to expand the discussion away from masks per se to how transit is a healthy way to travel. Finally in Mike's Minute we get a great piece of advice from his dad that makes the world a little better place. Next week Paul is back in the chair with an in-depth interview with Mark Wild CEO of Crossrail UK. Have a great week and ride safe and ride happy.