60th Annual Fall Conference & Expo

The California Transit Association is pleased to announce that former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will serve as the keynote speaker for this year’s Fall Conference & Expo.

Buttigieg served as Secretary of Transportation from 2021 to 2025. During his tenure, he launched more than 60,000 infrastructure projects across the country, improved transportation safety and technology, expanded airline passenger protections, and resolved pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Buttigieg served two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Elected at the age of 29, he led the city to its strongest period of economic and population growth in decades. He also served for seven years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, taking a leave of absence from his role as mayor in 2014 to deploy to Afghanistan. A candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020, he won the Iowa caucuses and finished second in the New Hampshire primary. As a longtime supporter of rail and transit, the Association knew Mr. Buttigieg would be the perfect choice to speak at this milestone event.

The California Transit Association is proud to announce Lincoln Room Strategies' CEO Lynda Tran as a keynote speaker for this year’s Fall Conference & Expo.

With over 25 years of experience across politics, policy, and communications, Lynda has helped launch national and international initiatives, shaped the narrative around historic moments, and built and scaled groundbreaking organizations.

As Senior Advisor to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Director of Public Engagement for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), she helped activate stakeholders to secure passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) - also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - and played a critical role in shaping the policies and programs that determine how these historic resources are allocated in communities nationwide.

A nationally recognized leader in transportation and infrastructure policy, Lynda is on the Board of Trustees for the Mineta Transportation Institute and serves on the Board of Directors for STV, a leading professional services firm that plans, designs, and manages infrastructure projects across North America. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Main Street America, a network of grassroots leaders working to reenergize and strengthen older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.

A CBS News Political Contributor and columnist through the 2020 campaign cycle and frequent commentator, Lynda regularly appears in major national and international broadcast, print, and interactive news media. Lynda has shaped national media coverage and served as the primary spokeswoman on hot-button issues throughout her career. Lynda managed high-profile communications operations across government, politics, and labor - leading teams at the federal and state levels, the Democratic National Committee, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Over four presidential cycles, she worked as both an organizer and a communications lead on political campaigns in key battleground states.

During the Obama Administration, Lynda was director of communications for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As one of the five presidential appointees at the helm of the nation’s top automotive safety agency, she steered NHTSA through numerous communications crises and helped inform key policy decisions by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland, and White House officials.

This announcement comes following the Association’s early May news that former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will serve as the conference’s primary keynote speaker.