Transit professionals, industry experts, and public policymakers connected in Pasadena at the Association’s 58th Annual Conference & Expo; the Association calls for feedback and ideas for 2024.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California
The Association’s 58th Annual Conference & Expo showcased the very best of California transit in 2023. Despite simultaneous transportation-related challenges including the emergency I-10 freeway closure and severe weather, the event attracted a historic record of participants. From November 15-17, over 920 transit professionals, industry experts, vendors, sponsors, and public policymakers descended on the Pasadena Convention Center. Attendees enjoyed invigorating and motivational messages from keynote speakers, educational and actionable programming in concurrent sessions, useful vendor displays and demos at the expo, and relevant networking opportunities throughout.
Association members Foothill Transit, Access Services, and the City of Pasadena’s Pasadena Transit co-hosted the event. Twenty-six sponsors generously made the event possible and enjoyable for all.
Special Highlights for 2023 
General Keynote Speaker Van Jones kicked off the conference with an inspirational message that tied into the Association’s conference theme, Connecting Us. Jones, an internationally known social entrepreneur, bestselling author, CNN host and political contributor, broadened his address beyond the specific topic of transit and focused on how to accomplish big things in the public policy space despite a sometimes divisive decision-making environment. He recalled several times in his wide-ranging career where he successfully pursued common ground amongst Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, including his service in the Obama Administration as the Special Advisor to Green Jobs who worked with congressional Republicans, his co-founding of the advocacy group Advocates for Opioid Recovery with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and his collaboration with Kim Kardashian and the Trump Administration to help pass the criminal justice reform sentencing First Step Act. He concluded that it’s critical for public sphere professionals to look for opportunities to make common cause with those on across the ideological spectrum, rather than eschewing collaboration, in order to move forward with projects and programs that benefit constituents and advance society.
At the Small Operators Awards Breakfast, Association member agencies and leaders were recognized for their contributions to their organizations and the small operation transit field. Participants heard from keynote speaker Tanisha Taylor, Executive Director of the California Transportation Commission. The Torrance Transit System earned the Transit Innovation Award for its multi-modal transit center that connects the South Bay Region of LA County to the regional light rail network and the LA Airport. The Ventura County Transportation Commission was recognized as Transit Agency of the Year for the agency’s collaborative work to bring students and young people to public transit and for its innovative Spanish-language public outreach and community engagement campaign. Keith Martin, newly retired Executive Director of the Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority, received the Distinguished Service Award for over 35 years of service through numerous changes, challenges, and improvements to the transit industry. Finally, Greg Pratt, General Manager of the Humboldt Transit Authority, was acknowledged as the Transit Professional of the Year for his 22 years of service and work to bring Long Range Hydrogen Buses to the region.
Jennifer Pahlka concluded the conference with a call to action in the Closing Keynote Address. As the founder of Code for America and the United States Digital Service, as well as a former US Deputy Chief Technology Officer and a former member of the Defense Innovation Board, Pahlka touched on familiar themes of where government services have sometimes fallen short of their missions – especially in areas of procurement and public engagement. She highlighted areas where service providers can do better work to streamline processes and center the positive, efficient experience of the end user in order to build trust and increase interest in programming.
Connecting Us Through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility 
Continuing with the conference’s theme of Connecting Us, and consistent with the Association’s new Strategic Plan, which incorporated the IDEA Task Force report, the conference organizers took enhanced steps to elevate discussions on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the educational programming offerings. The plenary panel, “Power in Diversity: Building a Better Future Together,” featuring Doran Barnes of Foothill Transit, Alva Carrasco of Latinos In Transit, Gwendolen Gray of COMTO, and Lindsay Shelton-Gross of WTS International — gave us tactical solutions for advancing equity as organizations and as in industry so we can improve outcomes in project and service planning and delivery, particularly for vulnerable communities. Their conversation highlighted that organizational outcomes are better and stronger when diversity is directly built into organizational leadership and structures. Panelists reiterated the necessity for transit agencies to partner with and “lean into” the work done by, and support provided by, organizations including like COMTO, WTS International and WTS International, and Latinos In Transit.
More than 50 conference attendees participated in the Welcome Reception’s Power in Diversity Reception, which is part of continuing commitment to create space for discussing diversity within the industry, as well as an elevation of the diversity in the Association’s membership organizations. With the strong interest in this reception – the first of its kind in the history of our conference – members should expect that the Association will host a similar reception in 2024
Additionally, this year, seven of the twenty Concurrent Sessions were built around a (DEIA) focus. Panelists addressed DEIA incorporation and areas for improvement in transit workplaces, public spaces, and services for employees and transit riders across California; the creation of high road jobs, particularly for vulnerable communities; local hire provisions that create jobs benefits for populations that have not historically benefitted from public works; the safety of women, people of color, and the LGBTQIA community as they ride transit systems; and equity-focused improvements to transit systems, including through bus shelter/stop siting and new fare structures.
Finally, as the Association is committed to hosting educational events and opportunities that feature moderators and speakers from diverse backgrounds, the Association is currently in the process of collecting anonymized data about the demographics of this year’s conference speakers and moderators. Based on partial survey results, received by the Association as of December 14, we are pleased to report that the conference successfully furthered diversity across key demographic criteria.
Details below – please note that totals may not equal 100% as speakers and moderators were given the option “Decline to State” or may identify with multiple demographics.
- Racial and Ethnic Diversity: 49% of speakers and moderators identify as a person of color (African American or Black, Asian American or Asian, Hispanic or Latinx, Middle Eastern or North African, or Native American or Alaska Native), 58% of speakers and moderators identify as White or Caucasian.
- Gender Diversity: 54% of speakers and moderators identify as a woman, 43% of speakers and moderators identify as a man, 2% of speakers and moderators identify as genderqueer, gender non-confirming or non-binary.
- Sexual Orientation: 76% of speakers and moderators identify as straight, 19.6% of speakers and moderators identify as LGBTQIA+.
- Disability / Ability: 82.35% of speakers and moderators do not identify with a disability or impairment, 11.76% of speakers and moderators identify with a disability (Sensory Impairment, Learning Disability, Long-Term Medical Illness, Mobility Impairment, Mental Health Disorder, Other).
Final survey results will be reviewed by the Executive Committee and IDEA Task Force in the months ahead.
Other Highlights
As usual, the event Expo was an attendee favorite. With nearly 200 exhibitors and nearly 100 booths present, vendors had the opportunity to showcase their products and services across the three days of the conference. An app-based scavenger hunt with three prizes of $500 provided a fun way for participants to check out the full range of exhibits while interacting with company and agency representatives. Live demos were offered by ConnectedSignals to show the application of intelligent traffic signal information and Hayden AI to illustrate new traffic enforcement technology. In the coming year, the Association will reconstitute the Program and Conference Committee with a component of serving the vendor community by specifically seeking participation from exhibitors and sponsors to lend voices to our future programmatic offerings.
The conference also included two exciting workshops on emerging transit issues. In the first, “ARCHES: What Does it Mean for Transit?” Jaimie Levin, Senior Program Manager and Director of the West Coast Office, Center for Transportation and the Environment, highlighted the ways in which ARCHES, California’s successful hydrogen hub applicant, will support the deployment of one thousand transit buses, help build out the capacity of the hydrogen fuel supply, and focus on bringing down the cost of hydrogen per kilogram. Levin also spoke to the facilitation of rapid bus deployment and support the transition of the broader transportation network to a cleaner energy future.
In the second workshop, “California’s Budget Act of 2023-24: One-Time Funding, New Accountability,” Association Executive Director Michael Pimentel and Chad Edison, Chief Deputy Secretary for Rail and Transit at California State Transportation (CalSTA) discussed what is expected of agencies to comply with SB 125 accountability requirements. SB 125 sets up a structure of accountability alongside budget funding which includes a series of short-term financial report submissions, as well as long-term reforms for transit services, funding, and performance metrics. Of particular interest is the measure’s requirement to create a Transit Transformation Taskforce to guide SB 125 implementation.
CalSTA recently announced appointments to the Taskforce, which includes leaders from across the Association, including Association Chair Sharon Cooney of MTS and Executive Director Michael Pimentel, among a handful of Association Executive Committee members. Read CalSTA's press release for the full list of appointees.
This year’s Concurrent session topics ranged from broad, high level, long-term questions about the future of transit to highly specific, regional, replicable case studies. These moderated panel discussions followed the five topical tracks of Management & Leadership; Policy, Innovation, & Customer Experience; Community Outreach & Community Benefits; Maintenance; and Operations. For the first time, the 2023 Concurrent Sessions included topics and speakers that were proposed by Association membership and conference attendees.
In Spring 2024, please be on the lookout for an open call from the Association for 2024 Concurrent Session topics and speaker proposals. Thus far, the Association has collected programming ideas from our post-event conference survey, where we solicited general topic ideas. Staff will evaluate survey responses and consider topic ideas that may be featured next year.
What’s Next?
The Association’s next major gathering is the Spring Legislative Conference, held annually in Sacramento, on May 21, 2024. The event will be held at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel. For more information on this upcoming event, contact Maria Barajas at maria@caltransit.org or (916) 446-4656.
Looking further ahead, the 59th Annual Conference & Expo, hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, will be held from November 20-22, 2024, at the San Jose Convention Center. For more information about next year’s conference, contact the Association's Business Development Director Kristian Ross-Patchin at (916) 445-4656 x1492 or kristian@caltransit.org.