Transit California interviewed John Andoh, who serves as Transit General Manager for the Redding Area Bus Authority (RABA).
Transit California: In April 2023, you were appointed the Transit General Manager of RABA, which is a joint powers agency between the Cities of Redding, Shasta Lake, and Anderson and Shasta County. Similar to what many of California’s small operators face, this region encompasses several small urban centers surrounded by rural areas. What are some of the most pressing transit issues for your service area?
Our passenger trips have declined from 1.1 million passenger trips to 330,000 passenger trips (post COVID-19) and our service network has been the same for decades. We have a need to rejuvenate our network, service offerings and better suit the residents and visitors of Shasta County. We also have a need to demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness to the community and right size our system for the current demand.
Transit California: As the new manager, what are your short- and long-term priorities?
My short-term priority is to seek regional partnerships, streamline how we provide transit services in our County, fully staff the Authority since this is the first year the Authority has dedicated staff (we have three open positions that we are recruiting for) and seek Board approval and ultimate implementation of the upcoming Short Range Transit Plan that would change and improve the network. My long-term priority is to better start the transition of the fleet to a blend of battery electric and hydrogen through obtaining assets and constructing infrastructure, increase awareness of RABA, implement mobility-based programs that can increase passenger trips, and seek sustainable funding for the Authority.
Transit California: RABA’s short range transit plan update includes redesigning the small urban area transit to incorporate fixed routes, deviated fixed routes, rural services, and microtransit. How are you accomplishing these goals, and what lessons are you learning that could help other small transit systems in the state?
Once the draft short range transit plan is released to the Board, our funding partners and the community, we hope to obtain feedback on the shift of a primarily fixed route and ADA paratransit system to a system of various mobility options that can best serve the suburban and rural residents of the County. The goals will be increased passenger trips, increased availability of public transportation where the transit demand is, better frequency and better connectivity to points of interest to help improve the quality of life of our current and future ridership. We have looked to similar sized agencies to RABA to the west and south for ideas on how they are changing how they provide transit services as the model from the past may not work best in suburban areas such as Redding. We have identified best practices that we believe would work in Shasta County - particularly opening up our ADA paratransit service to seniors, microtransit in areas where we have six passenger per hour on fixed route and expansion of evening and Sunday services to support employment and educational opportunities to extend to 10 pm at night.
Transit California: RABA is exploring mobility options like bikeshare, vanpool integration, and coordination of services through an app. What are some of the options that are currently being implemented, and what plans do you have for the future?
We are looking at all of it. We have already implemented an app with Moovit and Transit where you can plan your trip, track buses in real time, pay fare, unlock bicycles at Redding Bikeshare, schedule Lyft and Uber trips. We are working on expanding paying the fare with Apple and Google as well. We are in the process of finalizing a contract to start a pilot vanpool program and a pilot first mile/last mile bikeshare subsidy program to allow RABA riders free access to Redding Bikeshare. Our next opportunities we are looking at are partnership with the local scooter operator, coordination with our local consolidated transportation service agency and an after-hours subsidy program with transportation network companies.
Transit California: You served as Administrator for the County of Hawai’i’s mass transit system, Hele-On (the County encompasses the Big Island of Hawai’i), where you began the transition to ZEBs and implemented several customer service changes. What did you take away from what must have been a one-of-a-kind experience leading an island system, and how are those experiences informing your current role?
Working at Hele-On as the Administrator was an amazing experience. It was my second time working for the Mass Transit Agency and the Mayor wanted someone who could implement the actions of their Transit Multi-Modal Transportation Master Plan that has been sitting on the shelf since 2018. I was able to change their system to be better performing through increasing their ridership, tested free fares through December 31, 2025, implemented new services and mobility options, developed long range financial and capital plans, implemented technology such as GTFS, real time transit, electronic fareboxes and apps; better utilize the general excise tax they had available for transit, obtained a new fleet, obtained over $25 million in grants for operational and capital needs, increased their marketing efforts (including a new logo and website), and demonstrated both battery electric and cutaway hydrogen buses in partnership with US Hybrid. We built a small hydrogen station that can generate 65 kg a day and tested retrofitted cutaway buses that previously had diesel engines with hydrogen drive system that can travel up to 150 miles. I was able to increase staffing from 10 employees to 30 employees to better support that size of agency. The experiences there were rewarding and exciting and I am glad I was able to transition an agency that was failing into a much better performing transit system and also increased staff morale and provided much training and support to them.
Transit California: During your career, you’ve held roles in transit systems across the country, including Texas, South Carolina, Mississippi, and New York, as well as several Western states. What are some of the common challenges and opportunities you’ve observed, and what makes California unique?
Those who know me in the industry know that I generally manage multiple transit systems at a time (particularly small urban and rural systems). I also have some experience working in larger transit systems as well. I am a builder and a troubleshooter and many of the transit systems that I have been to were either new start agencies, or agencies that needed to reverse a trend of being stagnant and needed a new kick start or I filled in on a part time basis while they found a permanent person to lead the transit system.
Many of the common challenges I have experienced are lack of a transit plan, lack of a specific direction, and lack of funding. Opportunities that I have sought include addressing the challenges and helping the jurisdiction that I was working for think big on how they can enhance their transit system to be better. I also helped facilitate transit consolidation (by laying the foundation) or implement to ultimately seek better services to the customer in several cases. What makes California unique is the multiple funding opportunities available to make transit better for the customer and the service area. Since my first Transit Manager job in 2000 - it has been an interesting 23 years where I have learned and grown with the direction of the industry.
Transit California: You’ve said previously that you’ve loved public transit since you were a child. What event initially inspired you?
When I was young (5 years old), we had a field trip to then was called Santa Clara County Transportation Agency (today’s VTA) and I met a planner at named Kermit Cuff. He used to send me schedules every so often and when I was 13, I got an opportunity to do an internship there. Since then, I have wanted to work in public transit and make a difference to those who need the services. I had my first Transit Manager opportunity with the Riverbank Oakdale Transit Authority, and that agency helped me get to where I am today.