Room: International AB
Sponsor(s)
 
Session Description
Leadership in Transit – Emerging Needs
Stream: Leadership Stream
Moderator:
Speaker:
Jeff Casello – University of Waterloo
Stephanie Simard Craig – Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Erica Springate – City of Ottawa
Stephen Oliver – GHD
As cities and regions become more complex, and more fiscally constrained, increasing pressure is being placed on transit systems to deliver high quality, competitive service with limited resources. Successfully navigating this evolution requires strong leadership throughout a transit organization. In this session, emerging and established leaders will describe their academic and professional paths to their current positions, and how these experiences have prepared them for the challenges they (and their organizations) are facing. The session will include a diverse panel representing the public and private sectors. Attendees to this session will learn what’s necessary to develop leaders in the transit industry, allowing these leaders to achieve their personal and professional goals, while promoting transit’s role in creating livable cities.Â
Speaker(s) / Presenter(s)
Jeff Casello – Professor, School of Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Toronto
Bio:
Professor CaselloÂ’s interests lie in urban transportation systems and their impacts on healthy and economically viable urban areas. As such, he conducts research on the design and operation of public transportation systems, urban roadway systems, and facilities for non-motorized modes. His research aims to promote efficient, balanced transportation that enhances regional economic competitiveness and supports social mobility.
He is an expert in the planning, design and operation of sustainable transportation systems. He has written more than 110 articles and reports for both scholarly and professional audiences.
Professor Casello supported Dr. Vukan Vuchic in his writing of Urban Transit – Operations, Planning and Economics (ISBN: 978-0-471-63265-8). At the same time, Vuchic and Casello updated the seminal text Urban Transit – Systems and Technology (ISBN: 978-0-471-75823-5), originally published in 1981 with a re-release in 2007. In 2015, Professor Casello authored the Urban Regions Chapter in Natural Resources Canada’s book on Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency. Dr. Casello is the lead author (with Vuchic) of Transit Planning for the Institute of Transportation Engineer’s (ITE) 3rd edition of the Transportation Planning Handbook.
Dr. Casello has been asked to provide advice to governments throughout Canada. In 2014, he was invited to speak to members of Canadian Parliament on the future of public transportation. Professor Casello has worked as a consultant, instructor and researcher with many transit agencies and cities in the US, Canada and abroad. These include Singapore (Land Transport Authority), Washington DC (WMATA), Houston (METRO), Philadelphia (SEPTA), the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (GRT), Metrolinx, the Province of British Columbia, the City of Kingston, the City of London (LTC) and Mexico City (D.F.). Dr. Casello has also worked in the public sector for the New York State Department of Transportation.
Since 2013, Professor Casello has coordinated international student exchanges and workshops, with colleagues at the Karlsruhe (Germany) University of Applied Sciences.
At the University of Waterloo, Jeff is a Professor in the School of Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has supervised more than 40 graduate students.
In 2013, Jeff was awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award, the highest honor given to instructors at the University. He has also served as a senior administrator at the University, holding positions as Associate Dean and as Associate Vice President.
Stephanie Simard Craig – Manager, Tranit Systems Planning, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Bio:
Stephanie Simard Craig is the Manager, Transit Systems Planning in the Strategy and Foresight Department at the TTC. She is responsible for developing standards and policies to govern the provision of TTC services. Since joining the TTC in 2015, she has worked on the TTCÂ’s Service Standards, 5-Year Service Customer Experience Action Plan, RapidTO, microtransit, service integration and automated vehicles. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a Masters of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining the TTC, she worked for 6 years as a Transportation Planning consultant.
Bio:
Bio:
Stephen is Transportation Planning Lead at GHD, he is a RPP and a multi-modal transportation planner who cut his teeth on the ever present first last mile problem. He integrates transportation, land use and urban design to create balanced transportation systems. He has experience from public and private section with public transit planning and design projects from the USA, UK and a cross section of Canadian municipalities.