Mass Transit

SEP-OCT 2014

Mass Transit magazine features agency profiles, industry trends, management tips and new product information.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 49 Michael J. Walk, M.S. Director of Service Development, Maryland Transit Administration MICHAEL WALK, Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA) director of ser- vice development, is an innovative leader who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the residents of the Baltimore region in his quest to provide them with better transit service. Walk began his career at MTA charged with starting up a new performance management program for MTA operations. He was later promoted as the agency's frst chief performance ofcer in charge of the new of- fce of performance manage- ment where he managed six staf members dedicated to the gathering, analysis and report- ing of empirical data to inform business decisions. In this role, Walk set up measurement pro- cesses and held operating divi- sions accountable for trends in their performance metrics. Trough measurement, analysis and ongoing monitoring and enforcement, MTA was able to cut its operations' overtime bud- get by half, or $30 million over four years. He also spearheaded the program to expand performance measurement from operations to all parts of MTA, initiated a text-message-based real-time customer satisfaction measurement tool, and led a taskforce that resulted in a reduction in farebox failure rates through a self-funding program. As a result of Walk 's success in performance measurement, he moved to overseeing the ser- vice planning for MTA's core bus network. He oversees an operating budget of $1.9 million and staf of 38, including transit planners, schedulers, analysts and traf- fc checkers. In order to bring change to a service that has long been perceived as a mode only for captive riders, Walk began a sweeping planning program — the Bus Network Improve- ment Project — to identify and implement ways to make the system more reliable, better serve passengers' needs and new developments, and provide a sys- tem with levels of service that would be attractive to a broader ridership base. www.MassTransitmag.com/11617642 For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10279620 "I know that by making transit service better, I am having real, tangible, positive impact not only on someone's trip, but on his or her quality of life, on the sustainability of the region, and on the long- term viability of the planet."

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