Emerging Microtransit Best Practices
Sponsored by: National Express/ Totalride and Nelson Nygaard
General Session Description:
On-demand microtransit services are a compelling new way for communities to offer convenient mobility access in lower-density areas and off-peak times. By right-sizing vehicles and dispatching fleets on-demand through user-friendly mobile apps and optimized algorithms, agencies can deliver better wait times and coverage for riders while improving cost efficiency. In this session, we will hear case studies and emerging microtransit best practices from Arizona and across the country, covering service models ranging from TNC partnerships to turnkey contractors and agency-operated fleets.
Moderator:
Emily Warren, Senior Policy Advisor, Nelson\Nygaard
Panelists:
- Sarah Strand, Senior Transportation Planner, City of West Sacramento, CA
- Kevin Link, Transit Administrator, City of Glendale, AZ
- Chris Pangilinan, Head of Global Policy for Public Transportation, Uber
- Krista Glotzbach, Partnerships Lead - Western U.S., Via
- Todd Plesko, Vice President for Planning and Development, DART
Emily Warren is a shared mobility pioneer with a wealth of experience in transportation policy and technology regulation. As Senior Policy Advisor at Nelson\Nygaard, she guides transportation agencies in developing policy frameworks to govern emerging technologies and deliver safe, equitable, sustainable outcomes. After starting her career as a Congressional legislative aide and municipal financial analyst, Emily joined Lyft on its first day of operation in 2012, where she founded several core departments and led teams focused on transportation policy, public transit partnerships, and community engagement. Emily later joined Lime, where she led the global policy and research team. Emily also serves on the advisory board of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and Boston’s Livable Streets Alliance. She maintains advisory affiliations with Fontinalis Partners and Superpedestrian.
Sarah Strand is a Senior Transportation Planner with the City of West Sacramento’s Transportation & Mobility Division. She started her career as a Regional Planner with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) in 2012, after earning her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning at UC San Diego. She began working for West Sacramento while completing her M.S. in Transportation Technology & Policy at UC Davis in 2016 and has managed the City’s On-Demand Rideshare program in partnership with Via Transportation from concept to deployment to ongoing operations. The West Sac On-Demand Rideshare program has received a US Conference of Mayors City Livability award, League of California Cities Helen Putnam award, and Innovative Solutions awards from METRO Magazine and the WTS Sacramento Chapter.
Sarah is passionate about developing safe, sustainable mobility systems, and is managing various multi-modal planning efforts, including development of the West Sacramento Mobility Action Plan (MAP), EV charging deployments through the City’s Plug-in Partnership, Micromobility, SRTS, and TDM programs, alongside broader active transportation and climate initiatives. She is currently a proud resident of West Sacramento where she lives with her partner, James, and enjoys camping and hiking throughout Northern California.
Kevin Link is currently the Transit Administrator with the City of Glendale, Arizona. Kevin has over 18 years of experience in the public transit industry along with 20 years of transportation experience during his career in the United States Air Force. He began his career in Glendale as a Dispatcher/Router and has worked his way up to his current position as Administrator. Along the way, he served as a Transit Supervisor and Operations Manager.
Working with a $13M dollar operating budget, Kevin is responsible for overseeing all paratransit, circulator and fixed route service in Glendale, as well as planning and developing plans for capital projects such as Park-and-Rides, Transit Centers and bus stop enhancements. Kevin has a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Management from the University of Maryland, European Division and an Associates degree in Logistics from the Community College of the Air Force.
Chris Pangilinan is the Head of Global Policy for Public Transportation at Uber. In this role, Chris works to help public transportation agencies and riders harness Uber’s technology platform to make transit more convenient and easier to use. Prior to joining Uber, Chris was at the non-profit research and advocacy organization Transit Center, and served in various roles at New York City Transit, the San Francisco MTA, and the US Department of Transportation.
Krista Glotzbach is the head of US Partnerships supporting the Western United States at Via, a leading provider of digital infrastructure to power public mobility systems. Krista consults with cities, transit agencies, and private transit operators, helping them evaluate microtransit as a complement to their transportation networks. Prior to Via, Krista served as the Strategic Accounts and APAC lead for Tamr Inc., an enterprise data unification company who’s platform unifies data to deliver tangible business-changing insights. Krista holds a B.A. in Economics and Japanese from Stanford University and an executive MBA from Harvard Business School.
Todd Plesko brings more than three decades of experience in transit management, bus and paratransit operations, and service planning to his current position as Vice President for Planning and Development for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). His professional experience includes bus and paratransit operations, service planning and scheduling, microtransit planning, vanpooling, user side subsidy programs, traffic signal priority and capital project design and construction of transit centers, bus garages, shelters, sidewalks, bus stops, and smart stop technology.
Prior to DART, Plesko worked for the Metro St. Louis (Bi-State), Madison County Transit (MCT) in Metro East St. Louis, and the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (CNYRTA) in Syracuse New York. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Urbana) and Syracuse University.