From Adam Harrington, Director of Service Development
Since the start of the COVD-19 pandemic, our ridership has remained incredibly consistent, with about 50,000 to 70,000 local bus rides and around 25,000 light rail rides per day.
In May, we saw small increases in these numbers, a welcome sign that more riders are starting to return to transit. Recovering from the pandemic will take time, though.
Today, our primary objective is to ensure those who are riding and coming back have the kind of experiences that lead them to regularly use transit, and that we show prospective customers everything we’re doing to improve our service.
These have always been important objectives, but they are even more critical now because the habits people fall into after the pandemic will become harder to change as time goes by.
To help us put our best foot forward, I am leading a new cross-departmental team that will spend the coming months working together to address some of our most pressing and immediate issues.
This team is part of the broader Strategic Framework that will provide a cohesive, agency-wide set of priorities that will help us become a stronger and better organization. This plan is now in the final stages of development.
Among our immediate focuses is finding the bus operators, maintenance staff and security personnel we need to provide reliable service and to keep our fleet clean and safe.
This group will also help guide important decisions about how our service and customer facilities can be adapted as we learn more about the pandemic’s lasting impacts on travel behavior.
While we have more work to do, progress is already being made.
Recruitment and hiring efforts are in full swing. Maintenance staff are putting forward impressive fleet and facility cleaning efforts.
Targeted service improvements are on the horizon, too. In August, we’ll bring back or add more trips to several key express bus routes. Our newest Bus Rapid Transit line, the METRO Orange Line, will open on the I-35W corridor in late 2021.
This group’s charge – and the charge we all share – is to not only keep up this good work, but to find even more opportunities to work together and to share our story with customers, partners, and the communities we serve.
The challenges we’re facing are significant. But we can also view this moment as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset, refocus and reintroduce ourselves. After nearly 30 years of working in transportation, I am energized by this opportunity and optimistic about what lies ahead.
I am also truly, deeply impressed by the work everyone is doing to keep us on steady footing amid so many challenges. Thank you to all those who have persevered to get us to this moment.
The world around us has changed and will continue to change. But if we work together, we can continue to evolve into a stronger, better and more responsive service provider.
May ridership shows continued growth
More than 2.57 million rides were provided in May, a 48% increase from the same month last year. May’s total includes 1.7 million bus rides, nearly 460,000 Green Line rides and 368,000 Blue Line rides. April’s ridership was up 24% compared to the same month last year.
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COO Pellegrin retires after 40+ years in transit
Growing up in southern California, Vince Pellegrin was a “surfer kid” with a thing for hot rods. His first job? Pumping gas. His first car? A 1967 Ford Fairlane. But after attending the University of Southern California and gaining experience as a mechanic and union steward, Pellegrin responded to a newspaper ad for a job that would steer him away from an automotive career. In 1980, he began at the Southern California Rapid Transit District, the precursor to LA Metro, where he joined the mechanical training department.
Over the next four decades, Pellegrin would become an industry leader in bus maintenance, advancing technologies in Los Angeles, New York, and the Twin Cities. More than half of that career, 24 years, was spent at Metro Transit, where he retires this week after serving as the agency’s first Chief Operating Officer.
In Los Angeles, Pellegrin’s accomplishments included helping the agency bring on hundreds of new buses ahead of the 1984 Olympics and putting the country’s first 40-foot bus powered by natural gas into service. At the New York City Transit Authority, he served as the chief officer for research and development and helped put the country’s first hybrid-electric buses into service.
Former LA Metro CEO Art Leahy recruited Pellegrin to the Twin Cities, where he helped improve the fleet’s performance and appearance. As chief operating officer, Pellegrin led the agency through several major events, including 9/11, the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In retirement, Pellegrin plans to spend time with family spend winters somewhere warm. “It’s been my privilege to be a part of this outstanding transit agency,” he said. “As much as I would like to think I’m leaving a positive legacy, the truth is I’m taking away so much more than I could ever give.”
Acting assignments in Bus Transportation announced
Brian Funk, deputy chief of operations-bus, will serve as acting chief operating officer until the position is permanently filled. Additionally, Steve McLaird will serve as acting director of bus transportation, Amina Wolf will serve as acting deputy director of bus transportation, and Kim Fleming will serve as acting transportation manager at Ruter Garage until the director role is filled.
In 1977, German Gonzalez Sr. immigrated to Minnesota from Mascota, Mexico seeking opportunity. He immediately found multiple part-time jobs as a school bus driver and carpenter. As the years progressed, however, work became intermittent and sparse.
“There were many hard years where you’d show up to a job site looking for work and told there isn’t any,” Gonzalez Sr. said.
This year, as Metro Transit returned to hiring bus operators for the first time since the pandemic, his son, German Gonzalez Jr., inspired him to apply.
“I was working as a helper in light rail maintenance and when I saw the opening, I decided it was time for a change,” German Gonzalez Jr. said. “It’s a different schedule and has different opportunities.”
Together, they join the first class of new operators since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the fall, Metro Transit hopes to hire up to 70 operators.
In college, Gonzalez Jr. worked as a part-time Metro Transit operator . Today, he finds himself helping his father learn this trade.
Operator hiring events will be held June 23, June 26
Job seekers are invited to attend bus operator hiring events next week at the Instruction Center. The events will provide applicants an opportunity to apply and interview in one day. Applicants can visit the Instruction Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23, and Saturday, June 26.
Metro Transit is seeking to hire up to 70 full-time bus operators by this fall to support future service improvements. Successful candidates can earn a $1,000 bonus and employees who refer a successful candidate can receive a $600 bonus.
Metro Transit employees come from many cultures and backgrounds. To celebrate this diversity, employees who are proud to share their heritage and identity will be regularly featured in Insights and on the Riders' Almanac blog. To share your story, email insights@metrotransit.org.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
I was born in Tehran, Iran’s capital, in 1993. My mother and father met in a hotel sheltering people who fled the city they lived in, Abadan, when it was attacked at the start of the Iraq-Iran war. A few years later my parents got green cards and immigrated to northern California, where other family members had moved. They were the last in our family to immigrate and wanted to move back to Iran. But they connected with old friends who lived in Eden Prairie and visited them in Minnesota. They found the pace of life much more enjoyable here and thought there would be better opportunities, so they never left.
What was it like growing up in an Iranian household in Minnesota?
There were a lot of difficulties growing up in an American society as a foreigner. Iranians aren’t super-prevalent in Minnesota and there are a lot of stereotypes because of the tension between the U.S. and Iran. But my parents found a great community of friends here and we retained many of the core components of our heritage. My sister and I were only allowed to speak Farsi in the home, we always celebrated the Persian New Year in March and my mom is a super-chef who ran her own Persian catering company. My friends were always clamoring for her food, but I viewed food as a marker of differences. I’d go to friends’ houses and they’d be eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets while we were having stews and lamb. Now, the food is something I cherish more and more, and a way to share my identity with other people.
This week, staff were invited to commemorate Juneteenth by attending a virtual session with Jamil Stamschror-Lott, who spoke about the way racially motivated policies continue to create disparities in income, health care, housing and other areas. The session was not recorded to allow for more open dialogue, but Stamschror-Lott provided links to several videos and articles, below, that all employees can explore, whether or not they attended the session.
Juneteenth is this Saturday, June 19, and is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. This week, a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday was passed into law.
Resources
Learn more about Council's affirmative action plan
Employees are invited to attend a Tuesday, June 22, info session to learn more about the organization’s Affirmative Action Plan. The session will begin at 9 a.m. Use this Microsoft short link to join the sessions: https://aka.ms/METC-AAP.
Pride Month is a celebration of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community. It is celebrated in June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred in June 1969 and served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement.
Several Pride events are planned:
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A "Brunch & Learn" about allyship in the workplace will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 22. Watch for an invite or email Nia Colebrooke.
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An online conversation with LGBTQ staff, hosted by Tane Danger, will be shared on Metro Transit's Facebook page on Wednesday, June 23.
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A workshop with Jamil Stamschror-Lott (he/him) and Kesley Shultz (they/them) about LGBTQIA+ allyship, accountability, history and terminology and inclusivity, will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 28 on Zoom.
To learn more about the Council's Pride Employee Resource Group, contact David Hanson or Nia Colebrooke.
Ruter Operator Angelique Brousseau recently received a commendation for waiting the extra minute to help a customer get where they needed to go.
The driver waited for me even though they didn't have to! I was quite far away coming from the Route 3 bus stop. It was a small thing but super sweet and saved me a LOT of hassle of being late to a medical appointment. Hope you see this. Thank you!
Naomi B.
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Christopher (Chris) Curd joins Metro Transit as an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Engineer in the Transit Control Center/Bus Technology Systems Department. Curd previously worked at LA Metro, where he helped manage a countywide transit signal priority system. He relocated to Minneapolis in 2019 to work for SRF Consulting Group. At Metro Transit, Curd will help advance technologies that make transit more efficient and reliable.
Other recently hired employees include:
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Deborah Early, Customer Relations Specialist
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Tyler Lewis, LRT Helper
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Arnold Diaz, LRT Helper
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Victor Durham, Signals Technician
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Kyle Sheppard, Principal Contract Admin, Engineering & Facilities
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Connor Hicks, Community Service Officer
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Gao Ia Vue, Community Service Officer
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Caleb Kittock, Community Service Officer
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Tommy Fickett, Community Service Officer
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Vy Vang, Community Service Officer
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Tshuxue Cha, Community Service Officer
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COVID-19 case updates suspended: Due to the drop in COVID-19 cases, regular updates on the number of cases reported at each work site will no longer be included in Insights. If cases are reported, staff who have been identified as close contacts will be notified and advised to seek testing, whether or not they’ve been vaccinated. If you test positive for COVID-19, do not report to work and contact a manager or supervisor as soon as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, 442 COVID-19 cases have been reported among Metro Transit staff. Currently, 432 of those who have tested positive have been cleared to return to work.
Minnesota State Fair returning in August: The Minnesota State Fair Board announced last week that the Great Minnesota Get-Together will be held this summer. Metro Transit is developing plans for express bus service to and from the fairgrounds. Stay tuned for more information. The 2021 State Fair runs from Thursday, Aug. 26, to Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.
Updated Street Operations directory now on MetNet: Easily find information to get in touch with the right transit supervisor any time of day for any region or route. Access information about transit supervisors, including a photo, name, region/routes, work hours, phone number, and email address. Find the directory on MetNet.
Buses replacing Blue Line trains June 18-20: Buses will replace Blue Line trains between the American Boulevard and 28th Avenue stations between 7 p.m. Friday, June 18 and 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 20, to allow for track repairs. Learn more at metrotransit.org.
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