First look at Sacramento where light rail rules!
This week we have the first look at Paul’s visit to Sacramento on Transit Unplugged TV. This episode is part of a series Paul filmed on a West Coast tour of California and Alaska. Over the next several months we’ll have podcast and TV episodes from Sacramento, Anchorage, and Fairbanks.
But this week it’s all about Sacramento, with the trailer for the Transit Unplugged TV episode and a podcast interview with Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) CEO Henry Li. First, let’s dive into what you’ll see next week on Transit Unplugged TV.
Sacramento’s deep connection with rail
Did you know Sacramento is where the Transcontinental Railroad started over 150 years ago? You can stand at mile zero in Old Town Sacramento, check out historic trains, and visit 19th century Sacramento from during the Gold Rush.
Sacramento and SacRT have maintained this connection to rail with their amazing light rail system, which is getting a multi-billion dollar upgrade with new stations and trains. Trains built by Siemens right in Sacramento!
Next week you’ll get to watch the entire episode, see more of the city, the Capitol building, and their rich farm-to-fork food culture. In the meantime, check out this sneak peek.
KCATA and Transit Unplugged win a SWTA Spotlight Award
We are tremendously excited and proud that, together with Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Transit Unplugged won a South West Transit Association Spotlight Award for Digital Media at the SWTA Summer University this week.
The award was a joint submission for the two podcast episodes and Transit Unplugged TV episode from Kansas City earlier this year where we highlighted everything transit does to support and improve life for the people of the region.
You can read the announcement on the Transit Unplugged blog and if you’d like to check out the shows for yourself, you can watch the Transit Unplugged TV episode from Kansas City on YouTube and listen to this playlist with both podcast episodes:
This week on the podcast: Henry Li CEO, SacRT
Henry Li is one of the most innovative and dynamic transit leaders today. A former APTA CEO of the Year, Henry has led SacRT for almost a decade now. When he came to SacRT, the agency wasn’t in great shape. High crime and 20% fare evasion plagued the system, but things are completely different. After a top to bottom overhaul of how the agency runs, they have won accolades from taxpayer associations, APTA, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and more.
Now running like a well-oiled machine, Henry and his team can manage multiple major initiatives at once—like the light rail upgrade and massive transit oriented development (TOD) projects—while still continuously improving the agency and its people.
In this episode Henry talks about the safety initiatives and his six-step project management framework.
Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged: Jamie Acton and Bart Rudolph of Anchorage, AK
Next week we have the first of two episodes from Paul’s tour of Alaska. First up: Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage. Learn what it’s like to run a transit agency with harsh winters and the wilderness right at your doorstep.
We hear from Jamie Acton, Director of Transit, and Bart Rudolf transit planner about what makes transit in Anchorage tick and what living in Alaska is like—from someone born there and someone who moved there.
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