“I had huge empathy for front line employees. I always have. But it also really influenced my management philosophy because very occasionally when the top brass visited Regents Park and…or on occasion they’d stop and say hello to you. And then you’d feel 10 foot tall. That always resonated with me. It’s seared into my psyche. So now if you ever follow me around in transport on any of the jobs I’ve done or watch me walk through a subway station or out on the streets I will not walk past one of my colleagues without stopping to acknowledge them. “

Andy Byford, Commissioner of Transport for London, joins Transit Unplugged from his home base in London, where he originally began his transit career as a graduate trainee. A lot has happened since then. Andy has worked around the world and dedicated his professional life to being a public servant improving the lives of transit riders and employees.

Returning home thirty-one years after he embarked on his transit industry journey, Andy Byford is the Head of Transport for London, taking on perhaps his biggest role to date. After recent tenures in New York and Toronto, where he accomplished a number of things he speaks of with pride, like the Toronto Transit Commission being named APTA’s Transit System of the Year in 2017 and progressing Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize New York City Transit which captured the imagination of New Yorkers. He joins Transit Unplugged to talk about the highlights, his management philosophies, and his outlook on Covid-19 and the recovery process.

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