After spending the bulk of her 20 year career in public transport in Montreal at STM, Renée Amilcar has been at the helm of OC Transpo in Ottawa for almost two years and leading the effort to move OC Transpo to zero emissions by 2036. But that's only the tip of the iceberg for this dynamic transit leader. Join Paul in conversation with Renée in an interview recorded at the UITP Global Summit in Barcelona the day before she took office as the President of UITP.

OC Transpo serves the City of Ottawa, which isn't just your regular city, it's the capital city of Canada. Known for it's history, beauty, and canals, it also has famously harsh winters. OC Transpo has the difficult enough job of keeping a city moving, but also helps keep the wheels of government going by making sure government workers get to their jobs as well.

On the road to zero emissions, Renée talks with Paul about the electric bus trials in the city that have been very successful thus far. She's also responsible for the multi-billion dollar light rail expansion to create more transit options for people in the city of Ottawa.

Renée is an example of the new generation of leaders who are transforming and re-energizing public transit. As the new President of UITP, Renée wants to build bridges across agencies, countries, and continents to help all transit systems meet the challenges we all face in the 21st century.

Also on the show Mike Bismeyer talks about his recent visit to a school to talk with kids about careers in transit as part of CUTA's Mentorship Program. If you'd like to have Mike visit your school, reach out to him on LinkedIn.

Coming up we have a special two-part series on Canadian technology innovation with experts on planning, cybersecurity, safety management, and more. Technology is crucial to transit, get an inside look into some of the newest innovation and how agencies like TransLink are piloting them.

If you have a question or would like to be a guest on the show, email us at [email protected].

Transit Unplugged is presented by Modaxo. At Modaxo we're passionate about moving the world's people, and Transit Unplugged is passionate about telling those stories.

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(00:00) Renée Amilcar, President UITP (00:17) Interview with Renée Amilcar, GM of OC Transpo, Ottawa, ON (25:29) Mike's Minute with Mike Bismeyer (26:14) Mike in the classroom (26:56) Mike in class talking (27:42) Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged

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