Talkin' Transit

This week I found myself talking about transit like I'm someone in the industry. And I am. I'm a working professional in planning and sometimes I still think that's so awesome.

Monday I was in a meeting at the Capitol Building discussing a bus shelter we wanted to place on the corner of their property. The room was full of important people and I was pleased to know that some of them knew me by name. Also, my boss and I were the only females in the room. The meeting was slightly discouraging because a few of the more vocal people had views that regarding transit as "those people". I finally had to speak up and say, essentially, that people who ride transit are people too and their needs are important too. And if we want to lessen traffic then we should promote transit and make it a viable alternative. I'm not sure if my boss approved of my words, she never said anything, but one person in the meeting told me the next day he thought it was ballsy. And I stand by my words.

Thursday I was in a meeting for transportation related issues. Many of the conversations involved a level of technical knowledge beyond what I have, but it was all very interesting. And again, I was in a room full of knowledgeable people talking about transportation.

Today I was having lunch at Bobo's, discussing transit issues in Salt Lake with a date. The place is very small, and we were seated at the counter, so the couple next to us could hear our conversation. She asked if I was a transportation planner. I said yes, sort of. She said that she used to be the Secretary of Transportation at KDOT, and she asked about my job and if I worked for the MPO or the City and the Mayor was someone she knew. It was all very cool.