Mobility Innovators

Kevin Quinn ([00:00:00]):

You know, this summer we’ll be hosting seven FIFA games. We’re very excited about that. It’s about a month of festivities that will be taking place in Vancouver. I guess I’d say there’s a couple aspects to it. One is the customer aspect of how we engage with folks and how we surprise and delight folks on the system, how we activate the system to be engaging. And so we’re doing some really fun things around that with our buses. You’ll see things at our stations. We may have some new products coming out. So we’re going to do some really cool stuff that we’ll be launching in the lead up to FIFA that we’re very, very excited about, that is going to get people excited. It’s going to get people coming to the region excited. We think there’s upwards of maybe around, I think, a million people that are going to come to the region that are going to be traveling for FIFA games.

Jaspal Singh ([00:01:02]):

So it’s a lot of people. Welcome to the Mobility Innovators Podcast.

Jaspal Singh ([00:01:13]):

Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Mobility Innovators Podcast.

I’m your host, Jaspal Singh. Mobility Innovators podcast invite key innovators in the transportation and logistics sector to share their experience and future podcasts. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the transformation journey of TransLink.

Out today guest is the CEO of TransLink. TransLink is a regulatory authority responsible for regional transportation network in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It managed a massive integrated system of buses, rapid transit, fairy, and computer rail. The agency achieved the annual ridership of 403 million in 2024. As a CEO, he oversee management, planning, finance, and the growth and delivery of public transport, as well as cycling and working infrastructure, five bridges and the major road network. Under his leadership, the agency achieved 90% of pre-pandemic ridership.

Prior to his time at TransLink, he served as an administrator and CEO of Maryland Transit Administration.

Jaspal Singh ([00:02:11]):

I’m so happy to welcome Kevin Quinn, the CEO of TransLink. I was trying to listen and learn.

Kevin, I’m so happy to have you on the podcast. Thank you for taking time.

Kevin Quinn ([00:02:22]):

Yeah, thanks for having me. It’s always good to catch up with you and talk all things transit.

Jaspal Singh ([00:02:29]):

Great. I was checking your profile and I was doing a little bit of research on your background, and I want to kickstart our discussion about your professional journey in transit because it’s quite interesting. I saw you started as a comprehensive planner with the city of Baltimore in 2004, and then became a CEO of MTA Maryland in 2017, and then the CEO of TransLink in 2021.

 

How’s your journey feel when you look back from a comprehensive planner to CEO, the boss in the company? And I would also say these are the two big transit agencies in North America in US and Canada. So how’s your journey feel like and what are the challenges you face in your journey?

Kevin Quinn ([00:03:09]):

Yeah, sure. On reflection, it has been quite a journey. It’s true. I was a comprehensive planner. Another way to look at that is just a general community planner. And I was out in Baltimore and East Baltimore specifically. I was assigned to that geographic part of East Baltimore. It was really more of a land use and zoning and community planner. So I was out at community meetings, talking to communities about developments in their area, helping to shepherd some of those developments through the land use and zoning city process. And that was a great way to really be on the ground level.

Kevin Quinn ([00:03:54]):

I feel like I very much learned what’s important to communities and how to work with communities and how important communication is. So I did that for a number of years and then ended up getting into transit consulting. I worked for a small transit consulting firm called KFH Group and really enjoyed working for them for a few years and did some consulting work for the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) doing rural transit consulting for very small agencies. Anyways, I bounced around a little bit, but made my way up as the director of planning for Maryland Transit did that for a number of years and then took on some big projects and then eventually became the CEO. And it was a big jump for me at the time. And it was something that I really enjoyed doing. And I enjoyed doing it so much. COVID hit, that presented its own challenges.

Kevin Quinn ([00:04:48]):

Back in 2020, as we all experienced the pandemic. And then honestly, the job opened up in Vancouver. And as you well know, Vancouver has been known for a number of years for being a state-of-the-art, really great system, a lot of big investments over the years in transit and in moving the Metro Vancouver region forward. And so I certainly jumped at the chance to be able to apply for the job. And nearly five years later, here I sit. So it has been quite a journey. I would just reflect that for me, it’s always about people, about helping people.

Kevin Quinn ([00:05:26]):

I believe a lot in public service and making communities better. And I think you can do that in a number of ways. I am particularly passionate about transit and about transportation improvements because there’s many aspects of government and the way that government affects people’s lives. I think what’s really cool about transit is it’s very on the ground. It’s a bus. It’s literally a bus that shows up at your door, a train that shows up at the station to take you to work. It really is like this connector of economic development of something you can touch and you can feel of your tax dollars at work and communities getting better. And so I love the realness, the realness of it all.

Jaspal Singh ([00:06:08]):

That’s true and like you mentioned, you started your career talking to people, connecting with them. And I say mobility is all about people. You need to understand how can you serve them. So I love your answer. And I’m really lucky to have you in the transit. It’s good you chose this sector because if you love transit, you need to love people. So it’s very connected. That’s right. Now your current role. So you moved from MTA, Maryland to TransLink in 2021, and you said it was during the pandemic. You were doing amazing job at MTA, Maryland as well. We still talked to some of the people there and they still remember you. Oh, thanks. And I don’t think 2021 was the right time to move during the pandemic. And a lot of agencies are going through major impact and all. Why did you decide to move and decide to take this role? And how do you feel after last five years taking this role?

Kevin Quinn ([00:06:58]):

Yeah, it’s a big choice. Moving to a different country, moving to a different coast of North America was a big decision. I think ultimately what I really saw was that I was really proud of the work that we did in Maryland. And I think personally, I was ready for a new challenge. And to be quite honest with you, I lived in Maryland my whole life. I was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, right outside of Washington, DC, and ended up going to university in Baltimore and then stayed there.

Kevin Quinn ([00:07:40]):

So I’d lived in Maryland for a really long time and I’d always been eager to go live and work somewhere else. What better place than Vancouver? What better system than TransLink? And so I felt and still feel just extremely lucky and very grateful to have made that move. But yeah, it was also during the pandemic. I mean, what a crazy time. I mean, honestly, who makes a decision to pick up their family and move and change jobs, change countries in the middle of a pandemic? I guess I did. And sure, there were hurdles, but they were all … We were able to overcome a lot of those challenges. And again, maybe a theme here all comes back to people because.

Jaspal Singh ([00:08:25]):

Certainly

Kevin Quinn ([00:08:26]):

A lot of people at TransLink very much welcomed me. I was welcomed to the community and it has been a very, what I would say, welcoming experience coming to Metro Vancouver from the States.

Jaspal Singh ([00:08:38]):

I mean, I would say the team at both end, I am lucky to know both of them, MTA Maryland and TransLink, the people are amazing both side. Holly is doing great job.

Jaspal Singh ([00:08:48]):

And I think also that’s a great credit to you. As a leader, you are able to create a second line of leadership, which is an important part of leadership. Now, this is a global podcast, and I mean, it’ll be great to share with people what exciting work and what amazing work TransLink is doing, which is a regional transit authority. There are very few transit authorities in North America, and I would say TransLink is very special.

What makes TransLink special and why other cities couldn’t be able to copy the model which TransLink is working? Because I sometimes tell, people ask me, what is a good example in North America? I said, look at TransLink model. It’s very good to governance and transit’s why. So why you think it’s very unique and why not other city could able to copy it?

 

Kevin Quinn ([00:09:33]):

Well, many years ago, well before my time, 40-50 years ago, TransLink made a decision to pursue a regional model. Vancouver decided to pursue a regional approach to growth and to development. Originally back in the 1970s, the region adopted a plan that was cities in a sea of green connected by highways, and they amended that several years later to cities in a sea of green connected by transit. And what followed out of that was a real investment in Skytrain, the world’s first driverless train system debuting in 1986 as part of the world expo in Vancouver.

Kevin Quinn ([00:10:20]):

And that really set a lot of things in motion that really set the backbone of the transit system. So you took this regional model, you took a big investment in a sky train system, and everything has kind of fallen and flowed from there. The model today remains a regional governance model. So TransLink has an interesting governance model where we have a mayor’s council that determines really the region’s vision and priority projects. That’s 21 municipalities and electoral district and a Treaty First Nation that come together and determine the region’s vision and priority projects. But we also do have a board of directors that operates more like what I would call just a traditional board focused on costs and efficiencies and the fiduciary responsibility that a board really holds. It’s a really interesting model and it’s not without its conflicts and its overlaps from time to time.

Kevin Quinn ([00:11:22]):

But I think in contrasting it with some of my experience in Maryland, Maryland couldn’t be more in the opposite end of the spectrum where that transit agency really flows up to the governor’s office. There’s the governor, the secretary of transportation, and then essentially the administrator, the CEO of the transit administration. So it’s like you literally go from one person at the top to two quite large governing bodies.

Kevin Quinn ([00:11:48]):

And I’d say that what’s benefited Metro Vancouver in this way is when you take a regional approach with a lot of people, it may take a while to develop consensus and vision, but once you have it, you’re on a path and you have consistency of projects and consistency of direction and vision. When you have one person at the top, an election can change everything. And that is a bit of the story of transit in Maryland and a lot of different states in the US that fall under that governance model. So one thing that I think’s helped TransLink over the years is its governance and its consistency of governance in determining a vision and setting that vision for the long term.

Jaspal Singh ([00:12:31]):

That you likely said, it’s always a challenge because if it’s only one person, it has own priorities. And when you have a governance, a body, you always have consensus. And I can see your job is more like now connecting these mayors and connecting them and come to a consensus. I mean, one of the biggest achievement I would say you have done is creating this transport 2050 plan, which has setting up the 10-year priority plan. Can you share a little bit more about how you see and vision Vancouver 2050?

Kevin Quinn ([00:13:02]):

Sure. One of our legislative legal requirements is to develop a 30-year transportation plan. And so I came on to TransLink in 2021, and the team was well underway of this 30-year plan that we called Transport 2050 that our board and mayors adopted in 2022. But that really envisions this long-term approach for the region. It envisions quadrupling rapid transit service, big increases in local bus service. It envisions active transportation playing more of a role than ever before. 50% of all trips being active transit or active transportation or transit trips by the year 2050. So there’s a lot of big goals and visions set out in that. Some of the important work that we did with our mayor’s council was taking that 30-year transportation plan and getting consensus on what do we want to tackle in the first 10 years? There’s a lot. There’s a lot in that 30-year bucket of things that we want to

Kevin Quinn ([00:14:08]):

Do. And so you’ve got to say, all right folks, we’ve got to come down a couple levels and say, what do we want to do in the first 10? So we worked with our mayor’s council and gained some consensus and really vision around that and a 10-year plan that we call access for everyone. And that access for everyone plan envisions nine bus rapid transit corridors, continued investment in SkyTrain, a doubling of local bus service, investments and active transportation. And that’s been a really important guiding document to develop and pursue federal funding and pursue our own plans of BRT and SkyTrain and all that kind of good stuff. So again, a lot of it does come down often to the planning framework that you lay out in place. You’ve got to have good plans. You have to have policymakers and governance that buy into those plans.

Kevin Quinn ([00:14:59]):

And in that way, we’ve tried to set a vision for the future that is ambitious.

Jaspal Singh ([00:15:05]):

Yeah. Oh, It’s quite ambitious. I mean, 50% by active transport and PT by 2050, I mean, this will be major game changer I think for Vancouver, but I think it’s a beautiful city. It’s possible to achieve. In fact, you’re on the right path. I mean, according to APTA writership survey, TransLink has recovered the ridership faster than any other major transit network on the continent. I mean, WMATA is second one. I would say they are also doing amazing job. But I would say what is the secret of Vancouver public transit ridership recovery? Because you were pre-pandemic, I think you were 436 million journeys and now you have 404 or 405 more than that. So you are quite 90% and above. Whereas some of the agencies are still 50% in North America. So what is your secret?

Kevin Quinn ([00:15:53]):

Yeah, it’s a big question and happy to give some thoughts on this. So when the pandemic hit, you’ll recall that ridership for so many agencies dropped and we were no different. I think TransLink dropped to, I think it was around 14% of pre-pandemic ridership. That was a huge drop for us. I think what was so critical was that unlike other systems, we kept services running at near 100% levels, like 99% levels. And part of that was due to relief funding that we received from the provincial and federal governments. That’s not the story with other systems. There were other systems that reduced service, 10, 20, 30, 40% that laid people off. There’s something to be said about government services, transportation services that people can trust and rely on. And I think something that served TransLink really well is that throughout the pandemic, because we kept services running at near 100% levels, we never lost public trust. Those riders, they may have been working from home, many of them may have been working from home, but they didn’t lose trust in us as a mover of the region. And I think that was so important. At the same time, we saw population growth in the region. We saw our region has hit around three million people today. It continued to rise throughout the pandemic, especially south of the Fraser in Surrey and Langley. I think what’s fascinating about that is, as you noted, we’re about 90, 92% ridership recovery, but that really differs based on the region.

Kevin Quinn ([00:17:44]):

So overall, we’re at 90 South of the Fraser in Surrey, it’s like 120, 130, 140% ridership recovery. There are some places that have come back faster than others. And part of a reason of our success that I think is so important is we were able to react to that. We took a very different approach to how we did service planning and data analysis, and we adjusted service to where people needed it the most. And so being responsive to riders while maintaining that trust, I think helped us be a leader in ridership recovery. The other piece that I’ll just note that I always think is so important about the Vancouver context is transit-oriented development and real estate. And Metro Vancouver is a fascinating model of town centers. If you come to Vancouver, you’ll see these variety of town centers with towers and high rises all around stations. That’s very purposeful.

Kevin Quinn ([00:18:40]):

So Vancouver has done a really good job in a North American context, certainly, of collecting and generating that density around station areas to support ridership development and to support sustainability and people getting around and less driving. That’s been very intentional. And so land use, at the beginning, we talked about my beginnings as a land use planner. That holds true for me. Even in this job, I believe very much in the importance of land use around transit and how important it is to create density around transit. And Vancouver’s done a pretty tremendous job of that.

Jaspal Singh ([00:19:24]):

I think the point you mentioned about trust is very important. Any relationship, even relationship with Ryder, the trust make reliability. And if they can rely on your service, they will continue to use. And I saw what you said about trust. Some of the agency didn’t reduce the service and they were lucky to recover faster and some of them couldn’t. And you also did a lot of data analysis service planning, understanding where you need more service and where you can redistribute and all. And the last point you, I remember Jared Walker, he always say, transit need density and density need transit. So it’s both way feet to each other. No, I think this is very important. No, thanks for sharing. And I can see now it’s growing faster. And sometime I also tell people the number of people that are back in the system, but we are using less.

Jaspal Singh ([00:20:10]):

So we should not compare it the pre-pandemic level anymore. And we should just think about, okay, this is a new level of ridership and people have changed their habit working from home and that kind of changes. Now you mentioned about Vancouver was the first city to introduce automated urban rail system in 80. And I was the first one.

I mean, still, I would say after Montreal, it’s the only city beside Montreal, which has a fully automated rail network. And I would say one of the longest fully automated driverless system in the world. I mean, you’re operating three line with around 80 kilometer of land. Can you share what is the future expansion plan of Skytrain? You mentioned in the transit 2050, in your plan envision, you are looking after the expansion and how the city landscape can change with the automated, why not other cities are implementing automated metro network in North America?

 

Jaspal Singh ([00:21:04]):

Because I see it can help in a big way why they are not able to copy, again, some of the best practices from Vancouver.

Kevin Quinn ([00:21:14]):

Sure. So Skytrain has been just so important and again, such a great backbone of the system, and it is expanding. The province, the provincial government has made some really big investments in Skytrain expansion. So there’s really two big expansions going on right now. So one is what we call the Broadway Subway Project, which is about a six kilometer expansion of the millennium line that extends west out towards UBC. It doesn’t fully go to UBC. It starts making its way there. And so there are certainly future plans to extend all the way that I think UBC would like to see in the province, and everybody believes. Students too.

Jaspal Singh ([00:22:00]):

Students too.

Kevin Quinn ([00:22:01]):

Students too, of course. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It’s expensive and it’s going to cost a lot to make that project happen, but there’s always momentum around that. So the project underway now gets it partially there, and so that’s good and that’s important. Another extension, I talked a bit about Surrey and Langley and the growth that we’re seeing south of the Fraser. The Suri Langley Skytrain is about a 16-kilometer extension of the expo line going down all the way to the city of Langley. So these two expansions are, I don’t know, over $10 billion of investment in Skytrain. And again, we’ll provide very fast, very frequent service to folks with headways of, I don’t know, four to seven minutes, probably faster during some peak hours, and also provide those stations, again, those opportunities for transit-oriented development and some fantastic growth in the region. When all is said and done, we’ll go from about 80 kilometers of Skytrain to a little over a hundred kilometers of Skytrain.

Kevin Quinn ([00:23:11]):

It’ll be a game changer for the region. I think from what I understand, I think it’s about a 27 or 30% increase in Skytrain. I’ll also just say that I think what’s fascinating about these two projects is that there’s a lot of focus on the extension of the track itself, but behind the scenes, it’s a generational change for us.

Kevin Quinn ([00:23:34]):

In order to accommodate these two extensions, we’re having to build a brand new operations control center. So we are still operating today in 2026, 40 years after the launch of Skytrain and multiple extensions, we are operating out of the same control center that we did in 1986. If you saw it today, it’s like a big closet with TVs and these guys are crammed in there. And so we’re building a new operations and control center, which is great. We’re having to build a new operations and maintenance center to accommodate the additional maintenance and the addition of new Mark-V sky trains that we’ve added to the system, which are bigger and longer and have 25% more capacity. So from an internal perspective, it is a total change. It is a generational change in how we operate a Skytrain system. Everything is changing with these two extensions. That’s a challenge. That’s also a big opportunity.

 

Kevin Quinn ([00:24:34]):

To do things differently and to be more efficient and to streamline. But we are gearing up. The Broadway subway project extension is due to launch mid-2027 and Surrey Langley Skytrain in 2029. So we sit here in February of 26. So within just a few years, we will see these big expansions happen and these big behind the scenes projects also come to life.

Jaspal Singh ([00:24:56]):

Yeah. And like you mentioned, it’s not just 20 kilometer or 20, 20 plus kilometer, actually 20% of the length will increase. So it’s a major shift for the organization. And like you said, it’s a generational change. You don’t have these project happen very frequently. And like you said, I’ve been to your old control center. I mean, I’ll not say it’s bad. It’s nice. In fact, we like it. It’s very close and they showed us the new building, which is nicer. But I agree with you. I think you need a new technology, you need new tools and you need new space for the staff to work. So those control center … I mean, that’s what I’m saying. You’re at the right time at the agency. A lot of these changes are happening during your period. So it’ll be the legacy. It’ll be the legacy for the organization.

Jaspal Singh ([00:25:40]):

Now, another legacy you want to create, and I know you are very passionate about the bus rapid transit BRT, and you really want to expand BRT in Big Bay, bus electrification, creating these dedicated line. And I would say you are the also lucky one having these trolley bus network in the world, very few city. In fact, I was reading in North America, more than 40 city used to have trolleybus and now only six left. So Vancouver is one of the good example where they keep … So how TransLink is looking to expand the bus network and try to serve the customer and why you think BRT will be important. I know you say BRT is like a rail-like service on rubber tire, but why you think BRT will be important for the region and as well as for the city?

Kevin Quinn ([00:26:28]):

Yeah. Just to talk for a second maybe about our trolley bus fleet, we’re really proud of that fleet. We have the second largest right behind San Francisco. It’s around 260 trolley buses. We’re looking to replace a lot of those in the coming years with brand new trolley buses. So really, really exciting project there, and we’re really proud of that. It’s a zero emission technology that has stuck around for many, many years, and I’m so happy that our system has that. BRT, our perspective is just as a real opportunity to be a lower cost, easier, faster to implement alternative to Skytrain. This region has invested. We’ve talked a lot in this conversation about Skytrain and about how important Skytrain is. And Skytrain will always be so important to the way that this system moves. And we’ve got these two expansions underway. We’ll see if in the future there’s a further expansion to UBC, but Skytrain is also very, very expensive.

Kevin Quinn ([00:27:37]):

It is very expensive. It takes years and years to build elevated Skytrain and put in the systems and everything that goes along with Skytrain technology. It’s a great big investment. It can cost a lot.

Kevin Quinn ([00:27:51]):

I think from our perspective, in our 10-year plan, we identified nine corridors that had high potential to be successful BRT corridors. We worked with our mayor’s council to get that down to a top three. And so those three are

Kevin Quinn ([00:28:08]):

Essentially the North Shore to Metrotown where there’s not a rapid transit connection today. Also going east down King George Boulevard in Surrey, one of our main transit corridors today where we’re seeing a lot of people, and then also from Maple Ridge at Haney Place down to Langley. So these three quarters are three quarters that we’re seeing a ton of growth over the past few years. We already have high transit ridership, and where there’s really also municipal agreement with our local elected officials that more needs to be done faster. And so we’ve been out doing a lot of really good public engagement these past few months on these three corridors, and there’s just really quite overwhelming support for rapid transit options, again, I think can be delivered for a fraction of the cost of Skytrain, can be delivered a fraction of the time of Skytrain. We can use some of our existing fleet.

Kevin Quinn ([00:29:12]):

I don’t have to buy a new light rail fleet and build a new light rail maintenance facility. You start to think through all those costs and they really do add up over time.

Kevin Quinn ([00:29:25]):

So I think from my perspective and the regional consensus, we have is that BRT is the direction that we’re going with these three corridors. They sit today unfunded. And so maybe some federal officials would be listening to this podcast and we’ve sold them on this concept of BRT and the federal funding and provincial funding that we really need to make these projects happen.

Jaspal Singh ([00:29:47]):

Congratulation on that. I know and I tell city each modes has its importance. So I mean, people love metro trains, it’s look very sexy and nice, but now the business are Good quality. You can have very good quality of buses and give a good kind of experience. And if you have a faster speed, you can reach faster. You don’t need to go up and down. It’s on surface and you can move faster and the transfer can be much faster. And I know, I mean, there is a lot of innovation happening in that space, so the buses can be really cool. And Latin America, a lot of cities now have a very good Bus Rapid Transit system and it’s working really well.

Jaspal Singh ([00:30:26]):

Absolutely. Yeah. So no, congratulations. That’s a big news and we’re happy to celebrate. Yeah, that’s great. Thanks.

Now, TransLink is also among the very few agency which is very focused on innovation. You guys have an innovation program called Translate Tomorrow. And I saw the agency launch a challenge every year on different topic and launched this problem statement, which is very good. And ask different startups or small companies or medium-sized company to come and participate. I like some of the active pilots are bus stop lighting program and on-demand bus parking, battery, electric bus pilot and all. Can you share more about what “TransLink Tomorrow” is and why you think public transport agencies should collaborate with startup and private mobility provider? Because sometime they feel like, we are public, we should not talk to these companies, and we should be away from them. But why you think it’s important they should rethink their approach?

 

 

Kevin Quinn ([00:31:22]):

Yeah. Our annual open call for innovation is just such a great opportunity to connect with a lot of folks who honestly know more than us. There’s so much innovation happening in public transit these days, and it’s hard to keep up with it all a lot of times. I feel like every day I see a new innovation come out, I see a new aspect of innovation in public transport that wows me and amazes me. It’s a lot to keep up with. So I think for our part, what we try to do is an annual open call for innovation around a topic that we may need help with or we’re struggling with or we want to get other perspectives on. I think it comes from a humble place of acknowledging we don’t know everything.

Jaspal Singh ([00:32:17]):

All the Time.

Kevin Quinn ([00:32:17]):

So look, we try to work with a private sector to come in and generate ideas. And I think our approach is also that we do it from a pragmatic standpoint. This isn’t chasing unicorns or just sparkly objects. This is actually real stuff, real projects, real innovations that can help us solve actual real world problems. So we try to take a very pragmatic approach to it as well. And I think that’s served us. And you noted some of our success stories around bus stop lighting, some of our accessibility initiatives that have come out of our call for innovation. It’s an important part of our program, and I think it keeps us alive to the fact that there is so much innovation going on in this space. And I think it’s a really good model that other agencies, to be honest, it’s something I wish I had done more in Maryland.

Kevin Quinn ([00:33:20]):

It’s not like innovation just started. There’s innovation every year. And as many opportunities as agencies can give to access that and to learn, I think is just so important.

Jaspal Singh ([00:33:31]):

Oh, for sure. For sure. No, and working with UITP, I also get chance to see a lot of innovation happening in the sector, and I see how the collaboration work. And especially now with AI, you can’t do everything in- house. You need to have these young people who are passionate. And some of them are, I would call them a transit geek. They want to serve the sector. So it’s important way to work with them. No, and I really appreciate it. It’s a good way to collaborate and encourage these kind of solution in the market. And one key thing you mentioned about, you’re not chasing the solution because a lot of time people just have a key without a log. But here you are just giving log to people and say, “Hey, we are looking at … It’s a real problem we are facing on a date.

Kevin Quinn ([00:34:17]):

Can you solve that issue and all? ” That’s a great Way to look at it.

Jaspal Singh ([00:34:17]):

That’s right. I don’t want to ask this Lex question, but I need to, but because you just mentioned about you got the funding, but funding is still a challenge. I think the fiscal cliff is a big challenge many agencies are facing. And I remember you posted a video a few months back and you talk about why funding public transport is important, why the city need to do it, why the service planning expansion of our service will be important. That was a very good campaign, and I know it was very successful. Can you share what are the challenge faced by agencies for funding? I mean, why we have this challenge for funding when the costs are rising for sure, revenue is live, but do we get support from the provincial or the federal government and all? And do we need to be a little bit more innovative to solve these challenges?

Jaspal Singh ([00:35:04]):

Can we just depend on the previous source of funding or we need to be a little bit more creative to solve these challenges? What do you think about that?

Kevin Quinn ([00:35:12]):

Yeah, that’s a big question. That’s certainly a big one. So let’s see. I’ll just start from the beginning. Our funding is really based on three things,

Fares – That our riders pay. It’s based on property taxes that come in through property tax revenues to TransLink, and then also a fuel tax, essentially a gas tax that vehicle drivers pay that a portion of which comes to TransLink. And so if you go back to pre-pandemic, TransLink was fully funded. These revenue sources worked. And in a way, the pandemic broke that funding model. It made us so it doesn’t work so much anymore. And on the fares, we limited our fare increases throughout the pandemic. In 2020, we didn’t have a fair increase at all.

Kevin Quinn ([00:36:12]):

It was 0% and then the following few years, we did 2% increases. Part of that was keeping transit affordable during the pandemic, but costs, inflation rose much higher than 2% per year during the pandemic. So our revenues just didn’t keep up with our costs. Property taxes have remained pretty constant and a pretty solid revenue source for us. Fuel taxes, while increasing throughout the 2010s, we peaked in probably 2022 and 2023. And since then, we’ve seen a decline. Metro Vancouver to our credit is one of the highest adopters of electric vehicles. That’s great. That also means less revenue coming in through fuel taxes, right? A bit of a paradox there in the way that we’ve chosen to fund public transit. So what’s great is, as you noted, we did a lot of campaigning and a video that I did a couple years ago on this that ultimately resulted in an investment plan that we passed in 2025 that included the provincial government coming forward with funding, our mayor’s council voting on property tax increases, a fair increase to really try to right the ship and also provide some expansion of bus service.

Kevin Quinn ([00:37:35]):

So the funding for that also allowed us to do a 5% expansion of bus service, which is really important. Biggest bus expansion we’ve seen in our region in 10 years.

Jaspal Singh ([00:37:42]):

Really Important.

Kevin Quinn ([00:37:42]):

So those forces came together. We chopped our deficit in half. We’ve extended our fiscal cliff out until we’re fully funded through the end of 2027. And now I would say instead of falling off a cliff, we’re more rolling off of a hill into 2028. And so there’s still a problem to solve. I think your question’s a really good one around, do we need to be more innovative with funding sources? And I give you a nuanced answer of both yes and no. Is there more that we can do? Yes. Should we look at our real estate development program? Absolutely. Should we look at our advertising contracts? Things like that. Yes, absolutely. I will note that those are in an organization with a two and a half billion dollar budget. Those are the margins. And do they help? Absolutely. And do we need to put effort into those?

Kevin Quinn ([00:38:46]):

Absolutely we do. I think we also need to be sure though that policymakers understand that there are these foundational, fundamental issues with the legs of the stool that need help. That fuel tax, that reduction in fuel tax, that is a fundamental systemic problem with the way that we have structured transit to be funded. That is not going to be solved by increasing our real estate development portfolio. That has to be tackled by hard decisions by lawmakers to figure out what they’re going to do, whether that’s a replacement tax, whether that’s some new source. The United States, many agencies have looked at a sales tax.

Kevin Quinn ([00:39:34]):

Yeah, sales tax is going to- There’s lots of ways to solve it. There’s no easy solution. And so really what we need is for policymakers, which I think has been done here in Vancouver, to take a very serious look at these foundational elements and how we systematically fund transit to be successful.

Jaspal Singh ([00:39:52]):

Yeah. And I also give hats up to you for raising this issue now. You’re not passing on this issue for next years. You want to raise this issue now. And I tell people it’s always, it’s better to raise issue when you’re not in a trouble. And the campaign you did was very successful. And kudo to your marketing team. They’re excellent. I see a lot of marketing team in transit. They’re not as creative. They did a great job. Thanks. But I think it’s very important. Like you said, it’s not only about doing innovative stuff, but also the fundamental, which is like … And I was in China and in China, the public transport system is very big and expansive. And I asked people how you are funding, what is your fare ratio? The fare collection is five to 10%. And I was shocked because I thought they are probably doing much better.

Jaspal Singh ([00:40:42]):

They said, our fare is very low. Everybody’s free beyond 65, kids are free and fair is just five to 10%. They’re like, how are you funding? And they said, I really love his line. He said public transport is a public service. So it’s like hospital, it’s like police, it’s like any other service. So they get a lot of funding from the government. And I agree with you. You can be near to be creative, you can look for other sources, but we need to solve this fundamental issue. And now with fuel techs, probably now they think about the congestion techs like in New York. So that can be another way to raise some funding. Not easy thing, but it’s another challenge. Now, you guys are also investing big way in TOD, transit oriented development. And I would say, like you mentioned, this is one of the success factor for Vancouver having this TOD, having this density around it.

Jaspal Singh ([00:41:34]):

And I mean, you will become now the developer. The TransLink will be considered. And I know many transit agencies are doing it. In TFL London, they actually created a subsidiary for real estate development. So can you share what are the projects you guys are doing for TOD and how you’re changing the culture within the organization? Because TransLink is a transportation organization, not a development, not a real estate company. So what kind of cultural issue you also face?

Kevin Quinn ([00:42:03]):

Yeah, that’s a fantastic question. Again, before my time, TransLink was pursuing and discussing some type of real estate development program. We launched that back in 2022 with a real focus on those properties that TransLink owns, especially near Skytrain stations.

Kevin Quinn ([00:42:28]):

And we don’t want to become sort of a speculative buyer out in the market plucking up properties nowhere near transit and building towers. That’s not the purpose. And also, to your point around changing culture and what we’re doing there, I think it’s also important that our approach has been that we are transportation experts and we are not development experts. And while we have certainly increased our capacity in that area and our expertise in that area, I think there’s still a recognition that our expertise is in transportation. So a lot of our projects have been partnerships with private developers, with adjacent land to parcels that we own where we can collectively come together and generate a critical mass, if you will, of property development to partner up and put something together. And so we’ve done that. So our first project is actually along that Broadway subway project extension I talked about earlier.

Kevin Quinn ([00:43:31]):

It’s at the corner of Broadway in our garage and partnership with a private developer called PCI Developments. I’ve been a great partner on this project to create about a 30-story tower right there. So that’s a really good example of where we owned some land, a private developer owned some land right next door, and we were able to come together on a development package. But because they have the expertise in private development, in many ways, they’re kind of leading that charge. We are there, we’re supporting, we’re joined at the hip, and we’ve identified about eight or 10 other sites throughout the region where we have a massing of properties that could lend itself to development potential. And so we’re moving on those, I’d say kind of slowly but surely, we’re learning a lot from the first project. And so over the next 10 years, we’ll see each of those come to life in their own unique way.

Kevin Quinn ([00:44:32]):

But it’s another way to generate revenue at a time when we need … We were just talking earlier around that it’s so important to be innovative around generating revenue. We’re doing our best to use every asset we have at our disposal to generate revenue that can be put back into the transportation system.

Jaspal Singh ([00:44:51]):

Yeah. And also you are creating future riders. So these TOD development actually help to promote the transit as well, which is a good thing. So you’re creating your own customer, which is good. That’s the best business. That’s right. Yeah, you’re exactly right. You can have your own customer. Now, other important project, I think you’re doing so many different project, I don’t know how you manage, but one other project is about the fair payment system. And I know Compass Card is very, I would say, one of the integrated payment system in North America. There are not many few example similar to Compass card, but then you decided to revamp the whole payment collection system. And I think TransLink is looking to have a new kind of a fare gate and new technology in all end of the year. So can you share more about the next generation of Compass Card you guys are planning?

Jaspal Singh ([00:45:45]):

And I don’t know if you are thinking to include loyalty program and fare capping program in the new system.

Kevin Quinn ([00:45:52]):

Sure. Yeah, absolutely. The Compass system was put in place, I want to say 2015. And this is another area that changes so rapidly, fair collection technology and both on the front end as well as the backend changes so quickly. And so our contract with our current vendor essentially ends in 2030. And so here we find ourselves needing to think ahead of what we want the next generation of Compass to be. And you’re right, it’s been really successful. I think we were the first, if not one of the first, to have a tap to pay system. I know in 2023 we introduced Interac debit payments for folks. So we have been leaders, certainly in fair collection and fair collection technology, but over the past few years, others have surpassed us. And there are so many aspects of fair collection that we know our riders are looking for.

Kevin Quinn ([00:46:52]):

So you named a couple of them, right? Fare capping. We can’t do that under our current Compass system today. Loyalty programs, we can’t do that under our current system today. And so you’re right, we are looking to implement a new modernized fair collection technology that is really built on innovation and in connecting with customers and creating a great customer experience. So we’re really excited about it. That process is well underway and I think really does represent a next generation of investments that we’ll be making in Fair Collection.

Jaspal Singh ([00:47:32]):

Yeah. And I think it’s also helped to improve the payment recovery because the more you make it easier for people to pay, the fair revision also go down. No, I’m looking forward. I mean, I use the system and I really enjoy it. You can tap your credit card at the airport station and you can board the station. You don’t need to look for ticket. Now, one of the important thing this year will be FIFA. So FIFA World Cup will be in Vancouver in June 2026 in two months. And you have some pretty interesting team. Canada will be paying Qatar and Switzerland, and you have Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Belgium. Belgium is a good team. We’ll be also playing in the city. So I mean, the world will be watching Vancouver and there’ll be a lot of people moving from Vancouver to Seattle. So there’ll be a lot of movement of people we’ll be seeing.

Jaspal Singh ([00:48:20]):

So how do you feel about the preparation of TransLink for FIFA? And what are some key action plan you are planning to manage the crowd during that period? Because we are hoping there’ll be a lot of people coming, especially to Canada. And do people ask for free passes to you and ask you that, can you get some free passes as well?

Kevin Quinn ([00:48:42]):

Yeah. So I haven’t gotten that ask yet, but I’m sure it’s on the way. I’m sure it’s coming.

Kevin Quinn ([00:48:47]):

But you’re right, this summer we’ll be hosting seven FIFA games. We’re very excited about that. It’s about a month of festivities that will be taking place in Vancouver. I guess I’d say there’s a couple aspects to it. One is the customer aspect of how we engage with folks and how we surprise and delight folks on the system, how we activate the system to be engaging. And so we’re doing some really fun things around that with our buses. You’ll see things at our stations. We may have some new products coming out. So we’re going to do some really cool stuff that we’ll be launching in the lead up to FIFA that we’re very, very excited about, that is going to get people excited. It’s going to get people coming to the region excited. We think there’s upwards of maybe around, I think, a million people that are going to come to the region that are going to be traveling for FIFA games.

Kevin Quinn ([00:49:49]):

So it’s a lot of people. And then you’ve got, as you were alluding to, the operational aspects, how do you move so many people? And what’s great is that from the moment people arrive in Vancouver, they’ve got the Canada line right there waiting for them for transit to greet them. And so what a great opportunity for transit to make a wonderful first impression on all of these newcomers.

Kevin Quinn ([00:50:14]):

That’s an opportunity. There are challenges. There’s signage. There’s people with multiple languages coming. How do we connect with them? How do we speak their language as best they can? How do we help them to understand our system quickly and easily? So they’ll come on Canada line, they’ll make their way downtown. And then from an operations aspect, a lot of those games will be in downtown. We will have to clear our stadium pretty quickly out of BC Place to move folks. I will say that last year we had some great experience. We closed out the last three shows of the Taylor Swift eras tour. And so that was actually, we looked at that as a really great time to practice for FIFA. We also have the P&E space, the Pacific Northeast Exposition area, the P&E that will host a fan fest. And so we’ve got to move a lot of people to and from that Fan Fest that’s going to be so important.

Kevin Quinn ([00:51:16]):

So we’re doing a lot of coordination work with the City of Vancouver with a lot of security and safety agencies as well. It is a big undertaking from an operations perspective for sure, but our folks are really rising to the challenge and we’re just so, so excited to welcome everybody here in Vancouver this summer.

Jaspal Singh ([00:51:36]):

Yeah. And I can say if you don’t hear anything about transit during this period, it means transit is going successful. So we didn’t hear anything about transit during Taylor Swift show. So it means everything went well. So if nobody talk about transit, they talk about, like you said, the festivity and the games and all, then everything is going well.

Kevin Quinn ([00:51:53]):

Yeah, that’s right. That’s right.

Jaspal Singh ([00:51:55]):

Now I want to discuss a little bit about your leadership philosophy, and I really feel inspired the way you lead your team and always be front and share issues openly and never shy about talking problem. Like you could have say, “Hey, funding is okay till 2028. We will see after 2028.” But you’re like, “No, we need to talk about 2028 now. “That’s a long-term planning. How has your leadership approach evolved since becoming CEO from a young professional and becoming a CEO? And especially now, one, moving countries working in US and Canada, it’s a two different culture. It is. The customer behavior has changed. Now the customers are more impatient, customers want everything now. Like you said, we are looking quick delivery and all. So I really love to learn your leadership style and what are the most challenging decision also for you as a CEO of TransLink so far?

Kevin Quinn ([00:52:50]):

Well, I think, look, we’re all just people. I think my perspective is, yes, I’m a CEO. I’m also just a dad of a couple of kids and I ride transit every day and I take the bus and the sky train to work every day. And we’re all just people trying to make it here. And I think recognizing that people on our system are just trying to make it. They’re just trying to get home to families and

Kevin Quinn ([00:53:19]):

They just want to have a good experience. And so I think personally, I try to be personable with folks and as humble and as I can. I have a lot of pride in the work I do, and I try to be responsive to folks and honest and upfront with issues. I don’t like to dance around things. You talk a bit about the difference in cultures, and it’s true. American culture’s very direct. Canadians can be much more indirect. And so I would say that in my first year at TransLink, I bumped up against that a lot where I’d go to my staff and I’d say, “I need an answer on this. ” And I get this very indirect response. I’d say, “No, I just need the direct answer to this question.” Anyways, I think for me, I don’t know that my leadership philosophy has changed. It’s really grounded.

Kevin Quinn ([00:54:13]):

And I talked to my staff about this idea of safety, trust, and worth, this idea that it’s so important that we convey to both riders as well as our employees that we care about their safety. It’s so important that our employees and our riders trust us. And it’s so important that we demonstrate that they have value, that they have worth.

Kevin Quinn ([00:54:34]):

That when a rider has an idea, we take it seriously, that when an employee has an idea, that we take it seriously. How we treat our employees is reflected in how our employees treat our customers every single Day.

Kevin Quinn ([00:54:51]):

And I’d say that I came with that philosophy. I maintain that philosophy every single day. And so I think it’s important to treat all of our employees, all of our riders with a lot of respect and with a lot of compassion and empathy that we’re all just people. We’re all just people trying to get around a big city.

Jaspal Singh ([00:55:13]):

That’s very true. And that’s what I tell when I talk to people is like end of the day, everybody’s a human being. They have a similar experience and feeling. I travel different parts of the world, see different culture. And when I talked to them, I felt like they are so same. They look so different, but they are so same. So what you said, I really love that point at end of the day, everybody’s people.

And I really love your point about safety, trust, and worth. It’s very important to have this culture. People should feel safe, whether it’s customer or employee and they should feel trustworthy, like they can trust you as a leader, and then they feel worth like people are listening to you. And no, thanks for sharing it.

Kevin Quinn ([00:55:53]):

And I’d say that something I often say to my staff is that you all think you’re in the transportation business, you’re actually in the relationship business. What we’re building our relationships with people, and it’s our organization’s relationship with folks that builds trust or undermines trust, or it’s the relationships a Skytrain attendant has with a customer every single day. It’s really a lot about relationships and the belief in the system and the trust in the system. And in many respects, the funding of the system is all underpinned by the idea of relationships and how strong those relationships are really underpinned by these ideas of safety, of trust and of Worth.

Jaspal Singh ([00:56:40]):

Oh, that’s amazing. No, I’ll tell my team the same. So thanks for sharing it. I’m going to share this philosophy with them. Now, your journey has been inspiring and you must, like you said, you look back your journey and it looked really good how it went there. What would you say to the young professional who are interested in mobility and transportation because they are impatient, they want to become CEO tomorrow. And what skill will matter most in next 10 year? Because I don’t think what happened in last 10 year will continue happen in 10 years. So what are the key messages you want to give to the young professional?

Kevin Quinn ([00:57:20]):

I mean, I guess I’d offer a couple of thoughts. Something that helped me very early on was understanding how money flowed. At the end of the day, I don’t want to say money is the only thing that gets things done. I mean, again, relationships are very important, but at the end of the day, you need to fund things and understanding how to work the … TransLink is a bureaucracy like any other transportation agency. Transportation agencies are big bureaucracies. You’ve got to understand how bureaucracies work and how to move the levers and how to allow funding to flow from one area to another area to make a project happen. So part of this is understanding how your system works is, I think, so important. And I think something that I gained a lot of insight on at the beginning of my career in understanding how federal funding and how state funding worked and made its way to local transit agencies.

Kevin Quinn ([00:58:26]):

And then I guess a second piece that I would encourage folks is it’s so important to have people that can look at a big picture that aren’t just stuck on …

Kevin Quinn ([00:58:40]):

There’s a service planner that wants to be a CEO one day and they’re designing a bus route. That’s great. How does that bus route fit into the bigger picture plans of the organization? What strategic need is that bus route serving for the organization? How could investments in that bus route serve the organization and riders even more? I think being able to take your piece of work at an organization and applying it to the bigger picture is just so important. We have a lot of folks, and look, that’s a skillset, right? That’s a skillset. Some folks have it and some folks don’t. That’s right. Some folks like that bus line and that bus planning is what they should do and bus scheduling is what they should do the rest of their lives. And that’s fine. We need good people who can do that. We equally also need people that can take a look at those bus improvements on a macro level and see where it fits in the organization’s overall strategy and make decisions based on that.

Jaspal Singh ([00:59:44]):

So these are two important point, like you said, having a vision, looking at the bigger picture and how system work. It’s not only about bureaucratic system, but any system, any company, if they work, if you don’t understand how the system work, you will not able … Able to achieve anything. So these two are very good important pieces.

Now, last few question, and one is, I mean, I have to ask this question about AI is a buzzword. Everybody’s talking about AI, artificial intelligence, a lot of digitalization technology and all. What role does technology like real-time data, mobile ticketing, AI play in service delivery at TransLink? And are there any innovation from other transit agency globally that you are looking to bring to TransLink? Do you feel some of these technologies should we bring at TransLink? Yeah.

Kevin Quinn ([01:00:34]):

To be quite honest, we’re taking a very careful approach with this. I think all of us have seen the benefits that AI can bring. I’ve met with a series of AI technology companies that have shown what it can do in scheduling, in project development, in big capital project schedules. How do you optimize the schedule of a big maintenance facility.

Jaspal Singh ([01:01:03]):

You’re building and show how it could be faster and teach AI about previous projects? There’s so many cool technologies that are out there. I think we are taking a bit of a guarded approach. I talked earlier around innovation and just being careful around making pragmatic investments that we’re sure can solve problems that we need to solve. And I’m always hesitant to go make investments, spend millions of dollars on a solution that sure is cool, but maybe that’s not a real problem we needed to solve. And so I think for our part, we’re certainly studying the broader impacts of AI in the transit industry and how it’s being used. I think it’s also important to recognize that advances in AI are happening at just a breathtaking pace right now.

Kevin Quinn ([01:02:01]):

It’s unbelievable how fast AI has moved. I mean, I imagine what we would’ve invested in a year ago versus today, because it’s changed so much. So I think we’re seeing a lot of these technologies also very converging right now and trying to evaluate what we can expect next in some of these transportation technology changes. Certainly, our future will involve harnessing AI to the best extent we can in a smart, pragmatic way.

Jaspal Singh ([01:02:36]):

Yeah. I mean, I feel like the job of CEO is not easy. You don’t want to be too early and you don’t want to be too late. And finding that right balance is always a challenge. And I can understand, you don’t want to be a first one to experiment and fail and lose the money, and you don’t want to be too late because then you cannot actually get the benefit out of it. And other major technology which is rapidly growing every day is autonomous vehicle AV. And we see now Waymo, they are doing commercial pilot in many cities around the world. I’m pretty sure in Canada, we will see soon some of these product will be launched. And I feel it can be a threat to public transport. It can be a compliment to public transport. It can play a role. And because now public transport is not only about bus and train because people are using different mobility options and they want to do.

 

Jaspal Singh ([01:03:30]):

How do you see Translate role in the broader mobility ecosystem? You guys are looking to implement AV, you’re looking to implement other share mobility option. How you see that technology can be helpful or you feel it as a threat to TransLink?

Kevin Quinn ([01:03:44]):

Yeah, I don’t think it’s a threat necessarily. I mean, I think the BC government was the last one in North America to allow TNCs like Uber and Lyft to come in. And so I think this is a region and a province that has taken a very careful approach to new technologies and understanding their impacts before they allow it, if you will before they permit that kind of thing. And some of the things that we’re seeing with power outages in San Francisco and cell phone outages that grind vehicles to a halt, I think is a bit of a call for us

Kevin Quinn ([01:04:27]):

To be sure we’re taking a look at these technologies before we make really big investments. I think certainly autonomous vehicles or aspects of autonomous driving I think are going to be important. For our part, we are looking at things like self-parking pilots at our bus depots. So this idea that as a bus comes in, it can self-park essentially. And I think what we’ve seen is that in doing so, we have the ability to save a lot of space. So real estate in Metro Vancouver is very expensive. And so if we can save, I don’t know, 10% at each of our depots and we’ve got seven depots, we just saved 70% of space. Maybe I don’t need to build a new depot because I’m able to optimize the parking. So I think there are some real great specific use cases that are going to lend themselves. I think for our part, we are very much focused on the safety aspects of connected vehicles.

Kevin Quinn ([01:05:31]):

Cars being able to speak and connect with buses as they approach red lights from a safety perspective or see pedestrians or cyclists nearby from a safety perspective. I think we’re focused a lot on those aspects of it and the safety aspects that I think are likely to roll out first from a technology perspective. I think as it relates to autonomous buses in, say, downtown Vancouver or nearby, I think we still have a ways to go on that,

Kevin Quinn ([01:06:06]):

But we know it’s on the horizon. We know that technology is changing so rapidly and we’ve got to be ready for it. I think for our part, we’re kind of dipping our toe in a few different areas right now to see what makes the most sense for us as an organization.

Jaspal Singh ([01:06:21]):

Yeah. And you already have automated trains.

Kevin Quinn ([01:06:24]):

That’s Right

Jaspal Singh ([01:06:24]):

Yeah. I tell people, if you have automated train, so it doesn’t matter, that’s our part of autonomous mobility. And like you said, some of this technology, like you mentioned about self-parking buses in the depot, not only space, it can also save manpower. We are facing shortage of manpower and the cost is very high. So no, that’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Kevin. I think really enjoy the conversation and really learn some good lesson, what you guys are doing in Vancouver. Generally, I end this podcast with this rapid fire question round and I ask a quick five question. I got to get ready.

Jaspal Singh ([01:06:59]):

Yeah. Okay. So my first question, if you were not in transit space, what other profession you would have selected?

Kevin Quinn ([01:07:09]):

Well, I love the position that I’m in. I love the profession that I’m in. I’m also a big lover of nature. And I always had dreams back in secondary school of being a park ranger, like working in Park. And so being out in nature, I don’t know, maybe there’s a future profession there for me.

Jaspal Singh ([01:07:28]):

Post retirement in Vancouver, there are a lot of parks. Yeah, that’s right. It’s a nice job. I met one guy and they shared some funny story. Which is your favorite city in the world and why? Don’t say Vancouver, but- Vancouver Is lovely.

Kevin Quinn ([01:07:44]):

I’ve always loved Paris. The Paris Transit system is wonderful and Paris itself has so much history and is very beautiful. I’ve spent some time in Florence. I think Florence is very beautiful. So I think there’s a few different cities that I particularly like to go to. Yeah.

Jaspal Singh ([01:08:04]):

Great. And which is your favorite book or podcast? Don’t say TransLink podcasts. I know that’s an amazing one, but any other favorite book or podcasts you have?

Kevin Quinn ([01:08:22]):

I’m a fan of classic books like Hemingway. One of my favorites is Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is a wonderful book about self-discovery. And I think I lean towards more some of the classics than any of the recent stuff. I’ll be honest, I listen to some podcasts. I don’t listen to a ton. I listen to a lot of music. If folks see me on the SkyTrain with AirPods in, it’s usually music that I’m listening to. I do listen to podcasts from time to time, more local kind of politics ones, but listen to a lot of music.

Jaspal Singh ([01:09:00]):

Ah, the politics one. Yeah. But in one of the podcasts, I heard your son play the drum. He’s a drummer in the local band. So it’s in the family, huh?

Kevin Quinn ([01:09:13]):

The music love is in the family. It’s a Musical Family, For sure.

Jaspal Singh ([01:09:14]):

Oh yeah. No, that’s great. What is the one thing do you wish you should have learned early in life?

Kevin Quinn ([01:09:19]):

Oh my gosh. I think that a lot of us, options are good and are always available. And it’s important to always position yourself in such a way that you have options available to you. I think I do a lot of mentoring. A lot of folks come to me with big decisions they have to make in their life, and I think they often feel trapped. They’ve been offered a job and, oh my gosh, they’ve got to make a big decisions Though this is the last job they’ll ever be offered. There are other jobs out there. This may not be the one. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t go for it, but leave yourself in a position where you have options available to you. You should always be making an effort to do that.

Jaspal Singh ([01:10:08]):

Great. And this is my last question. If you can change one thing in life, what would it be? It can be your life. It can be journal life. If you

Kevin Quinn ([01:10:17]):

Can change one- Change one thing in life. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take this one back to transit because I am such an advocate. I do wish that a lot of folks, say car drivers, understood the benefits that transit brings to them. I wish that governments understood the economic benefit that investment in transit made to a regional and a national economy. Investment in transit is truly a force multiplier.

Kevin Quinn ([01:10:51]):

It is a multiplier. And we just can’t invest enough in transit. It’s what moves our communities. And so we have governments that set these high housing targets. And if you set these housing targets, but you don’t think about the surrounding infrastructure, and whether that’s transit or utilities, or schools, or hospitals, housing isn’t all there is. There’s all these supporting pieces that have to have investment in order for communities to be successful. And I guess if one thing I would change in life is I wish that governments and elected officials understood that and understood the value that transit really does bring and the way it can change people’s lives.

Jaspal Singh ([01:11:36]):

Yeah, no, I mean, it’s a great point. And that’s why from UITP side, we are actually creating this World Public Transport Day on 17th and April each day each year, and the purpose is same. How can we celebrate transit and promote the use of transit? Wonderful. Thank you so much, Kevin. I really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for your time. I know it’s a busy period for you, but I really appreciate your time.

Kevin Quinn ([01:12:00]):

Hey, thank you so much for having me. This was really a lot of fun, really enjoyed the conversation.

Jaspal Singh ([01:12:05]):

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