Elevating the Transit Journey
Wednesday, November 19
9:00 am – 10:00 am Pacific / 11:00 am – Noon Central / Noon – 1:00 pm Eastern
Watch the webinar video below to learn how public transit agencies are advancing customer experience (CX) through design, technology, feedback systems and service innovation. Also see links below to a one-pager and Vince Tam’s slides introducing customer experience.
Thanks to our speakers:
- Sarah Meyer, Chief Customer Officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Washington, DC
- Julia Gessner, Director of Development Administration, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, TX
- Moderator: Vince Tam, Senior Urban Planner, Customer Experience Lead, HNTB, Dallas, TX
Mapping and improving every stage of the rider experience is essential for building trust, increasing ridership and aligning transit with broader land use and policy goals. It also plays a role in prioritizing capital investments, from wayfinding updates to new vehicle purchases.
Video timestamps:
00:00 Kammy Horne, CEO, Mpact: Introduction
03:40 Vince Tam, HNTB: The Customer Experience in Transit – Vince Tam, HNTB
13:26 Sarah Meyer, WMATA – The Customer Experience
25:46 Julia Gessner, DART – Passenger Journey Map
34:02 Q&A, covering personal stories about why customer experience is important; aligning goals across departments amidst rapid changes in technology; building awareness of transit in and for a fast growing region; planning for large events while serving everyday customers, fare payment and other elements of customer experience; safety on transit; designing and testing wayfinding and other systems; customer feedback and importance of testing within the system
Resources and Links
Featured Speakers
Sarah Meyer
Chief Customer Officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Washington, DC
Sarah Meyer joined WMATA in April 2023 and serves as the customer advocate, working to improve journeys from end-to-end; reducing stress and confusion, speeding up wait times, and making rides more comfortable. She leads Strategic Initiatives, Government Relations, Community Engagement, Transformation, and Marketing.
Prior to working for WMATA, she served as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Chief Customer Officer, where she worked to restore New Yorkers’ trust through transparency and better design. She fought for better trains, buses and schedules, for more elevators, and for better maps and signage. She conceived of the Live Subway Map, a Time Magazine “Best Inventions of 2021,” and led the marketing and launch for OMNY, the new contactless way to pay for the MTA.
Earlier in her career, Sarah led advocacy, marketing, and fundraising campaigns for nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies. She graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Art History. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two daughters.
Julia Gessner
Director of Development Administration, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, TX
Julia Gessner serves as Director of Development Administration at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), where she leads strategic department initiatives, identifies and implements process improvements, and supports department employee development and executive communications.
Prior to joining DART, she was Director of Performance at Transdev, overseeing zero-emission projects, contract startups/shutdowns, and organizational development. She also previously led communications for the North American Transit Alliance and served as Chief of Staff at First Transit.
Julia is a graduate of the American Public Transportation Association’s Emerging Leaders Program and holds a master’s in media studies from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s in journalism–public relations and political science from East Texas A&M University. With a strong background in public transportation and strategic communications, her work reflects a commitment to innovation, leadership development, and process improvement across the transit industry.
Vince Tam
Senior Urban Planner, Customer Experience Lead, HNTB,, Dallas, TX
Vince Tam, a senior urban planner at HNTB, has been reimagining and improving transportation systems and the built environment for the last 14 years. Now in her most recent role as the Customer Experience Lead for Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s system modernization program, DART Transform, Vince and her team are closely collaborating with the transit agency to improve riders’ day-to-day experience. With a unique understanding of customer experience and an innovative, data-driven journey mapping approach, Vince and DART are developing concrete strategies to elevate daily ridership.