The Hardest Seat in Paratransit

Cheers to the paratransit general manager.

Over the course of my career in public transit I've officially held or filled in just about every position there is, from dispatcher and driver on up to the executive level. In my personal experience, one of the most challenging and often thankless roles is that of the operations general manager.

It's the hottest seat in paratransit. You sit in the middle of everyone's competing priorities. The client wants tighter performance and lower cost. The company wants margin. Dispatchers want realistic schedules. Drivers want fair runs and predictable hours. Maintenance wants vehicles off the road long enough to actually fix them. Riders just want to get where they're going, on time, and to be treated with dignity.

Every one of these is a fair ask, but delivering them all is like the three-legged stool problem, except this stool has six legs! It's the GM's job to reconcile them. All of them. Every day. Usually with less budget than the job actually calls for.

This is the kind of role where a great day means nobody noticed, because everything just worked. But a bad day? That might mean a tragedy. The stakes are real. Nobody sends a thank-you note when the trips run clean. But the whole thing falls apart fast without someone steady in that chair.

So this week I just wanted to send that note. To all the GMs keeping paratransit service running while getting pulled in six directions at once, lying awake at night running tomorrow's schedule in your head: the work is seen, and it matters.

Thank you.