Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Frank Martin, the interim executive director of the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority, inside the BJCTA’s intermodal facility on Morris Avenue on Jan. 17.
Frank Martin knows his time as the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority’s interim executive director will be short.
Despite only having four to six months on the job, Martin came in with a list of 17 projects he wants to accomplish when he was hired in mid-December.
“And the list is growing,” he said.
Martin has nearly 40 years of experience in running the operations of bus and rail transit, from Florida to Louisiana to California, as well as private global companies. He got his start in Birmingham, working for the BJCTA from 1980 to 1984.
“I have a little vested interest in wanting to see the agency move forward,” he said.
Though he has run his own industry consulting business the past four years, Martin said he decided to step into the BJCTA’s interim role to provide a stabilizing force and keep the agency moving forward until a permanent executive director is hired.
Martin’s contract extends from December through April, with an option for the transit authority board to extend his service for another one to two months.
In January, Martin said his first few weeks on the job had been “non-stop” in meeting with employees, board members and local officials in the jurisdictions that the BJCTA serves.
“I’ve been pleased with how things are evolving,” he said.
He did note, however, that the transit authority’s ridership — around 11,000 passengers per day, he said — is less than when he worked in Birmingham in the ‘80s. While he recognized that the city’s downtown core has become less populated as suburban areas expanded, Martin said he would have anticipated more growth.
“It’s a little disheartening to come back to see that the agency has not grown,” he said.
Martin said the departure of executive directors, financial directors, board members and other senior staff in recent months has caused instability on an administrative level, and he wants to steady that ship. He has also been helping ensure the financial condition of the BJCTA, working with municipalities that contribute to the bus system and assisting in the hire of a new director of finance.
That hire, Glenn Dickerson, was announced via press release on Feb. 12. Dickerson has been a certified public accountant for 35 years and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Alabama State Board of Certified Public Accountants.
As for Martin's initial 60-day plan, which included the 17 projects such as improving employee morale and partner relationships, he said in mid-January that he was about halfway finished with the plan. That list now has about 20 items, he said.
Employee morale and opinion of the transit authority was near the top of his priority list, Martin said, because he wanted them to feel stable and confident in their jobs and in the overall position of the BJCTA, especially in light of senior staff turnover.
“It can’t be a good feeling for the employees to always see their agency in the news, so I feel like giving them some comfort … is very, very critical in our mission, because they’re our front line,” Martin said.
He is still working on meeting with partnering cities. While he’s only temporarily the face of the BJCTA, Martin said his goal is to get a “good feel” of how the partnerships work and any issues surrounding cities have with the transit authority’s service and routes.
Last spring, for instance, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin threatened to withhold city funding to the BJCTA due to what he cited as concerns over leadership stability, accountability and transparency. Woodfin had promised to take a closer look at the organization’s operations before providing additional funds.
The issue was partly resolved by a new contract between the city and the BJCTA last summer, which included additional oversight for the city, as well as an October change in by-laws that requires board members to serve at least one year.
Martin said the BJCTA is working to provide Birmingham the information required in the contract for continued payment, and he feels like the situation is moving in the right direction.
Working with municipal partners is essential to growing the transit authority’s ridership and routes back to the levels Martin remembers from the 1980s and beyond. He said one goal for his meetings with these municipalities is “renewed appreciation for the value of public transportation and how there should be collective effort to support the system.”
Though he’s focused on the day-to-day operations, Martin said he is also supporting some initiatives within the transit authority that will continue long after his contract ends.
This includes the Birmingham Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which will establish a quick connection through the downtown core and come online in 2021. It also includes a “first and last mile” program that Martin wants to move forward, connecting bus routes with other transit options like bikeshare and rideshare companies to help commuters easily get to and from bus stops.
Martin said the BJCTA is in the planning stages of a route-planning app, where riders could enter their start and end points and receive options on how to get there using buses and other services. He said the app is planned to roll out in 2021, as well, though some of its services could be released earlier.
At the end of his contract, Martin said he wants to have some mended fences and encouraged collaboration, both within the BJCTA and with its partner organizations. He said the entire transit authority, from board members and senior staff to drivers, need to prioritize those relationships and stability in order to attract a new executive director who will want to stick around.
“Whoever would come in next would need to see a strong commitment from the board and the elected officials that they’re serious about public transit and they’re willing to come together to work toward that. I think the area could be very attractive,” Martin said.
