July-August 2022 - 28

Nicole He,
Transportation
Planner III
Santa Clara Valley
Transportation
Authority (VTA)
Over the past seven years, Nicole He has
built her career in the transportation industry
through various positions in public transit and
private consulting firms across North America.
During her graduate study of urban planning,
her passion for transportation planning thrived
after completing a transit ridership analysis
of L.A. Metro's rail extension and local Culver
City Bus. The analysis explored different
factors causing the decline in transit ridership
and recommended strategies to reduce
operational costs and increase productivity.
She then worked for two years as an analyst
and engineer-in-training in Vancouver. Her
research on minimum residential parking
standards and transportation demand management
guidelines advanced the elimination
of minimum residential parking requirements
in downtown Vancouver. She also completed
macro-level transportation demand forecasts
in different city center redevelopments.
She's currently transportation planner III at
Santa Clara VTA and is leading competitive
grant programs under the 2016 Measure B
local sales tax program. In this role, she helped
create an online interactive program manual
and maintains a transparency website for the
sales tax measure. Both features received positive
feedback because they promot transparency
and facilitate the coordination between
The transportation industry
is evolving rapidly in every
aspect: technology, policy and
human behavior. It is important
to stay informed about the
changes and be ready for new
transportation challenges.
VTA and local jurisdictions. She serves as a
key liaison with 16 jurisdictions and develops
the program framework for countywide bicycle
and pedestrian projects, grade separation
projects and innovative transit service models.
He is active in advancing women in transportation
and science by hosting several career
workshops for young women in science and
engineering during her time in Toronto. She
participated in WTS and Young Professionals
in Transportation. She's also currently pursuing
her Professional Engineer license in California.
Fast Fact: Through her current work at VTA,
He grows her interest in the integration of big
data, transportation planning and social equity
by self-learning various data analysis tools that
she hopes to apply to the scheme of funding
infrastructure projects.
MassTransitmag.com/21276472
Derick M. Lee
Maintenance
Analyst Supervisor
Utah Transit
Authority (UTA)
In Derick M. Lee's role of maintenance
analyst supervisor for UTA, he analyzes
data for 350 buses located at two of the
five bus maintenance garages and supervises
two coach cleaners at one of the
garages. This puts him in a unique position
to see areas where uniformity would
improve processes between the shops.
He has primarily accomplished this by
emphasizing to the mechanics the importance
of properly annotating maintenance
accomplished on the buses in each work
order line item, as well as the time taken
for every repair. This increased overall
paid versus labor time coding from
60 percent to more than 95 percent.
Using historical data, Lee researched and determined
predictive modeling to replace expensive
voltage regulators, alternators, turbos and
radiators on a time determined basis rather than
waiting for a road call from these parts wearing
out. This led to increased miles between
maintenance road calls. Lee has also learned
to understand maintenance work and develop
data visualization. He tested the overall cost savings
between the diesel bus power modes and
determined which was most cost effective and
most desirable for operators. He facilitated 11
LEAN initiatives with bus maintenance employees,
resulting in savings of more than $250,000.
28 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2022
Lead with humility and remember
to always strive for the best. It's
not all about your successes,
but how many times you pick
yourself up from when you fall.
Lee often adjusts his schedule to meet with
all shifts to discuss goals and KPIs. He engages
with personnel and has cleaned the buses
with coach cleaners to better understand their
responsibilities and issues they may have.
He's also a member of the UTA Continuous
Improvement team. His contributions
have led to better budget oversight and
uniformity of charges to correct budget
lines throughout the bus maintenance
shops, as well as ensuring mechanics
return used parts for warranty recovery.
Lee is a member of the American Bus
Benchmarking Group, providing information
that is not normally included in the
normal information request process.
Fast Fact: Lee is pursuing two master's degrees,
Master of Science in Business Administration
and Master of Science in Business Analytics,
expecting to graduate from both by the end of
spring 2023.
MassTransitmag.com/21276464
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21276472 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21276464 http://www.MassTransitmag.com
July-August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July-August 2022
