November 2021 - 33

Eleanor Leshner is dedicated to making
cities more walkable, bikeable and transit-friendly
in this era of new and emerging
mobility. She recently founded her independent
consulting practice after working as a
project manager and senior planner for Fehr &
Peers Transportation Consultants for six years.
Leshner says she is looking forward to growing
her business and continuing her work to create
I continue to be motivated
by improving people's lives
through safer, more convenient
and more environmentally
friendly transportation
options and making a positive
impact in my community. "
" people friendly " communities that are more
resilient to climate change.
Leshner completed her dual Masters of
Transportation Engineering and City Planning
at University of California, Berkeley. Her
career includes managing diverse transit
and safety-related projects such as helping
local agencies in the development of Vision
Zero policy frameworks, identifying opportunities
for transit-oriented development
and planning and implementing various
complete street improvement projects.
Leshner continues to be on the cutting
edge of asking how new mobility is impacting
and can improve transportation networks
and transit services. She led Fehr &
Peers' automated vehicle readiness practice
and is exploring how AVs may improve
or hinder new safe systems approaches
to road safety. She also led a first-of-itskind
study exploring rideshare's effect in
the U.S. by examining the role these companies
play in the urban travel market.
Leshner is well known in the local San
Francisco planning community for her dedicated
leadership to advancing women and
other underrepresented groups in the field.
She has been a board member of Women
in Transportation Seminar's San Francisco
chapter since 2014 and served as the chair for
Student and Younger Members between 2015
and 2019. In her current role on the Programs
Committee, Leshner identifies relevant topics
and speakers for panel discussions and networking
events to support the organization's
larger mission to advance women's careers
to strengthen the transportation industry.
Fast Fact: Leshner has never owned a car
and can speak four languages.
MassTransitmag.com/21246381
Eleanor
Leshner
Transportation
Consultant
Leshner Planning &
Transportation
City of Airdrie, Alberta, Team Leader
of Transit Chris MacIsaac is described as a
creative, outside-the-box thinker who shares
his technical skills and strategies with his entire
transit team while constantly providing teaching
moments.
If we ask the right questions, we
will become more enlightened
and build a culture and practice of
understanding and appreciation. "
MacIsaac joined the city's transit department
in 2010. Under his leadership, the
department has grown from a one-person,
five-bus fleet with no vision or direction
to a four-person team with a fleet of
21 buses that includes paratransit vans and
bus rapid transit articulated vehicles.
He opened Airdrie's very first purpose-built
transit hub in 2015 for all the transit routes
in the city. In 2019, he had a secondment
with the town of Okotoks, Alberta,
to assist them with the implementation
of public transit in their community.
Airdrie opened its first purpose-built transit
facility in 2020 thanks to MacIsaac's involvement
and direction. The facility includes a
maintenance facility, service lanes to accommodate
servicing and washing of buses,
administration offices, storage space for the
current bus fleet along with additional room
for the city's continued and sustained transit
growth. MacIsaac has managed to bring
together several services under one roof to
become the heart of the city's operations.
Looking to a post-pandemic industry,
MacIsaac started a Communication Services
Recovery Team within the municipality, which
is working to understand how this pandemic
has impacted the city's customers. The team
is attempting to build trust and creditability
in public services and institutions to rebuild
businesses. MacIsaac brought forward the
idea for this group to see how the services
can be leveraged in a way that supports
one another and allows all business units
to come up with a plan to come out of this
pandemic prepared, strong and united.
While the world works on recovering from
the COVID-19 pandemic, MacIssac is
busy working with his team to determine
how Airdrie Transit can provide residents
with safe, reliable and multiple mobility
options around the city and the region.
Fast Fact: MacIsaac owned and operated
his own ice cream stand between the ages of
12 and 19.
MassTransitmag.com/21246416
NOVEMBER 2021 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 33
Chris
MacIsaac
Team Leader, Transit
City of Airdrie
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21246381 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21246416 http://www.MassTransitmag.com
November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2021
