An After-APTA Report: 3 Key Takeaways for Transit Business Members

If you were lucky enough to attend the APTA Business Members Annual Meeting in Honolulu last week—Mahalo! We hope you caught SDI VP of Marketing and APTA Business Members Board member Christina Belmont at “Tales from Tech Side: A Deep Cybersecurity Discussion” on Friday.

Belmont planned, spoke, and moderated the panel, during which participants discussed the importance of modernizing IT infrastructure, how businesses can protect themselves and their agency partners from cyberthreats, upcoming cyber regulations to be aware of, and whether to pay a cyber-related ransom. She was also instrumental in planning the meeting’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) panel, in collaboration with several transit agency CEOs.

The January meeting was APTA’s first major conference of 2023, and members are already looking forward to the APTA EXPO this October in Orlando.

Didn’t make it? Never fear, here are our three key takeaways:

  1. When it comes to security, thinking outside the box is essential.

Transit agency CEOs look to the business member community to solve challenges with creativity and innovative thinking. They rely on business members to shed light on emerging risks and new ways of doing things that support their missions.

  1. DE&I is good for all of us, and it’s good for business.

Organizations that understand DE&I and are truly committed are excelling. These efforts lead to profitability and positive brand equity. Transit agencies are passionate about working with the right businesses—the ones that see eye to eye with them on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  1. Positive experiences drive long-term success.

Ridership numbers are trending up slowly, but they are steadily rising. Right now, transit agencies have more money than ever before, so the lesson here is that they need to spend quickly, but wisely. Transit agencies need business members to help them spend that money on the right things—bringing riders back through positive experiences.

Are you a transit industry professional? Add your voice to the conversation in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.