Katie Gagnon
Special Projects Manager
Foothill Transit
- One Word to Describe Yourself: Resourceful
- Alma Mater: Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
- Favorite Book: “Who Moved My Cheese”
- Favorite TV Show: “Grey’s Anatomy”
- Favorite Movie: “Inception”
- Favorite Hobby: Most of her free time is spent remodeling her home. They have done most of the work themselves, from replacing the kitchen and interior doors to painting and outdoor siding installation.
- Fun Fact: She loves to travel and has always wanted to go on a safari and just booked one for the end of this year.
- Favorite Transit System (other than one they work at): Long Beach Transit. They serve the area I live in and love to use it to get around the city during large events.
As special projects manager, Foothill Transit’s Katie Gagnon is learning something new every day. Oftentimes she gets a project that she doesn’t have previous knowledge of: she’s given the ideas people have a discussion about that nobody has a plan for her and her job is to come up with that plan.
After less than six months on the job, Gagnon brought a Class Pass program to local students, offering them an affordable way to get to college, to reduce the need for parking in the area, and to reduce traffic congestion during peak travel times. Confirming the success of the pilot program, within a year-and-a-half of launching, the students voted and 81 percent voted to keep the program going.
Two years after the initial pilot program, Gagnon has instituted the Class Pass at two schools, including California’s largest community college, and is in discussions with three other schools.
Her Class Pass program has a unique technology aspect that connects students’ college ID cards to their fare cards, making it easier for students to participate in the program and reduces fraud.
Gagnon is focused on technologies and efforts to further Foothill Transit’s sustainability programs. At the Foothill Transit Operations and Maintenance yards, Gagnon helped the team achieve ISO 14001 certification. She was also part of the initiative that worked to increase the agency’s APTA Sustainability Commitment to Gold Level. In addition, Gagnon leads the agency’s Eco Team, which focuses on employee initiatives to conserve resources.
“Being in L.A., there are so many opportunities for improvement, successes that we can build on because there’s so much need for transit in large cities and there’s always room for improvement.”
“I really like public transit because we help everybody. All of the population may not know how public transportation helps them. I’m able to realize, being on this side, how we really impact the public as a whole, not just those people that ride our buses every day, but those people that have traffic reductions or parking reductions because people are taking transit. I think knowing, coming from public policy background … I like doing public good and understanding what I do effects the public as a whole, whether they know it or not.”
“I come in and work on different projects, innovative projects handed to me and people say, ‘OK, you may not know about this, but learn about it really fast and figure out how we’re going to do something innovative and interesting with this.’ It’s like a puzzle every time I get to do something.”
“Many times I get a project that I don’t have any previous knowledge of. I’m given ideas people have a discussions about that nobody has a plan for. I’m asked to come up to speed quickly and learn as much as I can and for me, it’s really challenging to do it, but I know I’m able to use the employees that we have here at foothill transit. We have so many capable people that I can bring on board and it helps me; I don’t have to become a complete expert.”
“I’ve been able to be successful in my projects because of positive relationship building and cultivating relationships. Treating people with respect and seeing everybody has value and really allowing people to thrive in whatever area they can help me in.”
