Michael Jones has been a part of the DART team for 12 years and during his tenure, he has successfully progressed from individual contributor to senior leader within the organization. His professional career has consisted of progressively responsible experience in public transportation.
After completing two internships with DART, Jones secured a full-time position as a benefits coordinator in the agency's Human Resources Department. Since that point, he has progressed through a variety of professional and managerial positions into his current role as senior manager, Human Resources Operations/Labor Relations officer.
While his official role is to oversee recruiting and employee and labor relations, Jones has the unofficial designation of "problem solver" within the organization. He has had the opportunity to engage with executive leadership on numerous projects that produce agency-wide solutions.
Jones has also participated in several transit specific assignments, one of the most significant being his involvement in re-defining the authority's "Optimal Bus Operator" report, which is a bus operator staffing model that uses several factors in determining the optimum monthly staffing needs. This staffing model has since been adopted by a least two other transit properties.
Jones has also worked on projects related to bus and rail operator fatigue studies, employee incentive programs, absence management committees, as well as serving on the authority's Division Level Measurement program committee, which is an internal competition designed to promote continuous improvement in alignment with established agency-wide goals.
Jones graduated from Leadership DART, a development program designed to prepare mid-level managers for succession into senior level roles within the organization and he is also a member of the 2012 Leadership APTA program, and will graduate in October of 2012.
Jones is an active member on APTA's Human Resources Committee including the Workforce Development and Labor Relations subcommittees.
Transit Community
"Public transit has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, I rode CTA buses and trains to school daily. I had no idea transit was such a complex business that required a massive infrastructure to operate.
"My grandfather rode the rails as an Amtrak employee for over 30 years. In the summer, he would allow me to travel along. I instantly fell in love with the trains, not knowing that I was being prepared to follow in his transit footsteps. I believe it was my destiny to be a public transit professional.
"Transit employees are extremely passionate about what they do. Working with people that are dedicated to serve others on a daily basis makes the job fun. Our passengers rely on our service, and we have the ability to positively or negatively affect their livelihoods. It's rewarding to be a part of an organization that provides this vital service."
