Isaac Thorne
Chief Operating Officer
Connect Transit
- Alma Mater: Attending Lincoln College-Normal
- Fun Fact: He’s two classes away from finishing his bachelor’s degree
- Favorite Book: "Developing the Leader Within You" by John C. Maxwell
- Favorite TV Show: "True Detective"
- Favorite Movie: "Shawshank Redemption"
- Favorite Hobbies: Reading and family, including spending time with his two daughters
There was an available part-time dispatcher position at Connect Transit, Isaac Thorne went to apply to see what would happen. He ended up really enjoying and moved into a full-time position of operations manager, procurement director in 2011 and most recently as interim transportation director.
Thorne took responsibility for procurement at a time when Connect Transit was operating with very limited technological resources — operations and administration staff manually performed most tasks. In two years, he conducted successful procurements for paratransit scheduling software, fleet maintenance software, accounting software, a narrowband radio system and a fleet AVL system that provided real-time GPS bus tracking for both staff and customers. He was also a key member of the team that obtained funding for these and other ambitious projects, serving as lead writer for successful federal and state capital grant applications.
In 2014 Isaac again expanded his role at Connect Transit, taking management responsibility for a newly established information technology department and adding staff to the procurement department.
The high level of leadership and technical expertise that Thorne has developed over his career is no more evident than in his latest procurement. Seeking an opportunity to obtain better pricing and delivery times for heavy-duty buses, Connect Transit decided to offer fellow transit agencies the opportunity to join in a competitive joint procurement and the response was overwhelming. Thorne served as lead procurement officer and worked closely with the other transit agencies, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), as well as state officials to ensure successful completion of the purchase. The contract was awarded by Connect Transit in early 2015 and, over the next five years, up to 326 heavy-duty buses will be delivered to 23 different transit agencies across the country with a value that could exceed $200 million.
Thorne is also active in the industry at the state and national level. He has taken on a leadership role in the state transit community and under the umbrella of the Illinois Public Transportation Association (IPTA), he created a statewide procurement committee and leads regular meetings. He is also active in the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and has presented on best practices developed at Connect Transit.
“I know that people depend on us to get around our community. The service we provide makes a huge difference in our community and whether a persons’ a rider or not, the service we provide still effects them in some way. We play a big part in livability and mobility in our community. It’s very rewarding.”
“I enjoy the large projects that we are doing at our agency and how they will improve the reliability and service that we provide. We are doing some really exciting and big projects like implementing fixed stops, electronic fare collection and replacing buses. There are always challenges when implementing these large projects.”
“One of most pressing items that is needed is a long-term federal transportation bill. The short-term extensions under SAFETEA-LU and MAP-21 don’t allow us to properly plan our capital and operating budgets over a three- to five-year span.”
“I would like to see more recruiting of college students to the public transit industry. I think that educating students about the opportunities in public transit is key. We held tours for high school and grade school students to educate them on what we do because most of the time they just see the bus throughout the community and don’t know that there is a lot that takes place behind the scene.”
