- Alma Mater: Michigan State Spartans
- Favorite book: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey
- Favorite TV show: “Shark Tank”
- Favorite hobby(ies): Ice Hockey
- Fun fact about yourself: Vogel is addicted to hockey and traveling. He is the assistant coach for the Jr. Sharks 18U AA hockey team and has traveled to 19 countries and 47 of the 50 U.S. states.
- What is your favorite transit system (outside of the one you work for or have worked for!) and why?: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. It is multimodal and the heart of the Bay for passenger trips taken compared to any other.
It was looking through the classifieds for the highest paid position that started Aaron Vogel’s career in public transportation as a bus driver at Northstar ski resort in Lake Tahoe. Within months he was promoted to a supervisor and helped transition it from a seasonal mom-and-pop operation to a year-round operation, transporting the most passengers in the Tahoe basin and sustaining year-round work for some of the employees.
Revamping Northstar’s BlueGO service to make it financially viable to sustain itself included revamping the entire network – more than 20 percent of the services, the fare system and included putting in new technologies.
Vogel continued to broaden his experience, going to Google in California to oversee its commuter shuttle and bike shuttle program for employees. He was a part of the operations when transitioning from contractor-owned vehicles to Google-owned vehicles. He also executed a rapid transportation service growth plan of 70 percent in six months.
Previously to his position at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in San Jose, California, Vogel was at San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI), responsible for coordinating and managing several aspects of a large-scale operational shift, including developing training curriculum, such as manuals, presentations and testing materials, into a year-long module-based program where staff could test out of certain areas and start from certain modules based on previous working experience; developing and implementing new operating procedures related to a new radio and CAD/AVL system; and service planning and tunnel management for a 6-month early subway shutdown to facilitate the radio replacement construction.
At Keolis Transit America, Vogel served in several roles, including general manager, regional director and assistant director, overseeing operations for Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s public transit fixed-route operations. He managed a 24/7 service which included many high frequency services, like the Stripe/Deuce and SDX/BRT routes.
Currently, as manager of Regional Transportation Services at VTA, Vogel focuses on long-range program plans for all services he oversees. His department collaborates with transit agencies throughout the region to provide service into Santa Clara County, including three regional rail systems and three regional express bus services. He and his team also manage private contractors that provide the ACE Shuttles and Paratransit Services, and secures Air District funds to support the ACE shuttles and VTA's Downtown Area Shuttle. He is responsible for a $35 million operating budget.
Current work includes in-vehicle technology innovation projects for consumer use, such as WIFI, interactive monitor displays with “rate my driver” features, traffic alerts and program notifications. Additional innovations include the deployment of online Paratransit trip bookings, cashless faring and user “track my ride” features.
Aaron volunteers and serves on the organization’s deferred compensation committee, and as the staff liaison for VTA’s Committee for Transportation Mobility and Accessibility (CTMA). Aaron has organized several public workshops and given presentations to ensure the public was well-informed. To further expand his understanding of public transportation needs, he works with several community advocacy groups.
Aaron frequently attends, participants and contributes in industry events: the California Association of Coordinated Transportation (CalACT) and the American Public Transit Association (APTA) serving on its Access and Bus Operations Committees. He has given back through participating as a panelist and speaker on First/Last mile solutions. He is also a part of the Bay Area Regional/Partnership of Accessibility Committee (BAPAC).
Aaron has a Bachelor’s in Management and will soon graduate with a Master’s Degree in Transportation Management from the Mineta Transportation Institute with a concentration in High Speed Rail. He is a graduate of UITP’s Public Transport Manager Program and a Certified Community Transit Manager from Community Transportation Association of America. At Northstar, Aaron was awarded A New Level of Customer Service award and Operations of the Year award in 2008.
“Surround yourself with good people. Have a good boss and mentor that through your work to challenge yourself to make your job exciting to come to every day.”
“Always be willing and open to take on new tasks and learn new things. Do not be afraid to take risks. We are all different, be open to new approaches, processes and technology which can lead to new and better ways of doing things.”
