- One word to describe yourself: Committed
- Alma Mater: University of California, Davis
- Favorite book: “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” by Beverly Cleary
- Favorite TV show: “Fresh off the Boat”
- Favorite movie: “Avengers: Endgame”
- Favorite hobby(s): Collecting model buses
- Fun fact about yourself: I drove for Unitrans at UC Davis.
- Favorite station or stop that you have ever visited or frequent (and why): Embarcadero Station in San Francisco. The station reminds me of the trips I took when I was 4-years old with my father to get a polish dog for lunch.
- Favorite route you have ever ridden or frequent (and why): My favorite route is the 663 Alameda. I grew up with this route going past my house and waving to the operators who inspired me to work in public transit.
William Wong Mah started at Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) in 2005 as a transportation supervisor and has since worked his way up to assistant transportation superintendent transbay.
He decided to survey the entire San Francisco Transbay operation and realized the schedules could be streamlined to increase efficiencies. He took this initiative to work with the planning and scheduling departments, recommending route modifications and changing the line up of how buses arrived, parked and left the Transbay Terminal. He then reformatted the internal forms to make the work more user-friendly for supervisors monitoring service. His work brought clarity, resulting in a smoother operation.
He also played a role in the Transbay Joint Powers Authority’s (TJPA) initiative to tear down the former Transbay Terminal and ultimately rebuild a state-of-the-art transit center, now known as the Salesforce Transit Center. He helped setup systems, manage staff and help AC Transit maintain existing service while the major operational transition took place.
His role in this initiative helped promote him to his current position where he’s streamlined the Temporary Terminal operations, engaged the TJPA and ensured operations stayed on track as demolition and reconstruction of the new transit center took place. Prior to the new center’s opening, he coordinated testing, trained staff and ensured the wayfinding communications systems were user friendly to the customer base.
He’s also been instrumental in AC Transit’s planning and deployment of the new Computer Aided Dispatch-Automated Vehicle Locator System (CAD/AVL) known as CleverCAD. From the start of the procurement process in 2014 to the full CleverCAD cutover in February 2019, he helped in the development and implementation of the system. As part of the rollout, he ensured all transportation supervisors received adequate training for the new CleverCAD system in conjunction with the Clever Bus in the Box (Bib) Operator Training for 1500 Operators.
He also worked hand-in-hand with AC Transit’s project manager and other operations staff to identify and create Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the CleverCAD system. The cutover included transitioning from an existing Operations Control Center (OCC) location in the city of Emeryville, Calif., to a newly upgraded Operation Control Center located in Oakland, Calif. On Feb. 8, 2019 the district completed cutover to the new location and to the entire fleet of 634 buses, and the Operation Control Center located in Emeryville was decommissioned.
He’s currently helping with building and preparing AC Transit’s new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system along a 9.5-mile corridor connecting downtown Oakland and San Leandro. As a project team member, he works with various internal and external stakeholders, using analytics to ensure this project is successfully implemented.
Additional projects he’s worked on include: The planning of Transbay Service for Bay Bridge Closures while the construction of the new Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge was built; updating and implementing a plan to move thousands of additional passengers during the BART strike; coordinating the celebration parades for the NBA champion Warriors; implementing a mass notification system internally for AC Transit; rolling out Origami Risk for Supervisors Accident investigations; working with information services to build a database for compliance checks; implementing Alexander Dennis Double Deck buses into Transbay Service; and most recently reestablishing a regional operations round table with Transit agencies in the Bay Area.
“I am most proud of reopening the Transbay Service at the Salesforce Transit Center in August. Spending the last nine-plus years on this project has been challenging and rewarding. It is a once in a lifetime chance to work [with] this team to create something new that will last for years to come.”
“I have always loved public transit. From riding the light rail with my father when I was little to waving to the operators who passed my house, I am now a part of a team who moves people to and may inspire someone else to work in public transit.”
