TCAT names Matthew Rosenbloom-Jones acting general manager

The Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) Board of Directors has named Matthew Rosenbloom-Jones its acting general manager to temporarily succeed Scot Vanderpool, who is retiring effective March 1.

Rosenbloom-Jones joined TCAT in early January as the agency’s service development manager, responsible for planning TCAT’s service systemwide. The Buffalo-native holds a masters in regional planning from the University at Albany (SUNY) and previously held planning and managerial roles for transit systems in the northeast and midwest.

“I am very excited to lead TCAT as acting general manager and provide direction and leadership until the eventual transition to our next general manager,” said Rosenbloom-Jones. “It has been a pleasure to work with and learn from Scot, who provided TCAT with seven years of stable leadership, as well as his contributions to public transit in central New York over his career.”

The board also approved a “Resolution of Appreciation” for Vanderpool, honoring his “unflagging passion for getting people to where they need to go” during his time at TCAT and more than 40 years in the transit industry, mostly in his hometown of Syracuse. The resolution noted that under Vanderpool’s watch and just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, TCAT’s ridership was steadily climbing in 2018 and 2019 after a four-year lull.

At his final board meeting on Feb. 22, Vanderpool, in turn, offered his thanks to the board and to TCAT’s employees for their “consistent hard work and dedication to the Tompkins County community,” adding “I am also very appreciative to our riders who are probably the most supportive of their transit system than anywhere else in the country.”

TCAT Board Chairperson Deborah Dawson said she is confident Rosenbloom-Jones will provide steady leadership while giving the board time to work with a national recruitment agency to hire a new general manager.

Board Member Shawna Black, who chairs the board’s human resources committee, said she is pleased with the quality of applications that have come in since recruitment efforts started early last month, soon after Vanderpool announced his retirement. Both she and Dawson said hiring and onboarding a new general manager may take several weeks, which makes it essential for the board to appoint an interim leader, especially during TCAT’s continuing struggles with labor shortages and administrative turnover.

“Upon interviewing Matthew for his service development role and subsequently working with him since early January, it became obvious to board members and staff that he has a great deal of knowledge, depth of experience and skill sets – essentially all the right stuff – needed to lead TCAT through this transition,” Dawson said. “We are so grateful to him for accepting this position.”

Rosenbloom-Jones most recently worked as a transit director for a Wisconsin transit agency, as a transportation specialist in the city of Bowie, Md., and as manager of scheduling for a Kentucky transit authority. He held similar positions earlier in his career at transit agencies in Minnesota, Long Island, N.Y. and Rochester N.Y. In addition to earning a master’s degree in regional planning, he has also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and urban studies from Canisius College, Buffalo and a Master of Arts degree in history from Aberystwyth University in Wales, U.K.