Kristin Thompson
Assistant Director, Scheduling, Analysis & Data Collection
Metro Transit
- Alma Mater: Macalester College and the University of Minnesota
- Fun Fact: Thompson has written a few travel articles for a publication in a local magazine
- Favorite Book: "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder — a life-long favorite
- Favorite TV Show: "Downton Abbey"
- Favorite Movie: "Pride and Prejudice" and "Best in Show"
- Favorite Hobbies: Reading and taking walks in the wonderful parks of the Twin Cities
Kristin Thompson studied in Amsterdam as an undergraduate and it opened her eyes to the possibilities of living in a city that’s more oriented to transit, pedestrians and bikes, rather than cars. She went to graduate school for urban planning and began her career at Metro Transit as an analyst, developing a greater understanding of schedule planning and service analysis.
Thompson helped lead the implementation of a groundbreaking partnership with Minneapolis Public Schools, which was transitioning high school students from traditional school buses to transportation on Metro Transit. Using student addresses and trip-planning software, Thompson analyzed how many students could access their schools with existing transit services and recommended changes to better serve all eligible students. Now in its fourth year, the “Student Pass” program has grown to serve more than 7,000 Minneapolis students and thousands more in various other schools across the region. Thompson is now leading Metro Transit’s efforts to expand the program in St. Paul.
In 2013, Thompson was promoted to Supervisor of Service Analysis. In that position she led staff involved in quarterly service changes, allocated budget resources through the annual bus and rail service plan and worked closely with operators and other staff to improve bus on-time performance.
Metro Transit’s Service Development Department went through a period of significant transition in 2014. The department lost several long-time employees to retirement or transfers. Thompson assumed additional responsibilities, ensuring a smooth transition for the department, the agency and customers. In mid-2014, Thompson was promoted to assistant director of Scheduling, Analysis and Data Collection. She manages a team of 18 schedulers, analysts and data collectors and works across several departments to ensure service is delivered efficiently and effectively.
Currently she is part of the service planning and operations planning for the launch of the A Line, an arterial bus rapid transit (BRT) project in the Twin Cities. Her role is looking at what the schedules should be depending on how much signal priority they get, figuring out a plan for operator relief with a limited BRT fleet and looking at new ways to help Metro Transit operate the service.
Thompson also takes seriously her role as a mentor to young professionals. She works closely with agency interns and is involved in the Minnesota Chapter of WTS International (Advancing Women in Transportation). She served on the WTS Minnesota board of directors for five years, as Scholarship & Recognitions director (2008-2009), vice president (2010), president (2011), and past president in 2012. She is also the founding mother of WTS Minnesota's corporate partnership program, which connects the chapter to more than a dozen corporate partners who help fund the group’s programs.
“We have a finite budget for service and [I enjoy] looking for ways to use that creatively … places where we might find efficiencies so that we can invest in service elsewhere. I like seeing how that puzzle fits together.”
“I’ve always been mission driven. I’ve always wanted to work in a field where I’m serving the public. I feel we’re meeting a very essential need for the public, which is the mobility to get around, to get to jobs and be part of a community.”
“I’d like to see a more consistent form of operating funds so we can grow in a more orderly fashion, rather than when you face a budget shortfall you have to pull back and then the political tides change, putting more service out again. It would be great to have a consistent revenue stream to keep the buses rolling.”
