2018 Top 40 Under 40: Christian G. Londono
- One word to describe yourself: Passionate
- Favorite book: "Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times" by Donald T. Phillips
- Favorite TV show: "Shark Tank"
- Favorite movie: "Gladiator"
- Favorite hobby(ies): Designing websites
- Fun fact about yourself: I own different musical instruments but so far, I haven't been able to learn to play any.
- Favorite station or stop that you have ever visited or frequent (and why): Pennsylvania Station, or Penn Station, in New York City because it's a very impressive building and a great operation.
- Favorite route you have ever ridden or frequent (and why): Palm Tran Route 3 in Palm Beach County, Florida. It's a route that has a great combination of destinations and is very popular in the community.
Christian Londono developed a passion for transit in college during his routine commute on the local bus rapid transit system. In 2014, he graduated with bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University. Upon entering the workforce, he distinguished himself as an enthusiastic leader and innovator in public transportation.
Londono launched his career in transit as a Palm Tran reservation specialist in 2013. It was not long until he was offered the role as transit planner in 2014. He excelled in the role eventually earning a promotion to special projects coordinator in 2017. As special projects coordinator, he confidently tackled challenges, such as instating the Passenger Waiting Amenities Retirement, Replacement and Expansion Plan. He also directed efforts to retrofit several bus stops to meet ADA compliance requirements.
To promote performance awareness, Londono redesigned Palm Tran’s Performance Report. The monthly reports more effectively communicate metric improvements and declines. To further these efforts, he co-founded the Palm Tran-Statistics (PT Stat) program, an initiative that seeks to enhance safety, efficiency and overall customer service. The program focuses on gathering data and analyzing operations and agency performance. As a result of PT Stat, Palm Tran implemented the “flashing lights” initiative which retrofits “flashing lights” to the rear of buses. The effective safety initiative earned Palm Tran recognition from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the Safety Council of Palm Beach County (SCPBC).
Londono is incredibly enthusiastic about improving the Palm Tran rider experience. He oversaw the implementation of Palm Tran’s first Simme-Seats, a durable, cost-effective 2-seat design that attaches directly to bus stop poles. It allows riders to more comfortably wait for the bus to arrive and, as a result, Palm Tran honored Londono with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of his dedication to improving and expanding bus stop amenities for passengers.
In 2018, Londono’s career soared when he was promoted to interim manager of Performance Management. In this role he promotes a culture of improvement by establishing performance metrics goals and submitting monthly performance reports to Executive Director Clinton B. Forbes, the Executive Leadership Team and the National Transit Database (NTD). Each monthly report details the factors that have impacted performance within the organization and they have been the catalyst for launching various successful transit initiatives at Palm Tran.
Londono recognizes the importance of continuing education and community involvement. He has a Transit Planning Certification from the University of Wisconsin and an Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents from the State Emergency Response Team (SERT). Furthermore, he serves as an at-large executive board member of the Palm Beach County chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO).
“Not an experience. I believe the great mentors I have at Palm Tran are what led me to where I am today.”
“[What I enjoy most about my job is] being able to be an agent of change. Promoting a culture of continues improvement where employees from all levels of the organization are able to learn, grow and share their ideas of how we can deliver a better service to our customers.”
“Sometimes I'm challenged to work with employees that have a "we have always done it this way" mindset that could be difficult to change. However, that's also a sign that change is very much needed in that department.”
“[The accomplishment I’m most proud of is] the installation of Simme-Seats (Bus Stop Bench hybrid) in our system at locations where right-of-way didn't allow any other passenger waiting amenity to be installed. Every time that I drive by those locations and I see people seating instead of standing I feel accomplished. I used to ride the bus in a daily basis and I know how the time perception changes when you are standing versus when you are seating.”
“[What I enjoy about working in trasit is] because public transportation is part of people's daily lives, brings them together, and provides opportunities to access life equally for everyone.”
