Book Club
Late last month, author and legal historian Sarah Seo joined us for a virtual talk to discuss her book, Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom. In a timely discussion, Seo gave us first hand insight into her research on how the invention of the automobile spurred decades of 4th Amendment legal cases that shaped the structure of modern American law enforcement and subsequent issues we’re grappling with today.
One doesn’t have to look far to see how racism and transportation continue to intersect in the NYC region. Young Professionals in Transportation NYC (YPT-NYC) is committed to raising awareness of racism in our society and transportation systems, and empowering our membership to make real, Anti-Racist strides within their own workplaces.
To that end, our summer reading book choice is Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, and Resistance, by Adonia Lugo, PhD. More details to follow soon.
Member Profile
Sunny Zheng
Process Improvement Specialist, President’s Office, MTA Long Island Rail Road
Sunny graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017, during which time he spent two summers at the MTA, one at LIRR and one at NYCT Operations Planning. In 2018, he joined the NYCT Data Research & Development unit, where he was part of the team that built the Bus Performance Dashboard, and is now at LIRR focused on improving the customer experience through new technologies.
What are you working on that you’re most passionate or proud about (COVID-related)?
In the current environment, providing customer access to crowding information is on the minds of every transit agency around the world. At the LIRR, we have been fortunate in that my team has started on this initiative a couple years ago, and it was only a matter of speeding up the process to get it into the public’s hands as soon as possible. This month, we launched a totally-rewritten TrainTime mobile app as well as new signage at Jamaica station which represent a major leap forward in customer communications for the MTA. Now, users can see car-by-car loading information and where trains will stop, so they can best position themselves to avoid crowded conditions. This project means a lot to me, as I worked on the current version in my first internship six years ago, fixing bugs and adding new features to the then-nascent application. Never had I expected that I would be the one to decommission it and launch the next generation.
For the full Q&A with Sunny, please visit our website!
Resume Workshop
Looking for a different set of eyes to take a look at your resume? Upload it here for members of the YPT-NYC Board to take a look and provide feedback, comments, and suggestions.
This opportunity is open to all active YPT-NYC members. Resume review is limited to the first 50 resumes submitted. All resumes will remain confidential, and will not be shared beyond the YPT-NYC Board Member(s) reviewing.
Virtual Tours & Skill Share
Stay tuned for future events, including virtual tours and skill shares!
YPT-NYC 