Author: yptnyc

Discovery Attorney, Litigation Analyst and Bar Committee Member

1. What is your favorite YPT-NYC memory?  

My first Transportation Camp. The exchange of ideas, and refreshing format, really gave me a different taste of things than what I get in the legal community.
 
2. If you could snap your fingers and make one change to regional transportation, what would it be?

The RPA’s Fourth Regional Plan’s T-Rex (Trans-Regional Express) Regional Rail. This would revolutionize not just suburban and regional commuting, but also transportation in the outer boroughs.

3. What sparked your passion to work in the transportation industry?  

I’ve been fascinated with cars, trucks, trains, and planes since I was a child!  As an adult, I’ve always found ways to be involved in my community. While some matters that I’ve worked on involve transportation, most don’t, although this is something I hope to change sooner than later. So when a colleague suggested that I look for a committee at the NYC Bar Association, I applied and got accepted!

4. What are you working on that you’re most excited by? 

Getting involved with and learning more about Weigh in Motion and freight movement around NYC. We too often forget how important this issue is and how little improvements, such as the Off Hours Delivery Program and Weigh-in-Motion can make business more efficient, preserve our infrastructure, reduce traffic, raise our revenue, and reduce emissions. 

5. What career advice would you give to other YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Find ways to get involved civically.  Join a committee or two to lend your expertise and knowledge to help make an even greater impact!

6. What famous celebrity do you think should be given the opportunity to voice a NYCT Subway Announcement?

We don’t have to look too far.  How about Irv Gikofsky aka Mr. G the weatherman? [Ed. Good choice. Real New Yorkers know.]

Sophie Maerowitz (she/her)

Project Manager, Bicycles Unit, NYC Department of Transportation

For the better half of a decade, Sophie Maerowitz has advocated for better cycling, pedestrian, and bus infrastructure in New York City, having served on Transportation Alternatives’ Manhattan Activist Committee and on Manhattan Community Board 3’s Transportation Committee as a public member. Notable advocacy milestones have included the Chrystie Street two-way protected bike lane and the 14th Street Busway in Manhattan and City Council legislation mandating Open Streets permanence. 

In 2020, Sophie co-launched the Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition, a volunteer group managing the operations and programming of Avenue B’s Open Street in Manhattan. 

Sophie graduated from CUNY Baruch College’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs with a Masters of Public Administration in Fall 2021 and in April 2021 started as a Project Manager at the New York City Department of Transportation’s Bicycles Unit. A lifelong New Yorker, she holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

1. What is your favorite YPT-NYC memory?  

I attended a networking event as part of a larger multi-day conference and didn’t know anybody there, but swallowed my nerves,  walked over to a table of YPT members, and soon we were merrily talking bus infrastructure. It stuck with me that the group made an effort to make me feel included even though I come from the advocacy world rather than a traditional planning background.

 
2. If you could snap your fingers and make one change to regional transportation, what would it be?

Fewer and smaller cars in the roadway—prioritizing space for pedestrians, buses and bikes over less equitable street uses like free curbside parking for private vehicles. 

3. What sparked your passion to work in the transportation industry?  

I started biking to work about 10 years ago and it woke me up to the unconscionable way we treat our most vulnerable road users. I became thoroughly invested in trying to promote safer, carbon-free, and carbon-light ways of getting around cities. 

While I’m by no means a hardcore cyclist—I’ve never completed a century ride, and can’t change a tire for my life—I firmly believe the best way to experience cities is by bike. Case in point: A close friend threw her bachelorette party in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and I insisted we all try out their bikeshare system while we visited. Turned out it was the easiest and most fun way to hop between parade routes! I later noticed she added an e-bike to her wedding registry….Coincidence? I think not!

4. What are you working on that you’re most excited by? 

As a new recruit, I’ve been running support on some bike network expansions and improvements in the Bronx and Brooklyn, as well as on our new Bike the Block program which brings learn-to-ride and bike repairs to neighborhoods that have long been underserved by bike infrastructure. It’s awesome to see a new generation embrace active transportation!

5. What career advice would you give to other YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Active transportation happens in the open air and is therefore social by nature. There are ample opportunities to meet like-minded people on group bike rides, Open Streets events and through volunteering and organizing at advocacy organizations like Transportation Alternatives, Open Plans, Riders Alliance, and Families for Safe Streets. And Twitter has been a great place to meet planners, nonprofit pros, and advocates. Simply by using #bikenyc #OpenStreets hashtags, you can build out a great network of locals with their ears and eyes on the transportation beat.

6. What famous celebrity do you think should be given the opportunity to voice a NYCT Subway Announcement?

I’ll level with you, I’m still kind of annoyed at Natasha Lyonne for her anti-bike lane comments a few years ago, but the newest season of Russian Doll is a love letter to the subway at a time it could really use a boost, so her iconic rasp would be a win in my book.

Priyanshu Sharma

Urban Planner & Designer at Equitable Cities

Priyanshu is an urban planner and designer at Equitable Cities who specializes in transportation planning, design, data analysis, and visualization. He holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Planning from CEPT University, India. His work and research primarily focus on transportation planning and design, land use, spatial analysis, and data analysis and visualization. Moreover, his academic and professional experience in the planning profession has also inculcated the art value of good communication, which is not limited to maps, visuals, and interactive platforms, but also persuasive and engaging storytelling for our communities.

1. What is your favorite YPT-NYC memory?  

It was fascinating how I joined this group. I had an opportunity to speak with some New York-based transportation professionals during one of the career workshops. After that session, I contacted that person on LinkedIn to ask more questions about transportation planning opportunities. And they recommended that I join this group, and I’ve been a member of the YPT-NYC group for a year now. I am always on the lookout for new opportunities and events within the group. And it was really helpful. It’s wonderful to be a part of this and to be able to share and learn from the other group members. I’m excited to meet some of them in person.

 
2. If you could snap your fingers and make one change to regional transportation, what would it be?

When it comes to planning, there are many things I’d like to change, but having last-mile connectivity would be interesting if I had to specify changes for regional transportation. Create active transportation or bike-share programs that connect our neighborhoods to major transit stations, for example. I believe that the way we plan our cities, particularly in suburban areas (which encompasses the majority of America), has made us overly reliant on automobiles, and that small changes can make a significant difference. Cities and communities will benefit from differences not only in terms of connectivity, but also in terms of economy, environment, and improving public health.

3. What sparked your passion to work in the transportation industry?  

People spend an ample amount of time of their day on the streets or commuting through various modes to reach their destinations. It is intriguing for me while commuting to observe people and see how people respond to their surroundings.After my undergraduate degree in planning, I spent considerable time living in two metro cities i.e. Mumbai and Bangalore for work. On one of the monsoon days, while heading back home, as I was getting down to my metro station suddenly it started pouring heavily and everyone was rushing towards finding a safe place and tried gathering under a cantilever. Some held their bags on their head to try to escape the rain. I was amazed when I saw that chaos. That day I realized the role of urban professionals in planning and designing cities beyond just the provision of infrastructure to create livable environments where people can stop, pause and play instead of just treating them as spaces they need to pass by to reach their destinations.These encounters reasonably entrenched my interest in planning and design, especially in transport and urban design where I, as an urban planner and designer, can create a better urban environment by working on the most used public spaces and transit systems.

4. What are you working on that you’re most excited by? 

I don’t know where to begin, but I suppose being a young professional in this fraternity, I got an opportunity to work in a diverse sector and with some really amazing people. To start with now, a lot of my work focuses on transportation equity, planning, and research which is exciting. Previously, I had an opportunity to work with the NYC Ferry team where I was responsible for developing a framework for the database system to facilitate the operation and maintenance of the waterfront development and ferry projects. Before that, I provided technical assistance in the implementation of a micro-mobility project for the City of Newark. So, these two work experiences were really fulfilling because I was involved in the planning throughout the project. But prior to that, I had two years of work experience in the field of planning, design, and research in India, where I worked in different capacities with social entrepreneurs, planning organizations, and research institutions.

5. What career advice would you give to other YPT’ers interested in your career path?

I would definitely say build your technical skills, as it will be helpful to brand yourself while giving interviews or working with the team. Don’t limit yourself to your area of interest, especially during the initial years of your career. Find out what opportunities you think are right for you, learn new things, and broaden your skills and knowledge. It will boost your network and help you to identify your area of interest because in the real world things are very different from the academic world.

6. What famous celebrity do you think should be given the opportunity to voice a NYCT Subway Announcement?

It would be amazing to hear the announcement in Abel Makkonen Tesfaye’s Voice aka “The Weeknd” or Alicia Keys since her work is strongly associated with New York.

Eric Rago

Director, Location Partnerships & Strategy at Getaround

“I currently work for Getaround, a leading car-sharing company that operates in over 950 cities worldwide. I lead our public partnerships, private partnerships, strategy, and operations teams. These teams are focused on creating partnerships to grow carshare from a single hotel to entire cities. Prior to joining Getaround, I was one of the first employees for ParkWhiz, a platform that makes it easy to find, book, and pay for parking, where I helped scale the company nationally and launched the NYC market.”

1. What is your favorite YPT-NYC memory?  

I really enjoy all the great panels where we can learn from thought leaders in transportation. I am looking forward to meeting more of the YPT-NYC community in person.  

 
2. If you could snap your fingers and make one change to regional transportation, what would it be?

Increase the utilization of curb space by reserving more for Open Streets, restaurants, loading zones, and shared mobility like carshare, bikeshare, and micromobilty.   

3. What sparked your passion to work in the transportation industry?  

At a young age, I struggled to understand why traffic and congestion couldn’t be solved. This led me to join a startup to help reduce congestion by directing cars to off-street parking. From there I was hooked, now I collect subway cards and look at parking garages wherever I travel. 

4. What are you working on that you’re most excited by? 

Getaround’s vision is to make cities and communities better places to live, which means bringing affordable transportation options to NYC and other cities. Transportation is the second-highest cost for households. Increasing shared mobility in areas that have few accessible transportation options means a more equitable transportation network. I’m proud that Getaround rates are significantly less than other carshare providers and can help extend the reach of fixed-route transit. 

5. What career advice would you give to other YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Find an organization that you are passionate about and find a way to get your foot in the door. Do not focus on the initial title or role, instead put yourself in a position to prove your value and the rest will work itself out. If you’re passionate about reducing traffic and bringing mobility options to cities, our team is growing!

6. What famous celebrity do you think should be given the opportunity to voice a NYCT Subway Announcement?

Mars Blackmon, AKA Spike Lee with a cameo from Michael Jordan. [Ed. This would be sick.]

Axel Hellman

Co-Founder and Special Vice President of Lines at Rally OurBus

A co-founder and I started OurBus, one of the leading brands for intercity bus service in the Northeast. We are a tech and marketing platform and do not actually own any buses—they are contracted out. We recently merged with Rally, another tech platform for bus trips, to become Rally OurBus. I went to college in California (USC) but have been in the NYC area since. If you need a ticket to Boston, Washington, or anywhere else in the region let me know!

1. What is your favorite YPT-NYC memory?  

I’ve enjoyed the happy hours in 2021 more than before. After the first couple of lockdowns, this type of human contact was really something I appreciated!

 
2. If you could snap your fingers and make one change to regional transportation, what would it be?

I’ve become so jaded at the slow pace of progress that it’s hard to think about this! This answer is self-interested, but I would restore the Decamp commuter bus to Port Authority that used to stop on my corner. It has been suspended for 2 years now. I live in the suburbs but before COVID, in the right conditions, I could take that bus and get home in 40 minutes. 

3. What sparked your passion to work in the transportation industry?  

I was always interested in transportation, but what opened my eyes was doing a summer internship at NJ Transit in the Bus Service Planning department.  It taught me a lot that I still use on a day-to-day basis at Rally OurBus.

4. What are you working on that you’re most excited by? 

We have a microtransit pilot in-house called OurBus Door to Door.

5. What career advice would you give to other YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Choose a very specific, niche thing that no one else is recognized as an expert in. If you focus on it, it is very easy to become the world’s greatest expert in that one tiny area
 
6. What famous celebrity do you think should be given the opportunity to voice a NYCT Subway Announcement?

Bernie Sanders. His classic Brooklyn accent would be perfect for this.