Hey, do you know where your favorite futuristic ice cream dipping Dots
Speaker:is headquartered here in the U.S.
Speaker:That's right, Paducah, Kentucky, and today on Transit Unplugged.
Speaker:We're heading there to talk with one of Transit's Rising Stars.
Speaker:I'm your host, Paul Comfort, and I'm joined today by Jeremy Bumpus,
Speaker:executive director of the Paducah Area Transit System, or Pats, as
Speaker:it is known, in just three years in the transit industry and only two.
Speaker:As executive director, Jeremy is already leading a transformation
Speaker:from a ride hail only rural system.
Speaker:To moving toward launching more than 200 fixed route bus stops.
Speaker:Pats is redefining what mobility looks like for a growing small urban region.
Speaker:We'll explore how Jeremy and his team are preparing for big events like the
Speaker:American Quilter Society Quilt Week, and what it means to scale up service
Speaker:in a close knit community, and how innovation and energy are driving
Speaker:the future of transit in Paducah.
Speaker:Hey, if you like what you hear today, don't forget to follow U.S. on your
Speaker:favorite platform and leave U.S. a review.
Speaker:It helps more people discover the voices of tomorrow's transit
Speaker:leaders like Jeremy Bumps.
Paul Comfort:Great to have Jeremy Bumpus with me today.
Paul Comfort:He's the executive director of Paducah Transit Authority, and
Paul Comfort:I guess you're calling in from your office in Paducah, Kentucky.
Paul Comfort:Huh?
Jeremi Bumpus:I am, I am straight from the office.
Paul Comfort:That's great, man.
Paul Comfort:Well, good to see you again.
Paul Comfort:Uh, Jeremy and I were just together at the TripSpark Ignite
Paul Comfort:Conference, , a week or two ago.
Paul Comfort:And, um, we connected up and he's got such a great operation, a great story.
Paul Comfort:I wanted to get him on the podcast.
Paul Comfort:Um, so, uh, tell U.S. some about your service.
Paul Comfort:Some Jeremy, where you guys are at, like geographically for people can position.
Paul Comfort:Where Paducah is.
Paul Comfort:Everybody's heard of Paducah, Kentucky, but I don't know if
Paul Comfort:people know exactly where it's at.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So Paducah, Kentucky, we're located in Kentucky, but we're in
Jeremi Bumpus:the far western part of Kentucky.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we are right on the border of Illinois.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, it's about five minutes north of U.S. and about 30 minutes
Jeremi Bumpus:West is the border of Missouri.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're tucked off in the far western part of Kentucky.
Paul Comfort:And about how big is Paducah population wise?
Jeremi Bumpus:I always like to say, if you look it up on Google, it'll
Jeremi Bumpus:say Paducah's about 27,000 people.
Jeremi Bumpus:However, that's just within the city limits.
Jeremi Bumpus:The actual city of Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:, we're in . McCracken County, Kentucky.
Jeremi Bumpus:The only city in McCracken County, Kentucky is Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:And that consists of about 67,000 people.
Jeremi Bumpus:But you have county versus city, but it's all Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're, we're a community of about 67,000 people.
Paul Comfort:That's great, man.
Paul Comfort:So tell me some about your service.
Paul Comfort:, Jeremi Bumpus: Paducah Transit Authority, you know, we operate at, we do business
Paul Comfort:as Paducah area, transit system.
Paul Comfort:Um, 'cause we serve four counties in Western Kentucky.
Paul Comfort:Um, we have two modes of transit, transportation, we do
Paul Comfort:fixed route and paratransit.
Paul Comfort:Of course, you know, those in the transit world, we call it demand and response.
Paul Comfort:But for those outside the transit world, I always like to
Paul Comfort:say scheduled transportation.
Paul Comfort:That seems to.
Paul Comfort:Be a little bit, seems to be a little bit better to understand.
Paul Comfort:Uh, yeah.
Paul Comfort:So those are our two modes.
Paul Comfort:Uh, and again, we are the largest public transportation
Paul Comfort:provider in western Kentucky.
Paul Comfort:Very
Paul Comfort:good.
Paul Comfort:So again, we cover four counties along with two other smaller
Paul Comfort:public transit agencies.
Paul Comfort:Gotcha.
Paul Comfort:And let's talk about your journey.
Paul Comfort:Uh, how'd you find your way into public transportation and what has it been
Paul Comfort:like leading Pats and now in your second year as executive director?
Jeremi Bumpus:Wow.
Jeremi Bumpus:Good question.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, I. What I found in transit is, is most people, um, who are in transit
Jeremi Bumpus:never intended on being in transit.
Jeremi Bumpus:It kind of just happened.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, that's true, isn't it?
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:And for me, that's, that's what happened.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, I spent probably 10 years in higher education, , and my wife
Jeremi Bumpus:and I, we, you know, we spent some time in North Carolina.
Jeremi Bumpus:We lived in Tennessee.
Jeremi Bumpus:, we relocated to Kentucky in Paducah is her hometown.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, um, at the time I was working for a higher education
Jeremi Bumpus:institution here in Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:, and then Covid hit.
Jeremi Bumpus:Oh yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I just, you know, I had a lot of times on my hands, like most people, um,
Jeremi Bumpus:a lot of time to sit, think, and reflect.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, um, I, I was just at a point in life where I wanted to do something different.
Jeremi Bumpus:, and so I had known, uh, the previous director, I'd met
Jeremi Bumpus:him while I was in college.
Jeremi Bumpus:Uh, we reconnected when I moved, uh, to Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, you know, we hadn't spoken for years.
Jeremi Bumpus:Uh, but when I moved to Paducah, we reconnected and
Jeremi Bumpus:sure enough he was retiring.
Jeremi Bumpus:, and so essentially he had, was, was looking for someone
Jeremi Bumpus:to, um, take over for him.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so he asked me if I would be interested.
Jeremi Bumpus:, and again, I tell people this, uh, I wasn't guaranteed anything.
Jeremi Bumpus:He said, Hey, I'm gonna be retiring.
Jeremi Bumpus:We're looking for an assistant director and hopefully this person will take
Jeremi Bumpus:over once I retire in two years.
Jeremi Bumpus:, he said, you can apply and you know, we'll go from there.
Jeremi Bumpus:, I applied, I interviewed with the board of directors.
Jeremi Bumpus:. So I was hired as assistant director and that's how I began my, job.
Jeremi Bumpus:In, my first job in transit was as assistant director.
Paul Comfort:Okay.
Paul Comfort:And what did you do in that role?
Paul Comfort:What was your function?
Paul Comfort:, Jeremi Bumpus: we're a small transit agency, so what I found was the executive
Paul Comfort:director wore very, wore many hats.
Paul Comfort:he didn't just push papers.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:So I spent a year and a half as assistant director learning, , not only under
Paul Comfort:the current executive director, but I spent time with the operations manager.
Paul Comfort:I spent time with the accounting department, HR director, office
Paul Comfort:manager, um, our mechanics.
Paul Comfort:Pretty much learning all the ins and outs of transit and our services.
Paul Comfort:so I did everything that you can think of, that goes on in a transit agency.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:So I spent a year and a half that.
Paul Comfort:So coming from outside of the traditional transit world,
Paul Comfort:kinda what fresh perspectives do you think you brought into Pats and how
Paul Comfort:has that impacted the way your team approaches service and innovation?
Jeremi Bumpus:So I'm 37 years old.
Jeremi Bumpus:I came in, I was 35.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, and it's funny, the younger kids think I'm old, but everyone here
Jeremi Bumpus:thinks I'm super, I'm very young.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um.
Jeremi Bumpus:Our average age here at the agency is 54, so I came as the young guy.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yep.
Jeremi Bumpus:And a millennial.
Jeremi Bumpus:So essentially when I walk into, when I walk into the building, my generation
Jeremi Bumpus:we're really big on technology and using technology to make life easier.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, I do that in my personal life.
Jeremi Bumpus:So that was one of the things that I noticed here, , at our agency.
Jeremi Bumpus:. We needed updated technology and we needed to update some of our
Jeremi Bumpus:practices and things that we did just to make things more efficient.
Jeremi Bumpus:, what I found is that, , people and agencies and, and businesses,
Jeremi Bumpus:sometimes they just, they're, they're.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's used to the norm.
Jeremi Bumpus:Things have been away for so many years, so many decades.
Jeremi Bumpus:And hey, if it's not, if, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Jeremi Bumpus:, I don't necessarily look at things that way.
Jeremi Bumpus:I'm always looking at, Hey, how can we improve this and how can we use the
Jeremi Bumpus:technology that's available to U.S.
Jeremi Bumpus:to improve our services and things of that nature.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, um, that's the perspective that I brought in.
Jeremi Bumpus:I think it was essentially my age, , and my experiences with technology and just
Jeremi Bumpus:kind of the way that I live my life.
Jeremi Bumpus:. That helped me come in and kind of just see things and say, Hey, maybe
Jeremi Bumpus:we could do this differently, or we can add this, or, change this
Jeremi Bumpus:to make things a little efficient.
Jeremi Bumpus:. Paul Comfort: You know, I had the same experience when I started Jeremy.
Jeremi Bumpus:I was a little bit younger than you.
Jeremi Bumpus:I was 22 when I started, and I was in a county about the size
Jeremi Bumpus:of yours, and I was the county's first transportation director.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, uh, I was just over there today meeting with him 'cause we're
Jeremi Bumpus:gonna be filming an episode of our TV show coming up soon there.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, but I remember everybody that worked for me could have been
Jeremi Bumpus:my parents or my grandparents.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so it's a big deal when you come in like that, isn't it?
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:It is.
Jeremi Bumpus:It is.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, and it's funny, um, I, I, I thought there would be some
Jeremi Bumpus:resistance to that when I came in.
Jeremi Bumpus:because again, when you get sometimes, and I've, I've worked in other places
Jeremi Bumpus:where you come in as the young guy and the people that you're working with are old
Jeremi Bumpus:enough to be your parents or grandparents.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, you know, I've had resistance in the past, but coming here,
Jeremi Bumpus:I experienced none of that.
Jeremi Bumpus:Everyone.
Jeremi Bumpus:Oh, that's great, man.
Jeremi Bumpus:Very welcoming with open arms.
Jeremi Bumpus:Now some of the changes that were made, you know, everyone wasn't officially,
Jeremi Bumpus:but you know, everyone working with was open in arms and I think some of them
Jeremi Bumpus:really looked forward to some change and, hey, yeah, we're kind of looking
Jeremi Bumpus:for a fresh start and, and new ideas.
Jeremi Bumpus:And the new and the current executive director at the time have, was still
Jeremi Bumpus:have a very, very good relationship with him, have a lot of respect for him.
Jeremi Bumpus:He knew that and he would say it publicly.
Jeremi Bumpus:He would say, Hey.
Jeremi Bumpus:He would introduce me, he'd say, Hey, this is Jeremy.
Jeremi Bumpus:This is the assistant director.
Jeremi Bumpus:He's the new young guy coming in with the new ideas, and I'm just gonna
Jeremi Bumpus:turn it over to him and let him run.
Jeremi Bumpus:Oh, that's nice.
Jeremi Bumpus:Uh, and I really appreciate him.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:No, he would joke and say, no, you can't do this until I retire.
Jeremi Bumpus:But, uh, you know, he, he knew that I was gonna come in and change some
Jeremi Bumpus:things and, um, he was all for it.
Jeremi Bumpus:He was very supportive.
Paul Comfort:What's the structure
Paul Comfort:there?
Paul Comfort:So you're a transit authority.
Paul Comfort:Do you report to like a board of directors that are appointed or
Paul Comfort:work for the county government.
Paul Comfort:City government.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So the structure we're, we're a quasi-government agency.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, so essentially, um, the Kentucky Revised statutes allow municipalities
Jeremi Bumpus:to create a transit authority.
Jeremi Bumpus:so we're not owned or operated by the city or county government.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:County government.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's our board that governs and directs U.S. but that's the
Jeremi Bumpus:only tie we have to the city.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're our own independent agency.
Jeremi Bumpus:That has a governing body, that's chosen by the city.
Jeremi Bumpus:so a lot of people here in this community, um, who are unfamiliar
Jeremi Bumpus:with pets, they always say, Hey, well I'm gonna call the city.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I'm like, well, uh, I communicate with luck.
Jeremi Bumpus:With luck, right.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I'm like, we're our own standalone agency.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, we, we work very closely with the city, but um, our board is where it stops.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, um, that's.
Jeremi Bumpus:Kind of our structure.
Jeremi Bumpus:And then of course we report to FTA and, um, our Kentucky Transportation
Jeremi Bumpus:cabinet, which is our state transportation agency that, um, provides U.S.
Jeremi Bumpus:funding.
Jeremi Bumpus:So.
Jeremi Bumpus:Gotcha.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:where do, where do you get your funding from?
Paul Comfort:Is it a combination?
Paul Comfort:Who provides the most and all that stuff?
Jeremi Bumpus:Well, uh, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which is
Jeremi Bumpus:the Office of Transportation and Delivery, um, they provide all of our
Jeremi Bumpus:funding, but we are going through a transition period, which is interesting.
Jeremi Bumpus:okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:We are transitioning from rural to small urban, so we'll be receiving
Jeremi Bumpus:funding directly from FTA and from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which
Jeremi Bumpus:makes for some interesting, Yeah, so essentially two pots of two pots of
Jeremi Bumpus:money, which is always, which is great.
Jeremi Bumpus:But, um, you know, we're not done with the process to become
Jeremi Bumpus:a direct recipient from FTA yet.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, hopefully we'll be done, done with that this summer, but, uh, it's
Jeremi Bumpus:been a kind of a learning curve.
Jeremi Bumpus:Uh,
Paul Comfort:so explain that process a little bit.
Paul Comfort:It's an interesting time, uh, to, to switch from, uh, a rural to a small urban.
Paul Comfort:Is it because the last census you had more people?
Paul Comfort:Then explain how all that works if you, if you don't mind.
Paul Comfort:Yep.
Jeremi Bumpus:So the 2020 census data came out and our urbanized area growth.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, it, so we surpassed 50,000 people, which I believe put U.S.
Jeremi Bumpus:into the small urban category.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um.
Jeremi Bumpus:A portion of that is in Illinois.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Which is right across the river from U.S. So, um, you know, that triggered
Jeremi Bumpus:a bunch of different things and it started receiving communication from FTA.
Jeremi Bumpus:and we started this process a year, probably a year and a half ago.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, getting everything set up and I didn't realize it.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:I didn't realize it, it, it's, it's a lot, it's a lot of work.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:and, but will you end up with more money at the end?
Jeremi Bumpus:That's still kind of undetermined.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Because apparently we after, and you know I'm gonna speak in our transit language.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, fiscal.
Jeremi Bumpus:Which the feds, you know, is Sept October one to September 30th.
Jeremi Bumpus:Right.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, that's when the FTA dollars became available to U.S. We still have yet
Jeremi Bumpus:to access those because we haven't gone through the entire process yet.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:So essentially we have two years coming up on three years of money
Jeremi Bumpus:that we can access from FTA.
Jeremi Bumpus:But we're still being fully funded by the state of Kentucky.
Jeremi Bumpus:Once we're able to access that money, the state of Kentucky is going to
Jeremi Bumpus:reduce the amount of funding, but that hasn't been determined yet.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay, I gotcha.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're still kind of in limbo.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, until hopefully,
Paul Comfort:you know, this summer when we, we get an answer.
Paul Comfort:And what part of what FTA region are you a part of?
Paul Comfort:Four.
Paul Comfort:Four, okay.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:Region four.
Paul Comfort:Um, and, and I, I understand that's very interesting.
Paul Comfort:Thank you for sharing that.
Paul Comfort:I think, uh, I don't think we've ever had a conversation about that before
Paul Comfort:on the show, so that's, it's good.
Paul Comfort:A little bit of education for people, how that works.
Paul Comfort:Your, yeah.
Paul Comfort:When your census, uh, of your urban, what do they call that?
Paul Comfort:Your consolidated metropolitan area?
Paul Comfort:Statistical or something?
Paul Comfort:Statistical area, when it grows above a certain amount, 50,000 and then
Paul Comfort:200,000 I think is the next one.
Paul Comfort:Right.
Paul Comfort:You, uh, end up in a different category and the funding, you get the
Paul Comfort:formula funding, which comes through the federal government changes.
Paul Comfort:Mm-hmm.
Paul Comfort:It's a, it's actually a good primer for people as we think about reauthorization.
Paul Comfort:So the federal government has their, uh, every five or six years they
Paul Comfort:put out a reauthorization act.
Paul Comfort:Uh, the last one was, you know, colloquially called the
Paul Comfort:Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Paul Comfort:And inside of that was our reauthorization and funding went up dramatically for most
Paul Comfort:of the categories, 40% in some categories.
Paul Comfort:We were just in Washington recently talking with the House Transportation
Paul Comfort:Infrastructure Committee and they were talking about that.
Paul Comfort:Now they've started the reauthorization process again for the next version,
Paul Comfort:which will kick in at the end of 2026.
Paul Comfort:So the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee, their
Paul Comfort:highways and transportation subcommittee is working on that.
Paul Comfort:So it's all part of, um, the formula funds that come out of Washington.
Paul Comfort:And it's very important, isn't it, for systems like yours, right.
Paul Comfort:For smaller systems, they rely on a lot of those funds.
Paul Comfort:I.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, absolutely.
Jeremi Bumpus:Absolutely.
Jeremi Bumpus:I mean, without those funds, obviously we wouldn't be able to operate.
Jeremi Bumpus:And then of course, you know, just with limited resources, we don't, we
Jeremi Bumpus:don't receive, uh, any other funding.
Jeremi Bumpus:We receive a little bit of funding from our, uh, city of Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:and as, and we're, we're super grateful for that, those funds.
Jeremi Bumpus:But you know, it's just enough.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's not even enough.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's not enough to cover the fuel.
Jeremi Bumpus:Right.
Jeremi Bumpus:I gotcha.
Jeremi Bumpus:Right.
Jeremi Bumpus:And outside of that, we don't, we don't have enough to, you
Jeremi Bumpus:know, run our operations or sustain what we have going on.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, we're heavily reliant on that funding.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I'm, I'm hoping you know, the way things look, we'll, we'll be okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:But I'm, I'm hoping that this process is, is done sooner rather than later.
Paul Comfort:How many employees
Jeremi Bumpus:do you have there?
Paul Comfort:I.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're about 45 employees.
Paul Comfort:Okay, very
Jeremi Bumpus:good.
Jeremi Bumpus:45 employees.
Jeremi Bumpus:So yeah, we're in, and it's funny as a, when I travel, you
Jeremi Bumpus:know, to some that's large and to some, you know, it's minuscule.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, I still feel, extremely small and I still feel understaffed.
Jeremi Bumpus:so I, I'm sure you know, a lot of other transit agents feel the exact same way.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:What's your total annual
Jeremi Bumpus:budget?
Jeremi Bumpus:So
Paul Comfort:about
Jeremi Bumpus:$4 million.
Paul Comfort:Okay.
Paul Comfort:Very good.
Paul Comfort:Yep.
Paul Comfort:That's great.
Paul Comfort:About 4 million.
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Paul Comfort:So you've also been working on improving your fixed route system.
Paul Comfort:Right?
Paul Comfort:Can you walk U.S. through what that, uh, what that's happening there and
Paul Comfort:what that'll mean for riders in Paducah?
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So when I came to Pat's, as we refer to it, I did not realize that our fixed
Jeremi Bumpus:route system did not have bus stops.
Jeremi Bumpus:And up until last week at Ignite, I met another transit agency in South
Jeremi Bumpus:Dakota that has a similar fixed route.
Jeremi Bumpus:they operate on a hail system just like we do.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so for anyone that doesn't know, a hail system is anywhere along the route.
Jeremi Bumpus:Someone can stand and hail down the bus or flag wave their hand, right?
Jeremi Bumpus:Nope.
Jeremi Bumpus:And just wave their hand.
Jeremi Bumpus:as long as it's in a safe area.
Jeremi Bumpus:Right, right.
Jeremi Bumpus:When I came on, I said, wow, this is crazy.
Jeremi Bumpus:I said, this is crazy.
Jeremi Bumpus:and I learned, um, over time, uh, for U.S. it, it caused a lot of issues.
Jeremi Bumpus:you know, it's, it's inefficient, it's dangerous.
Jeremi Bumpus:People who come into the community who weren't familiar with the system
Jeremi Bumpus:didn't know where to go because if you're coming from other cities,
Jeremi Bumpus:whether you know, small, large, or medium sized, they have bus stops.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so when you wanna access a fix route, you typically
Jeremi Bumpus:find where the bus stops are.
Jeremi Bumpus:Through some app or a map or something and you catch the bus
Jeremi Bumpus:to get you where you need to go.
Jeremi Bumpus:Well, that wasn't the case here in Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:so I decided, uh, once, you know, the previous director, uh, retired
Jeremi Bumpus:and I explained his plan to him.
Jeremi Bumpus:He's like, Hey, you got it.
Jeremi Bumpus:I want you to be successful.
Jeremi Bumpus:Do it.
Jeremi Bumpus:I said, Hey, we're gonna do it.
Jeremi Bumpus:We're gonna hit the ground running.
Jeremi Bumpus:So as a part of U.S. changing or transitioning to a 53 0 7.
Jeremi Bumpus:Which is, you know, the, the small urban, as you you're probably familiar,
Jeremi Bumpus:an MPO was formed a metropolitan planning organization in our area.
Jeremi Bumpus:And through that MPO, they received the MPO received, some additional funding
Jeremi Bumpus:and it was decided amongst that exec board that that funding can be used
Jeremi Bumpus:for U.S. to conduct a transit study.
Jeremi Bumpus:To study our fixed routes and essentially to make them more efficient.
Jeremi Bumpus:And this was kind of the, this is the first thing that needed to happen before.
Jeremi Bumpus:We put in the bus stops.
Jeremi Bumpus:So I worked with the, well I'm on the exec board, but essentially
Jeremi Bumpus:I asked for that funding.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, they allowed me to use it.
Jeremi Bumpus:We worked with a local consulting firm.
Jeremi Bumpus:Actually it's a national consulting firm that has an office here in Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, we started that transit study in December, I'm sorry,
Jeremi Bumpus:in September of last year.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, we've pretty much finished it up and we determined where those stops should be.
Jeremi Bumpus:. We're almost done.
Jeremi Bumpus:, I'm working with our local government here to get those, , bus
Jeremi Bumpus:stops made and, , implemented.
Jeremi Bumpus:But on the flip side, I also, and this again, this is where the technology
Jeremi Bumpus:piece comes in, I said, well, hey, we need some sort of technology or app
Jeremi Bumpus:that allows people to see the buses in real time and track the buses.
Jeremi Bumpus:We know this technology exists.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's all over the country.
Jeremi Bumpus:We don't have it here, and I'm gonna make that happen.
Jeremi Bumpus:So.
Jeremi Bumpus:That's where TripSpark came in and worked with the TripSpark, purchased the
Jeremi Bumpus:street software, and the My Ride app.
Jeremi Bumpus:And we're working through that now, and we're about 90% complete on that.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we're looking to launch the app, and the bus stop signs and all of that.
Jeremi Bumpus:I'm looking to launch that all by July one, so Oh, that's awesome, man.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's, it's gonna be a complete game changer for our community, so.
Paul Comfort:Do you know?
Paul Comfort:So you don't know how many bus stops you're gonna get yet 'cause
Paul Comfort:your study's not done right?
Jeremi Bumpus:Oh, well, the study's done.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:207, 207 bus stops.
Jeremi Bumpus:Really?
Jeremi Bumpus:Yes.
Jeremi Bumpus:From nothing to 200.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yes.
Jeremi Bumpus:From nothing to 200.
Jeremi Bumpus:So designated stops.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, again, it's gonna be a complete game changer for our city.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, in terms of, you know, economic development, you know, uh, the,
Jeremi Bumpus:the morale, the passengers, uh.
Jeremi Bumpus:You know, just the reputation that Pat's has, you know, uh, and it also cut down on
Jeremi Bumpus:calls that we receive here in the office.
Jeremi Bumpus:So our staff, that's just one less thing that they have to do.
Jeremi Bumpus:yeah, again, you kind of put some of the power back into
Jeremi Bumpus:the hands of the passengers.
Jeremi Bumpus:Hey, they can plan out their trips.
Jeremi Bumpus:They can set reminders on their phone to say, Hey, I catch this bus at this
Jeremi Bumpus:location every day to get to work.
Jeremi Bumpus:Now I don't necessarily need to call.
Jeremi Bumpus:I can just plan it and receive a text notification.
Jeremi Bumpus:When that bus is on its way, and I can ha I can set that to remind me every day when
Jeremi Bumpus:I need to catch this bus at this location.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So again, it's, it's a game changer for U.S. and I'm, I'm excited.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, that's
Paul Comfort:wonderful because people then know where to be at what time the
Paul Comfort:bus will definitely be there, right?
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:Right.
Paul Comfort:That's great, man.
Paul Comfort:switching, uh, switching topics slightly here.
Paul Comfort:Uh, Paducah has a unique cultural identity.
Paul Comfort:When people think about Paducah, Kentucky, I mean, it's in my mind.
Paul Comfort:What, what, what are you known for?
Jeremi Bumpus:Two things.
Jeremi Bumpus:of course you've heard of Dipping Dots,
Paul Comfort:correct?
Paul Comfort:Yes.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yes.
Jeremi Bumpus:Did you know that they're headquartered here in Paducah?
Paul Comfort:Dipping Dots Ice cream is headquartered in Paducah.
Paul Comfort:No, I did not know that.
Paul Comfort:Wow.
Paul Comfort:Yes.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yep.
Jeremi Bumpus:So that's one, which is a co fact.
Jeremi Bumpus:actually, I told someone there at Ignite, there was a dipping Dots
Jeremi Bumpus:stand there and I said, Hey, you know, that's headquarters where I live.
Jeremi Bumpus:Idea.
Jeremi Bumpus:And also the National Quilt Museum is located in Paducah.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so every year the American Quilter Society holds an annual quilt week,
Jeremi Bumpus:and you have thousands of people that travel from all over the country that
Jeremi Bumpus:are really into quilting and the history of it and all these different things.
Jeremi Bumpus:they travel here to Paducah and it's, it's great for our economy.
Jeremi Bumpus:influx of money and tourism, um, goes up and it's something that
Jeremi Bumpus:we all look forward to this year.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, uh, we play a really vital role in that.
Jeremi Bumpus:our role has kind of transitioned and changed over the years, again,
Jeremi Bumpus:that's, that's one of the things we're known for is quilt week.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, dipping ducks.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Paul Comfort:Quilt.
Paul Comfort:So what do you, yeah, that's great.
Paul Comfort:What does your service actually, do?
Paul Comfort:You say you play an important role.
Paul Comfort:Tell U.S. about it.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:So at one point we provided all transportation for quilt week.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:So we would run our fixed routes and we would run additional vehicles to transport
Jeremi Bumpus:all of the quilters is what we call them.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, all over the city and over time.
Jeremi Bumpus:There were some, and this was, this was before my time, but there
Jeremi Bumpus:were some, uh, things that came up.
Jeremi Bumpus:And essentially we had to reduce our service.
Jeremi Bumpus:So now what we're doing is we have a couple of trolleys that we run.
Jeremi Bumpus:We start that halfway through the week and we run it through the weekend and
Jeremi Bumpus:it's a complimentary trial, so no.
Jeremi Bumpus:So there's no cost associated with it.
Jeremi Bumpus:Uh, we work with our local visitors bureau and the convention center
Jeremi Bumpus:and the Quilt Museum, and our, we call them our Paducah ambassadors.
Jeremi Bumpus:We hold, they hold this meeting, we all work together and we
Jeremi Bumpus:coordinate this transportation.
Jeremi Bumpus:and again, it's, it's great for the community, it's great for U.S.
Jeremi Bumpus:and people just love to see that trolley.
Jeremi Bumpus:and those trolleys running around our city, knowing that, hey, when
Jeremi Bumpus:you see those trolleys at this time of year, you know, it's quilt week.
Jeremi Bumpus:So yeah.
Paul Comfort:That's awesome, man.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, it's
Paul Comfort:great.
Paul Comfort:So you, one of the cool things about, uh, that I have found about being in a
Paul Comfort:smaller agency is you get to wear a lot of hats most people in these jobs don't
Paul Comfort:complain about it because it's fun.
Paul Comfort:I mean, I've got a chapter in my upcoming book called, do Not
Paul Comfort:Despise The Day of Small Beginnings.
Paul Comfort:A great quote, you know, from the good book.
Paul Comfort:And, uh, I started out my career in a small transit system
Paul Comfort:and got to wear all the hats.
Paul Comfort:But you there, you do a lot, right?
Paul Comfort:You're the head of media and marketing for your own agency.
Paul Comfort:And, uh, as such, how do you, uh, spread the word about what's working for
Paul Comfort:you guys and how's it working so far?
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, so a couple things.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, when I started, there was no marketing, and we didn't have any media.
Jeremi Bumpus:The extent of our marketing and media was our local newspaper.
Jeremi Bumpus:Okay.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, which again, it, it kinda speaks to the generational differences.
Jeremi Bumpus:Between myself and the, the former director.
Jeremi Bumpus:I've come in, I've started the social media pages, which, you know,
Jeremi Bumpus:they're not as active as they were.
Jeremi Bumpus:when I was assistant director, I was a little more active with those.
Jeremi Bumpus:But as director, I've kind of tapered back a little bit, but,
Jeremi Bumpus:um, our social media pages, and then, uh, using the local media.
Jeremi Bumpus:So again, still using newspaper.
Jeremi Bumpus:'cause I understand we have a large population of our, uh, community
Jeremi Bumpus:that still reads a newspaper, um, using the local news station.
Jeremi Bumpus:then one of the key things that I've done is I've worked with
Jeremi Bumpus:TripSpark and Message Point Media.
Jeremi Bumpus:I've added a kiosk outside of our building, which again,
Jeremi Bumpus:for some agencies around the country, that's a complete norm.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's total game changer for U.S. because then we essentially have a 24 hour
Jeremi Bumpus:kiosk that is outside of our building that we can use for advertising,
Jeremi Bumpus:we can use for announcements, so we can use for things of that nature.
Jeremi Bumpus:Also, with U.S. using the app My Ride, we'll be able to put
Jeremi Bumpus:things out to all passengers using that via the, OR using the app.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um.
Jeremi Bumpus:That allows U.S. to market and reach a broader audience
Jeremi Bumpus:quicker, and it's cheaper.
Jeremi Bumpus:So, um, that's one of the things that I do.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I have a couple of people on my team, you know, that assist with that, but Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, again, director, we wear many hats.
Jeremi Bumpus:That's right, man.
Jeremi Bumpus:So when it comes to marketing, it's like, hey, I'm the, I'm the go-to.
Jeremi Bumpus:And, you know, I'm not above it.
Jeremi Bumpus:You know, things have to happen.
Jeremi Bumpus:We all, we all are busy, but you know, it's what I signed up for.
Jeremi Bumpus:It's a job.
Jeremi Bumpus:That's wonderful.
Paul Comfort:Well, when you're not leading Pats, I know you're into
Paul Comfort:fitness, I met you and your wife there in, in, uh, at the conference and at
Paul Comfort:the ball game, and you like to travel and spend times with loved ones.
Paul Comfort:How do those passions recharge you as a leader and do they
Paul Comfort:influence your approach to work?
Jeremi Bumpus:They do.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, the way that they recharge me as a leader is I'm really
Jeremi Bumpus:big into compartmentalization.
Jeremi Bumpus:I, I absolutely believe in work-life balance, and that
Jeremi Bumpus:doesn't look the same for everyone.
Jeremi Bumpus:So I always tell people, Hey, when I'm not working, I'm not working right.
Jeremi Bumpus:When I'm off, I'm off.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, now that doesn't mean I won't answer my phone.
Jeremi Bumpus:That doesn't mean I won't respond, but I love to enjoy time away from work.
Jeremi Bumpus:And so what that allows me to do is it allows me to decompress.
Jeremi Bumpus:And it allows me to think, get new fresh ideas, think how I'm gonna do
Jeremi Bumpus:this, what do I need to do tomorrow?
Jeremi Bumpus:It kind of just resets me.
Jeremi Bumpus:So if I go home and I'm able to work out, or I can just spend some
Jeremi Bumpus:time with my kids and I can just not necessarily think of work when I
Jeremi Bumpus:get back into the office, I'm fresh.
Paul Comfort:Yeah.
Jeremi Bumpus:And for me to, for me, that helps eliminate, or it, it helps keep, um.
Jeremi Bumpus:It helps keep me from feeling burnt out because when you're running 24 7 and it's
Jeremi Bumpus:just work, work, work, work, work, it's e it's really, really easy to get burnt out.
Jeremi Bumpus:Especially in transit in a small transit agency where you are wearing many hats.
Jeremi Bumpus:'cause there are gonna be days where you're frustrated.
Jeremi Bumpus:things are not gonna go your way.
Jeremi Bumpus:And you know, you know this where in transit it's never if something is going
Jeremi Bumpus:to happen, it's just when That's right.
Jeremi Bumpus:You know, that's a.
Jeremi Bumpus:Yeah, go ahead.
Jeremi Bumpus:Something's gonna happen.
Jeremi Bumpus:No, something's gonna happen.
Jeremi Bumpus:And that's right.
Jeremi Bumpus:You know, to, I, I never wanna allow myself to be jaded.
Jeremi Bumpus:So some, it's good to just step away, compartmentalize, and
Jeremi Bumpus:hey, if I'm in the gym and I'm working out, that's all I'm doing.
Jeremi Bumpus:If I'm playing with my kids, I'm playing with my kids.
Jeremi Bumpus:If my wife and I are on a date somewhere, we're on a date,
Jeremi Bumpus:I'm not thinking about work.
Jeremi Bumpus:Now.
Jeremi Bumpus:If they call me, if something work comes up, you know, I gotta take care of it.
Jeremi Bumpus:But I just compartmentalize.
Jeremi Bumpus:And I just, I, I, I, I like, I like my life.
Jeremi Bumpus:I like to live my life that way, so
Paul Comfort:very, very good.
Paul Comfort:And looking ahead, last question.
Paul Comfort:What's your vision for Pat?
Paul Comfort:Where, where do you think it'll be in two or three years
Paul Comfort:from now into your leadership?
Paul Comfort:I. Uh, two to
Jeremi Bumpus:three years from now.
Jeremi Bumpus:it's a good question.
Jeremi Bumpus:Where do I see pets?
Jeremi Bumpus:I see pets, um, just continuing to improve our services, looking at technology,
Jeremi Bumpus:how we can use it to improve our services, to make them more efficient.
Jeremi Bumpus:I will say this, one of the things that recently I've come
Jeremi Bumpus:across is some AI software.
Jeremi Bumpus:That will allow U.S. to monitor maintenance issues on our
Jeremi Bumpus:vehicles in real time and not necessarily wait for a breakdown.
Jeremi Bumpus:So as technology improves, it evolves.
Jeremi Bumpus:Those are the things that I'm always looking into, talking with
Jeremi Bumpus:my team about getting new ideas, um, and not just myself always.
Jeremi Bumpus:I have an open door policy and I communicate with my
Jeremi Bumpus:team and our employees daily.
Jeremi Bumpus:And when people have ideas or thoughts on something, I never
Jeremi Bumpus:shoot them down immediately.
Jeremi Bumpus:I always hear them out and, and people do it often.
Jeremi Bumpus:Hey Jeremy, what do you think about this?
Jeremi Bumpus:And I'm like, okay, yeah, that's a good idea.
Jeremi Bumpus:Or Hey, yeah, we can do that, but we need to find the money for it or the funding.
Jeremi Bumpus:I see Pats just continuing to move forward, improve our services, and,
Jeremi Bumpus:and trying to catch up to some of the other transit agencies in the country
Jeremi Bumpus:that, that have a little more resources.
Jeremi Bumpus:Um, you know, I don't want people to look at Pats and say, okay, well
Jeremi Bumpus:Pats is functioning like it's 2005.
Jeremi Bumpus:No.
Jeremi Bumpus:I want people to look at Pats and say, Hey, pats is functioning
Jeremi Bumpus:like the times we're in.
Jeremi Bumpus:They have the technology, they have the resources that they need to provide
Jeremi Bumpus:the best service that they can provide.
Paul Comfort:That's awesome, man.
Paul Comfort:Great vision.
Paul Comfort:I love it.
Paul Comfort:And this has been a great conversation, very informative for
Paul Comfort:people to see a mid-size, smaller, mid-size agency and how you operate.
Paul Comfort:Uh, when you get to your new fixed routes and you implement the
Paul Comfort:software seriously, send me another note and gimme an update on it.
Paul Comfort:We'll, we'll let folks know how it's going.
Jeremi Bumpus:Oh yeah, for sure.
Jeremi Bumpus:Absolutely.
Jeremi Bumpus:Absolutely.
Paul Comfort:Thank you Jeremy Bump U.S. for being our guest today.
Paul Comfort:Best wishes as you continue to lead Paducah Transit authorities
Paul Comfort:or executive director.
Paul Comfort:It was great meeting you and we, I hope to see you again sometime
Paul Comfort:at another TripSpark conference.
Julie Gates:Thank you for listening to this week's episode
Julie Gates:of the Transit Unplugged Podcast.
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