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FROM THE FIELD Transforming Transport AFTER HE GRADUATED from the Kennedy School, Jay Walder MPP 1983 began his career in transportation at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City. At the time, he says, the subway system was “an international symbol of decay,” overrun with graffiti and burdened by malfunctioning trains. He stood on the subway platform one day when a gleaming new stainless steel train pulled into the station. The commuters were shocked. This was not the New York subway system they knew, and that was a very good thing. "There’s something hugely powerful,” says Walder, “about actually seeing change made.” After 12 years with the MTA and a return to the Kennedy School as a lecturer in public policy, Walder took that lesson with him overseas. In 2001, he began as managing director of finance and planning for Transport for London (TfL), which oversees all public transport and roadways in Europe’s most populous city. And as he had experienced nearly 20 years before, when New York rebuilt its subway system, Walder faced a system in flux. In London, that meant a transport system that “had been effectively abused over decades,” Walder says, as well as a newly created umbrella agency that united sometimes feuding factions within the transportation system. “The status quo was clearly unacceptable,” he says. “There was a need to demonstrate real change and real improvement in a very short period of time.” That challenge ultimately motivated him to move with his wife and three children from the Boston area to London, where he worked with the then new mayor, Ken Livingstone. He left the job earlier this year, but remains in the city, working as a partner for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. "What he did there was nothing short of amazing,” says David Luberoff MPA 1989, In the most dramatic change during his tenure at TfL, Walder helped implement a new congestion pricing system, which, for the first time in a major Western city, charges motorists who drive into the central city during weekdays. He had seen the potential of congestion pricing when he served as a visiting professor at the National University in Singapore, one of the few places that uses the plan. Though some in the business community supported the measure, Walder acknowledges that many others were dubious. “The scheme will be condemned as a failure within days, In fact, says Walder, the system has worked, reducing congestion in the city and making Another innovation launched during his tenure involved a new ticketing system called the Oyster card, which allows travelers to pay for their transport electronically. The change frees workers from the ticket-taking process and allows them to put their energy into passenger services, Walder says. That led to more efficiency, something that became Walder’s focus on the job. Livingstone credited him with saving £1.26 billion, which went into improved services. He did it through measures to “rationalize the organization” that had once comprised 15 different parts, including establishing a common procurement and computer system. "The key to the vision was trying to establish something which we referred to as ‘One TfL,’” says Walder. “It was a recognition that TfL was an integrated transport authority, that there was one set of customers out there for one organization.” It was the idea of serving those customers that drew him to the world of transportation. He went to the Kennedy School because of his interest in public service (and came back to recruit like-minded students to work for TfL). He is currently a member of the Taubman Center’s Advisory Board. When he started his career at the MTA, he soon discovered how much transportation affects people’s lives. "In many cases, transportation defines the start of their day or how their day will go,” he says. “It also has enormous importance in terms of the ability of modern urban centers to grow, to thrive, to be sustainable in ways we’re still learning about.” During his tenure, two events demonstrated the importance of transportation. One made for his worst day on the job, the other, perhaps the best. On July 7, 2005, terrorists detonated bombs on London subways trains and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds. Walder remembers the horror of the day but also the response of the transportation workers, who walked into the tunnels to try to help people, not knowing if another bomb would go off. He commends their courage and also that of all Londoners, who showed their resolve by returning to public transportation in the same numbers almost immediately after the attacks. "I think London actually grew and became stronger,” says Walder. “It did amazing things in the aftermath of 7/7.” He also remembers a day of triumph, when Londoners heard the announcement that their city would host the 2012 Olympic Games. Of course, most people think about the need to have adequate sporting facilities to host such an event. But equally important, Walder worked with Olympic officials to ensure that London would have a suitable transport plan in place for the Games. The transport system eventually became a strength of London’s When the Olympics arrive, most people probably won’t notice the impact of transportation amid the pageantry of the Games. But Walder will. — LR
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