Making a Career in Public Transportation
Norman K. Tuitavuki
APTF Scholarship Application
June 10, 2011
MAKING A CAREER IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION / 1Making a Career in Public Transportation
I am currently employed as the superintendent at San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) in Stockton, California where I oversee bus operations and ensure service delivery requirements on a daily basis. In 2006, I joined RTD after working more than 12 years in the warehousing/manufacturing/logistics industry. I have lived in or around the San Joaquin Valley since 1980 and have come to enjoy the people, the community, and the life-style that this region has to offer.
I truly love the work that I do because it is an important and integral part of the community. Without public transit our customers would have to find and use alternate forms of transportation to get to and from work, school, doctor appointments, family functions, and other activities that many of us take for granted. I have come to realize that serving the public is much more gratifying and personally fulfilling than any of the past jobs that I have worked in. I have connected with many of our customers on a personal level and continue creating working relationships with them to improve their lifestyle and implement their ideas into our operation whenever possible and when it makes good business sense.
I hope to continue serving in the operations segment of this industry because this is where we actually put the service on the street, and take our customers to their desired destination. Working in operations is always challenging – we deal with various problems and opportunities daily. I oversee the largest number of employees that include bus operators, transit supervisors, and a small number of administrative personnel. Together, we piece together the “puzzle” that ensures service delivery on the streets of the San Joaquin Valley. We properly administer union contract requirements, process absentee related activities, meet with customers to resolve service related issues, and assist in other areas of the organization that requires involvement.
I graduated high school in 1993 and enrolled in the community college where I pursued an associate’s degree in hopes to one day transfer to a four-year university. Shortly after enrolling, I was hired and worked in a frozen food warehouse working the night shift. About one month after accepting the new job, my wife and I were happy to find out that our first child was on the way. I chose to concentrate on working and dropped out of the community college. I continued working at the warehouse and began promoting upward where I held various positions in the warehouse and finally in the transportation department as the manager. I achieved these promotions by working hard, (almost) never missing work, keeping a positive attitude, and dedicating all my efforts to improving the operation whenever I was on duty, and many times while I was away from the job.
In 2003 I decided to return to school and eventually graduated from San Joaquin Delta College with two associate’s degrees and a grade point average of 3.42. I am currently enrolled at the University of Phoenix (UOPHX) and I have less than one year left of schooling before I graduate. I did complete enough credits to transfer into the California State or University of California educational system, but chose UOPHX because of the ease and flexibility that the school offers. My goal is to graduate on or about February 2012 – then I hope to enter into the Master of Science in Transportation Management (MSTM) at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. I hope to reach my educational goals with the help from this scholarship program and I know the work that we do in public transit is an essential part of the community. We make a difference in people’s lives and I love what I do.