Great People

When Julie Timm came to Metro Transit 35 years ago, she never thought that working in the Transit Information Center would become a satisfying, lifelong career.

“I came here kind of by accident,” Julie said. “I was unemployed after the hotel I worked for closed unexpectedly. After I saw an ad for Metro Transit, I thought, ‘I can probably do that for a while,’ but I quickly realized I loved the work!”

And Julie loves Metro Transit as a customer, too. Since 1982, she hasn’t owned a car and relies exclusively on Metro Transit. “I became a strong believer in transit,” she recalled. “I realized I didn’t need a car anymore, so I sold it. Transit became my lifeline.”

Her initial role in TIC involved helping customers navigate the city’s transit system. As technology evolved, so did her job. In 2000, Metro Transit introduced the online trip planner, dramatically improving efficiency. “When we moved to Automated Trip Planning System ATIS, it was a game-changer,” Julie said. “We could train new staff faster and help customers more accurately.”

Julie’s passion for transit made her a key player in the department. In 1992, she was promoted to supervisor, a role she held for the remainder of her career. Through the years, continuing changes involved the introduction of online trip tools and real time information, further improving the work TIC staff could do.

Over the years, Julie’s contributions extended beyond just managing staff—she loved serving as a transit ambassador helping people in the field and she mentored and advocated for both her colleagues and customers. “What I’ll miss most is the people I’ve worked with and the customers I’ve helped,” she reflected.

In retirement, she plans to do some overdue renovations at her home and add to the 25 countries she’s already visited with stops in Japan and Central Europe. And, she’ll continue to ride Metro Transit throughout the metro.

A bit of advice from her father propelled Kimberly Fleming into a 38-year career.

“He said if you find a job with a pension, you’d never regret it,” Kimberly said. "That’s your retirement!”

A young Kimberly took that message to heart after graduating from high school and starting college in Minneapolis. She started as a school bus driver and then upgraded to Metro Transit, then MTC.

“The goal was always to get into Metro Transit because it was the best place to work,” she said. “Driving a school bus paid $3.80 an hour, while Metro Transit was starting at $9.50—quite a difference!”

She credits her brother who also operated buses for helping her prepare for the role. Once she made it in, she left college to pursue a career full-time. But, unlike today’s operators starting full-time immediately, it took two years before a spot opened up. And she loved her role as an operator.

“I loved driving the 5 as it ran through the neighborhood I grew up in,” Kimberly said. “I’d see people I hadn’t seen in years from grade school.”

And, she learned the importance of transit during the 1991 Halloween Blizzard when she reported for duty and picked up a woman stranded outside just before all operations shut down.

“I’ve never seen someone so happy to see me in my life,” she said. “Those moments remind me that as drivers, we’re like angels for our passengers.”

Throughout the years, she’s worked at all 5 garages and moved into a dispatcher role in 2001. But one night when she relieved someone who called in sick altered her career trajectory.

“I saw an opening for an assistant manager on the job board and applied on a whim,” Kimberly said. “I was shocked to get hired, but I found where I needed to be.”

As an assistant manager, she was able to focus on what she loved about bus operations: helping people. And through the pandemic, she helped operators navigate the most difficult time in recent history.

And as she retires, she wants operators to know how much support they have here at Metro Transit and how far we’ve advanced.

“Don’t be afraid to call for help, that’s why we’re here,” she said.

And as she leaves Metro Transit, she, like her father before her, encourages others to apply.

“There’s so much going on here, we’re in a great transition,” Kimberly said.

In retirement, she plans to spend her summers at the lake in Minnesota and head to the desert or the beach during the winters. She’s especially eyeing the Caribbean – a place she’s yet to see.

Just two weeks after high school, Bill Beck started working at Metro Transit as a cleaner.

“My father worked here and suggested I apply,” Beck said. “He told me that there would always be transit and that it’s a steady, secure job.”

As Beck retires as a manager of bus maintenance 44 years later, he confirms his father’s advice. In the first few weeks at the old Nicollet Garage, however, he wasn’t so sure.

“I remember a moment thinking ‘what am I doing here?’” he said. “I found out this is a great place to work, and you’re given all the tools you need to succeed.”

Beck’s success came from learning on-the-job, which helped him move into different positions, from cleaner to fueler to skilled helper to mechanic. He advanced to management after gaining supervisory experience in the STEP program, the predecessor to the Leadership Academy.

“I’m proud to be the first mechanic to take part in that program,” Beck said. “It got me where I am today.”

In over four decades, Beck spent time at every garage except for the old North Side Garage. He also saw every new bus type and technology from AC and power steering to electric buses come to Metro Transit. Reminiscing about historical milestones reminds Beck how quickly time flies. 

“I used to tease the older guys at the garage, but now I’m the older guy!” Beck joked.

His 44 years were split evenly between roles in labor and management with 22 years apiece. He worked on various shifts, including overnights, to help keep transit running around the clock. For the latter part of his career, however, his day started at 5 a.m.

“I’ve always loved my job, no matter what,” he said. “I just hope that I leave this place better than I found it.”

In retirement, he plans to do more camping and biking at as many national parks as possible with his wife. And he looks forward to treating every day like a Saturday and sleeping in.

When Thomas Carey entered the workforce in 1979, he entered a down economy and jumped from job to job. After a friend became an operator at Metro Transit, he decided to apply, too.

“I thought, ‘if he could do it, so could I,’” Thomas said. “There was a lot of job security there – no matter how bad the economy gets; people still need transit.”

His 35-year career began in 1989 as he reported for duty at the Old Shinglecreek Garage (renamed Ruter years later). But it would be Heywood, where he spent the bulk of his career 30 years. Towards the end of his career, he used his union seniority to move into the state-of-the-art garage, North Loop.

“I was number 2 at Heywood and number 12 system wide,” he said. “With time, it gets better here.”

At the end of his career, he was able to have his pick of shifts and routes he preferred, including the 645, 9, and 3. He remembers working through the Thanksgiving and Halloween blizzards where he didn’t get stuck. And narrowly missing the 35W collapse while on duty. Whatever happened, however, he had no doubts this is where he wanted to be.

“I love to be behind the wheel,” Thomas said. “I never tire of looking out a window with a wheel in front of me.”

Beyond driving, he enjoyed interacting with the customers, especially to share smiles and jokes. He found that it helped build report and a reputation with riders. This included taking a page from his clown alter ego named “Broccoli.”

“Not everyone likes Broccoli, but I hope you like me!” he would joke to customers.

Even though he loves his job, he knows there’s a time to move aside for the next generation to take the wheel. But before he left, he served one more State Fair – a service he provided every year at transit. On his very last ride, he announced his retirement, which was met with applause and congratulations.

“I’m going to miss my job,” Thomas said. “But I find myself in a really good place.”

In retirement, he looks forward to camping, visiting friends in the Dells, snow birding in Florida, and looks forward to welcoming a new grandchild into the family.

When Rodney Smith wanted to make a career change, it was an old Route 6 operator who inspired him to apply at Metro Transit.

“I rode with him from northeast to south Minneapolis every day,” Smith said. “He was like a father figure.”

So, Smith left his manufacturing career at a major beverage company and began life as a bus operator with the number #365. When he began, Metro Transit was still making a transition from Twin Cities Lines, and he saw many major improvements over the years.

“When I started at the Old Northside Garage, the garage floor was dirt and it was pretty smoggy,” he recalled. “New operators don’t know how good they’ve got it. It’s 100% better than it was.”

Many buses also didn’t have heat, air conditioning, nor power steering, and starting wages were $6 an hour. For the last several years, however, Smith had it pretty good as the #2 in union seniority and just recently secured the #1 spot. This means he chooses work before every other operator in the company. But it wasn’t always that way.

“It took me many years to get off weekends,” Smith said. “Things get better over time.”

Beyond the benefits of seniority, operator camaraderie kept him signing in for duty at South Garage for 43 years. And the friendships he made inside the garage translated to friendships outside.

“I enjoyed all the sports leagues we’d be in, and the fishing group I organized and the trips we’d take together,” he said.

On the road, Smith most enjoyed operating the METRO Orange Line and Route 515. And on duty, his biggest focus was the road and safety, which earned him a 44-year safe driving award.

But as all good things must come to an end, Smith decided it was time to retire after 45 years of service.

“This job has been great,” Smith reflected. “But it’s time – I’m old enough.”

In retirement, he plans to spend more time with his wife, kids, and grandkids. He also plans to take many camping and fishing trips on Lake Michigan and in Wisconsin – some with friends from Metro Transit.

Unsure what kind of career he wanted, E. Glenn Gilbert took his father-in-law’s advice and applied for what sounded like a secure job as a vault puller. It didn’t take long for him to feel right at home, and after finding his calling uncertainty turned to determination and he built a career in transit that would eventually span more than three decades. Gilbert retires next week after 34 years of service.  

“When I started, I was a college dropout with a young family and no obvious career,” Gilbert said. “Working here gave me opportunities to increase my knowledge, skills, and abilities, to be part of a public service that really matters to the community, and to achieve the financial stability to retire.”  

The opportunities Gilbert found at Metro Transit were largely of his own making.   

After eight years as a vault puller, Gilbert moved to the stockroom where he was exposed to computers and started learning how to build queries and reports. There, he learned he had a knack for information systems and looked for ways to build and apply his skills in that space. 

After returning to school, Gilbert spent time in Bus Maintenance and Bus Transportation, where he honed his abilities developing nascent business intelligence tools that are still used today. Gilbert said he was particularly adept at interpreting what people needed from systems and putting that information in terms other people needed to deliver solutions. “That’s a niche not everyone can live in,” he said.   

For the past seven years, Gilbert has served as a business systems manager in Strategic Initiatives. In this position, Gilbert said he was able to put all his experience and education toward designing the next evolution of the same systems he helped get off the ground. Like every other position that came before it, he said it was the best job he ever had.  

Throughout his career, Gilbert relied on the same transit system he supported behind the scenes, riding the bus to and from homes in Blaine and Falcon Heights.   

Now, though, Gilbert is ready to ditch the commute and hand things off to a successor who can stick around and see the systems he’s helped bring to the foreground mature throughout their career.  

In retirement, he hopes to spend more time on the things he enjoys the most, including listening to live music and following IndyCar. “Mostly, I’m just looking forward to having a good chunk of my day back to chose what I want to do,” he says.  

In 1974, one college presentation propelled Scott Thompson into a 47-year-long career. 

“Two MTC operations planners spoke to our geography class about restoring the transit system after Twin Cities Lines became MTC,” Thompson said. “Not long after, I changed my major to urban studies.” 

Soon after, he sought an internship at Metro Transit. As there wasn’t one available in service planning yet, he began where he could, in the Marketing Department. “I just wanted to get a foot in the door,” he said. 

Soon after, he reached his goal of becoming a transit planner. Along the way, he also worked in the Public Facilities department, which highlighted other places Thompson could have an impact. “There was a lot of opportunity to improve processes here,” Thompson said. 

He remembers riding buses to count people as part of research and working with physical maps. And, at one point, he recalls only about 25% of bus stops had signage. “Today, Metro Transit is doing everything faster, better, and smarter,” he said. 

Thompson helped launch many services, including the METRO Blue and Green lines and supporting bus services within 10 years of each other. Unlike these scheduled launches, however, not everything goes to plan. In 2020, Service Development implemented drastic service changes in weeks, instead of months. 

“It’s a challenge to put together efficient schedules and balance the needs of the ridership,” Thompson said. “I enjoy the challenge of complex problems.” 

What he’s most proud of is helping design a reliable system for people who need transit the most. In his early years, a call from a distressed customer who didn’t connect with a bus inspired him to work tirelessly to meet the needs of riders. 

“We offer an important service to our public,” Thompson said. “We help people get to their jobs, groceries, and the doctor’s office.” 

In retirement, Thompson plans to spend more quality time with his wife, kids, and grandkids at his vacation home up North and take a cruise around the Caribbean.

Operator

Waiting for a city bus in driving, icy rain, Melanie Benson found her calling. "When that red bus came over the hill it looked like my savior and I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a job where everyone’s glad to see you all the time?’" she said.

That flash of inspiration – Benson calls it an "epiphany" – occurred in late 1974. It led the then-student at Macalaster College to apply for a job as a Metro Transit operator soon after earning her degree in humanities. She started on Oct. 11, 1976, and retired 47 years later as Metro Transit's longest-serving operator. 

"This is the longest full-time job I’ve ever had," she joked before a crowd of family members, longtime riders, and co-workers who gathered for an April 2024 send-off at Nicollet Garage. "Oh that’s right, it’s been the only job I’ve ever had."

Benson never wavered largely because she came to see the people on her bus not just as riders but as friends. For most of her career, Benson drove on Route 23, and she came to know just about everyone who got on board. "If you drive a route like it’s a neighborhood, you find that people are all connected," she said. 

In 2020, Melanie Benson was recognized as the Minnesota Public Transit Association's Operator of the Year. Her longevity also led to media interest, including stories in her final year on the job from KARE-11, The Star Tribune and Racket. 

In retirement, Benson said she plans to continue riding the bus, to visit friends at Nicollet, and to continue working on a book about her experience as a bus operator

Joanne Tyler applied to Metro Transit on a whim. “My friend wanted to apply to be a bus operator. I just made sure she went,” Tyler said. “I filled out an application for the heck of it. I didn’t think I’d get in!”

Tyler didn’t believe she’d be considered due to a resume filled with gaps and part-time employment as she raised her three kids. Unlike her friend, however, she was accepted and began training. But the road to 31 years of service was bumpy to start. “I almost quit during training,” she said. “I flunked my first driving test.”

Instead of quitting, however, she buckled down and drew inspiration from adversity. “I wanted to prove to them and myself that I could do it,” Tyler said.

Tyler retook the test and passed with flying colors and began a three-decade long career as a bus operator. “I’d never thought I’d drive anything bigger than a pickup truck,” she said. Now I’d rather drive a bus than any other vehicle!”

Tyler served the bulk of her career at East Metro Garage with stints at the old Single Creek and Snelling garages. She began on express service but discovered that she truly loved the local bus – especially routes 64 and 62. “I prefer local runs with regular people,” Tyler said. “You can build good relationships with your riders.”

In retirement, she plans to travel to two countries on her bucket list, Italy and Greece, and take up quilting.

In 1979, a teenaged Tom Vang immigrated from Laos to Minnesota with his father to be close to family and to find opportunities. About a decade later, he found opportunity at Metro Transit.

“I was working as a teacher and working part time at Metro Transit,” Vang said. “After a few years of doing both, I realized the pay and benefits were better being a bus driver.”

Like many college graduates, Vang discovered a great career that wasn’t a title printed on their degree. His degree and experience in education did prove helpful in his newfound career as a classroom filled with students and a busload of passengers share a lot in common.

“I work with people,” he said. “And when you work with people, you work with difficult ones sometimes.”

When he began, operators made $8 an hour, buses were red and had no power steering nor air conditioning, Snelling Garage still existed and Ruter was called Shingle Creek. Today, as he leaves Metro Transit with all the modern advancements and amenities operators enjoy, Vang realizes that his 34 years  went by fast.

“Metro Transit is a place to meet lots of different people onboard and in the garage,” Vang said. “The time here goes by fast.”

He recommends Metro Transit as a great place to grow a career and recommends working here to others, including his son Johnny, now an operator with ten years of service and counting. During Johnny’s early years, Vang served as a mentor and answered all his questions. And the same advice he gave his son, he’ll happily share with others.

“Stick with it. With time, you get seniority,” he said. “And try to do your best every day.”

In retirement, Vang plans to travel to Europe and South America. And, when he’s not traveling, he’ll tend to his 7-acre hobby farm with sweet corn, mustard greens, and a host of other plants.