Welcome to the penultimate episode of Transit Unplugged for 2023! This week we wrap our series recorded at the CUTA conference in Edmonton with an interview with Arthur Nicolet, CEO of Transdev Canada (https://www.transdev.ca/en/).

Paul and Arthur not only talk about contracting in Canada, but pairing with the episode featuring Transdev US CEO Laura Hendricks, talk about the role of contracting around the world. Contracting seems to naturally pair with public-private partnerships (P3s) and Arthur talks about the benefits for all sides when agencies and private contractors are free to find the best solution to solve the problem at hand, not the solution people initially thought would be the right one.

Paul and Arthur wrap the conversation with a look at ahead to 2024 and the role of AI in transit--one of our favorite topics here on Transit Unplugged.

Next week in the final episode of 2023, we have Paul Skoutelas and Petra Mollet of APTA looking back at the year and ahead to what's to come.

And we're going to have a special bonus episode coming out December 29th, so stay tuned for that.

If you have a question or comment, you can reach us at info@transitunplugged.com.

00:00 Introduction to this episode by Paul Comfort

01:48 Introduction and Background of Transdev Canada

04:37 Understanding Public-Private Partnerships

09:58 The Role of Contractors in Public Transit

15:50 Future Trends in Public Transit

23:19 The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Public Transit

26:01 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged