Meet Columbia’s 11 Top CEO’s in the Transportation Space

Michael Melaniphy

President and Chief Executive Officer of American Public Transportation Association

Michael P. Melaniphy is president and chief executive officer of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Melaniphy’s entire career has been in public transportation, with more than 26 years of both public and private sector leadership experience. Active in the industry, Melaniphy proudly serves on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board, as well as on the boards of both RailVolution and the Transportation Learning Resource Center. He is a commissioner on the Alliance to Save Energy’s Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy and president of the American Public Transportation Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University and the National Center for Transit Research at CUTR – University South Florida. Previously, Melaniphy served as vice president public sector for the bus manufacturer, Motor Coach Industries, Inc., where he worked for more than 10 years and was responsible for operations in the United States and Canada. During this time he was very active within APTA, having served as chair of the 2011 International Expo Committee, chair of the Awards Committee, and vice chair of the Business Member Board of Governors. He is a 2005 graduate of Leadership APTA. Additionally, he served as vice chair of the Transportation Research Board’s TOPS committee and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Transit Museum. Prior to his work in the private sector, Melaniphy was honored to have led four public sector transit agencies. He was general manager of Charlotte Transit, which successfully passed the state’s first dedicated transit tax, and was also twice recognized as the Safest Large Transit System in North Carolina. Melaniphy also served as vice chair of the North Carolina Public Transit Association. Melaniphy previously served as general manager of Wichita Transit where he also graduated from the inaugural class of the City/County Executive Leadership program while also serving as vice chair of the Kansas Public Transit Association. Prior to that, he was general manager of The Bus Company in Hamilton, Ohio, which received the National Safety Council’s Most Improved Safety Record Award as well as the ATE Innovation Award. In 1993 the Bus Company became the first system in the country with 100% Braille/tactile bus stop signs. Melaniphy began his transit management career as assistant general manager of El Metro in Laredo, TX where the first small system dedicated transit tax in the state was approved. While in college, Melaniphy interned for two years with the DuPage County DOT in Wheaton, IL. In order to put himself through school at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, he worked as a bus driver for the university basketball team coached by Bobby Knight. Having served as president of the IU Transportation Club, Melaniphy graduated with a BA in business administration, transportation management and studied under the legendary transportation professor George Smerk. He also holds an MBA and a postgraduate MBA Plus in transportation management from Wichita State University in Wichita, KS.

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About American Public Transportation Association: The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association .

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