Beyond the Bus Stop: How Strategic Pivots and People-Focused Programming are Revolutionizing Transit Engagement

Catherine Huckaby
1 day ago
14 min read

Updated: 14 hours ago

Brandon Figliolino had been chopping vegetables and working in kitchens for months when the truth hit him: he absolutely hated it. "I attended a culinary university after high school. Cooking is prominent in my family, which is why I decided to attend," he explains.

He exceled in academic classes and was invited to join the university's leadership academy. But when he transitioned into culinary labs, everything changed. "Cooking in a high-pressure environment was awful," he recalls. He transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder the following year—suddenly he was thriving again.

That kitchen revelation set him on a path he never could have imagined. Today, as Manager of Community Relations and Engagement at the Regional Transportation District (RTD) in Denver, he creates programs that help 3.1 million people navigate one of the largest transit systems in the Mountain West.

His days now involve reading bus and train themed books to kids at libraries, surprising customers with coffee and treats on light rail trains, and figuring out how to make public transportation feel more inclusive. He channels his love for communication and service into programs that make the region's buses and trains more accessible and welcoming for everyone—from daily commuters to families exploring the city, to new immigrants and historically underserved populations.

The road from that culinary school classroom to leading public outreach for a massive transit agency wasn't straightforward. It was shaped by a grandmother who modeled what real service looks like, strategic moves through different corners of public service, and the courage to keep changing direction until he found work that energized rather than depleted him.

A Grandmother's Legacy: Learning Service Excellence Early

Brandon's approach to connecting with communities runs much deeper than professional training. His understanding of what it means to be of service to people was shaped by watching his grandmother, who alongside Brandon’s grandfather, parents, and aunt, ran a catering business and modeled excellence in every interaction.

This wasn't just about business success—it was about creating lasting positive impressions. Even decades after the family catering business closed, the impact is still visible.

"Every so often, someone will hear my last name and ask if I knew 'Mama Fig.’ When I tell them that I am her grandson, they recall how much care she gave them when planning their wedding or event. I am inspired to leave a lasting impact on the people I support, just like her.”

The personal dimension of this inspiration becomes even more powerful when he describes his grandmother's final act of dedication. When she became ill and was hospitalized near the end of her life, she worked herself out of the rehab facility just so she could attend Brandon’s wedding. He shares how, “She refused to give up, refused to let her grandson down. Seeing her in the front row, as my husband and I exchanged our intentions, will forever be engrained in my memory.”

That experience crystallized something essential for Brandon about commitment.

"Her love and dedication remind me that I can be strong, I can be brave, and I can do hard things in the service of people, just like she did for me."

This family legacy would prove crucial as he navigated his professional development, providing a practical model for what excellent public service looks like.

Building the Foundation: Providing the Best in Public Service

His first significant role in human resources with a local Colorado county government focused on standardizing recruitment processes to improve hiring outcomes and retention. While this might seem distant from transit work, it provided foundational knowledge about organizational dynamics and public sector operations.

Recognizing the value of formal education in public administration, he pursued his master's degree at the University of Colorado. This decision reflects the strategic thinking that would later characterize his approach—understanding that effective public service requires both practical experience and theoretical knowledge.

His next move to the Colorado State Department of Labor and Employment introduced him to employee engagement work that mirrors community outreach but was focused internally.

"I gathered data to support internal programming to keep our department a place that was productive and supportive of its employees."

This experience taught him how to measure effectiveness and build data-driven arguments for program value—skills that would prove essential in his current role.

However, the broader responsibilities of human resources work eventually led to dissatisfaction. "I became exhausted from some of the more challenging duties of my job," he reflects. "I was promoted to the Employee Relations unit, where I supported employees dealing with medical issues, performance management, and other challenges.” After helping the department through the height of the coronavirus, he realized that he needed to move into a less stressful role to improve his quality of life.

"I knew I was making a positive difference for my colleagues, but it came at a high personal cost."

This honest assessment of what energized versus drained him professionally points to the self-awareness that has guided his career decisions. Rather than staying in a role that wasn't fulfilling, he made the thoughtful decision to move toward work that aligned with his authentic interests and strengths.

Making Lives Better Through Connections: Flexibility and Resiliency through Chaos

Brandon's transition to RTD as a senior specialist for community engagement in January 2022 perfectly illustrates the challenging reality many public outreach professionals face—stepping into roles during organizational transitions with limited guidance or support.

To understand the scale of what he was taking on, consider RTD's scope: created in 1969 by the Colorado General Assembly, RTD operates across a 2,342-square-mile region, which is nearly the size of the state of Delaware and includes eight counties and forty municipalities. The total population of the service area exceeds 3.1 million people. The agency runs 126 bus routes, six light rail lines, and four commuter rail lines. Its infrastructure and assets include 96 Park-n-Rides, over 1,000 buses, and 267 rail vehicles, making it the largest transit system in the Mountain West.

"When I started, the agency was dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and I didn't have a lot of instruction or sense of purpose in my role. Unfortunately, a few months after I started, my manager unexpectedly left."

He found himself acting as an outreach team of one for this massive operation. "I struggled to define my role, learn expectations, identify measurable outcomes, and manage the large number of requests for community participation."

This experience highlights a critical challenge in the community relations profession—the frequent lack of standardized definitions and expectations around the work being done. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the scope, he used this challenge as an opportunity to thoughtfully redefine RTD's approach.

"It took a long time to get comfortable. I was reactive. I said yes to every request for support and found it difficult to say no because there was no process I could reference to justify my reason for not doing something. When my manager left, I assumed their role and responsibilities, too. After much trial and error, I have a clear understanding of how I want public participation and education to look at the agency.”

His new understanding of community engagement and relations programming is informed by data, agency values, and realistic expectations for work-life balance.

Supporting Customer and Community Connections is More Than Passing out “Swag”

One of Brandon’s most significant contributions lies in helping organizations understand the strategic nature of effective communications. Working within an agency funded by voter-approved sales taxes and governed by 15 elected board members, he recognizes that connecting with communities must be both authentic and results-oriented.

He emphasizes the crucial distinction between different types of community interactions:

“Community engagement happens when we build connections with local governments, community partners, and customers to share information. This focus on relationship-building and education empowers people to take transit. Community engagement provides opportunities for customer and interested parties’ involvement in the agency’s decision-making processes that shape transit service delivery.”

This distinction matters because it helps organizations set appropriate expectations and choose the right tools for their specific goals. When organizations blur these lines, both staff and community members become frustrated with unclear processes and unmet expectations.

Creating a Welcoming Transit Environment: “Uncle B” Goes to the Library

Brandon's library partnership program shows how creative thinking can transform traditional outreach approaches and achieve measurable results. The program began with a simple observation about meeting people where they are but then evolved into something much more significant.

"I had this idea for hosting story times at libraries. This is something that other transit agencies have done but not RTD," he explains. Working with a local library in a predominantly low-income neighborhood, he launched his story time program.

"For our first story time, we had about six families join us. I introduced myself as ‘Uncle B from RTD’ and read Mo Williams’ book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.”

After story time, everyone boarded a staged local bus, taking turns sitting in the operator’s seat.

The positive response confirmed the approach. "It felt so good to know that I was informing people about how they could ride the bus.” A bus stop was conveniently located next to the library, so story time attendees saw local buses picking up customers, which helped reinforce that RTD can get them where they want to go.

But the real measure of success came after the library event concluded.

"I wrote an article highlighting the story time, which the public relations unit posted to the agency’s news site and social media. I started getting emails from other libraries who wanted to partner with us."

What began as one experimental event has become a regular tool for engaging young children and their parents. “This year alone we held six story times, which is two more than 2024. We also expanded the program by hosting two story times on the L Line, which is a light rail line that makes a loop through Downtown Denver and the historic Five Points and Curtis Park neighborhoods."

This success highlights several key principles of effective public outreach:

Meeting people in familiar, comfortable environments rather than formal government settings
Creating positive, low-pressure opportunities for interaction and education
Partnering with trusted institutions that already serve target populations
Designing activities that carry out multiple goals simultaneously (education, relationship building, and service promotion)

When you consider that in 2024, RTD tracked 65 million customer transit trips, these grassroots connections become particularly significant—he is helping demystify public transit for families who might never have considered it a practical choice for their transportation needs.

Building Internal Credibility: Documentation and Strategic Communication

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of public outreach work involves gaining internal organizational support, especially within large agencies with complex governance structures. In his case, this means building credibility among thousands of employees and elected board members who may not initially understand the strategic value of his work.

He addresses this reality directly:

"I have worked at RTD for over three years, and despite the large number of projects me and the community relations and engagement work unit have executed, there are still employees who believe my role at RTD is to be the ‘swag guy’ who passes out pens and chip clips at resource fairs. Community engagement is so much more than that.”

His approach to building internal credibility focuses on consistent documentation and strategic communication. "Me and my teammates showcase our activities in RTD’s weekly internal newsletter. It helps educate our colleagues about the great work we are doing.” Brandon has also hosted “lunch and learns” and training classes to give employees the opportunity to ask questions about RTD’s engagement efforts and learn how to provide customers with a positive experience.

The most successful tactic towards internal education comes from Brandon’s open invitation for colleagues from across the agency to join him in executing engagement activities.

“By providing opportunities for employees to come out and talk to people, they learn firsthand how meaningful it is to connect with community."

These approaches serve multiple strategic purposes—they educate colleagues about the work unit's activities, show concrete impact through specific metrics, and help build organizational support for future initiatives. The consistency of this approach has yielded tangible results: "We have written so many articles and ‘calls to action’ that a section of the internal newsletter is dedicated to community engagement now.”

Demonstrating Ownership while Supporting Individual Well-Being

Brandon brings refreshing honesty to discussions about work-life balance in public relations roles, particularly important given the high burnout rates in this field. As someone who identifies as introverted, he emphasizes the significance of energy management in work that requires constant interpersonal interaction and relationship-building.

"While the conversations I have at RTD are not as emotional as those I had while working in human resources, I still need downtime. I have come to recognize that when I am moving from one activity to another, I tend to withdraw and shut down. This impacts my family and friends negatively, who want me to be present and to do things with them when I am not on the clock. "

To set his direct reports up for success, he implemented standard operating procedures, including a templated communications and engagement work plan that is used for all engagement activities being performed. Just as important, he set up clear performance metrics so everyone in the work unit knows what success looks like and can balance their workloads accordingly.

This approach to resource allocation becomes even more crucial when you realize the scope of potential demand. In addition to managing agency-led public participation projects, His three-person work unit is asked to attend community events, provide presentations, and host travel trainings from a variety of community organizations multiple times a month.

To address this challenge, the work unit developed an evaluation tool to make strategic decisions about which activities deserve their limited time and energy.

"A lot of our work includes attending events hosted by community partners. Our Event Attendance Rubric helps us decide what activities we should attend. Will this activity yield a lot of interactions? How will RTD help the community by attending this activity? If the event scores high, we will do our best to attend. We no longer agree to do everything just because someone asks."

This framework can help teams avoid burnout focusing on the quality of engagement activities over the quantity performed.

Moving Forward: Creative Programming for Transit Recovery

Brandon's current and planned projects prove continued innovation in making transit accessible and appealing to diverse communities, particularly important as agencies nationwide work to rebuild ridership following pandemic-related declines.

His winter programming draws inspiration from successful transit agencies like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), adapting their creative activation strategies for Denver's specific context and needs.

"I'm organizing various station activations for the holidays, including caroling, a special story time on RTD’s Winter Parade of Lights Bus, and some ‘Surprise and Delights’ where staff will visit train and bus stations to give out gingerbread cookies to customers."

These initiatives directly address the ongoing challenge of ridership recovery by reframing how people think about public transit. Rather than focusing solely on commuter trips, he is showing people that "you don't necessarily need to take the bus to work five days a week, but you can take the bus to this fun activity that's happening downtown today."

These creative strategies help community members see transit as not just a means of travel but a destination in and of itself while creating a positive customer experience for those who choose to travel with RTD.

Guidance for Emerging Professionals: Building Skills and Experience

For those considering careers in community engagement, Brandon emphasizes the irreplaceable value of hands-on experience over purely academic preparation. "The biggest advice I have is to volunteer and get practice talking to people," he recommends.

"Before I started my master’s program, I was a member of my municipality’s park advisory committee. I would volunteer at tabling events so I could share the good work the city was doing to improve access to parks. I was nourished by the conversations I had with my neighbors and developed stronger communication skills.”

This understanding reflects his belief that effective public relations requires comfort with unpredictable interpersonal dynamics that can't be fully learned in classroom settings. Finding an organization or a non-profit or just asking your local city or county if you can join them at an event or open house" provides the kind of real-world experience that builds essential skills.

He also values strong writing abilities, noting that his creative writing background combined with political science "was probably one of the better options" because effective public engagement requires both clear communication and understanding of political processes.

Most importantly, he advocates for maintaining openness to unexpected career paths. "I had no interest in working in human resources,” he admits. “Early in my career, someone saw my potential and encouraged me to pivot. In doing so, I gained valuable experience and received satisfaction for most of that journey. While I had an interest in community engagement, I truthfully took the job at RTD because I hoped it would open opportunities for me to pivot once more into land use and city building. After working in communications for several years, I still have an interest in land use, but I no longer have the desire to have a career in urban planning."

This willingness to change direction when something isn't the right fit reflects the broader principle that guides his career:

"It is an act of bravery and self-preservation to decide to walk away from something—like a culinary arts degree--and start again doing something new.”

The Democratic Imperative: Why Community Voices Matter

Brandon's work addresses a fundamental challenge in democratic participation—helping people understand that their voices genuinely matter in public processes, particularly when it comes to public transportation that affects daily life for millions of residents.

Working within an agency funded by voter-approved sales taxes and governed by elected officials, he regularly encounters the frustration that many community members feel about public participation.

"It is disappointing to spend weeks planning a public participation activity, only to have two or three people attend."

This perspective led him to rethink his strategies and question the belief that what’s been done in the past is “good enough” for the future. When traditional public meetings attracted only a handful of participants despite significant investment of staff time and resources, Brandon didn't accept this as inevitable.

Rather than interpreting low attendance as community apathy, he sees it as valuable feedback about his own approach. Three times a year, the agency undergoes what it calls Services Changes, where it proposes modifications to its bus and rail services. Traditionally, three public meetings were held for customers to provide feedback. The meetings had poor turnout, so he rewrote the strategy for engaging with customers during Service Changes.

“I found little value in hosting a public meeting where more staff attended than customers, so I eliminated one public meeting and turned it into drop-in office hours. Instead of hearing a presentation, customers could meet 1:1 with a service planner and scheduler to ask questions about RTD services. Customers found this less intimidating than asking questions during a virtual meeting and more personable.”

Additionally, he schedules the work unit to attend community events in neighborhoods where major service changes are proposed. He also works with registered neighborhood organizations to attend their monthly meetings to collect feedback on changes that will impact nearby routes. “This targeted approach takes more time but yields greater participation and more organic conversations than hosting a public meeting in our downtown offices. It also requires less staff to execute.”

Lastly, he now embraces technology to amplify Service Changes messaging. He worked with the agency’s digital team to rebuild the Service Changes webpage. The page is more inviting and easier review. “Customers can click on a proposed change and provide feedback on it through a quick survey.” During the September 2024 Service Changes, the survey garnered more than 300 responses. For January 2025, that number tripled.

This willingness to adapt process reflects the mature understanding that effective engagement requires constant evolution and genuine responsiveness to changing needs and communication preferences.

A Legacy of Authentic Service

Brandon Figliolino's journey from culinary school to managing community relations and engagement for the Mountain West's largest transit agency shows how authentic career paths often appear through following genuine interests and values rather than predetermined plans.

His grandmother's legacy of service excellence continues through his work, creating positive experiences that help people see public transit as accessible and community-centered rather than intimidating or ineffective. Through innovative library partnerships, strategic internal communication, and creative seasonal programming, he shows how public relations professionals can build genuine bridges between massive agencies and the diverse communities they serve.

His emphasis on strategic documentation, energy management, and continuous adaptation offers practical guidance for others in the field, while his commitment to innovation ensures that transit outreach continues evolving to meet changing needs and expectations.

Most importantly, his story reminds us that meaningful careers often begin with the courage to change direction when something isn't working, combined with the persistence to keep learning and his genuine desire to help. As he puts it, reflecting his grandmother's enduring influence:

"I can be strong, I can be brave, and I can do hard things in the service of others, just like she did. I can also honor myself and my values at the same time."

In a role where success means helping 3.1 million people better understand and use a complex public transportation system, Brandon proves that authentic connection—rooted in genuine care for community and strategic thinking about public service—can transform how entire metropolitan areas connect, grow, and thrive together.

Organizations and Resources Mentioned

Regional Transportation District (RTD) - Denver's comprehensive public transportation agency serving 3.1 million people across eight counties with 126 bus routes, six light rail lines, and four commuter rail lines. RTD operates the largest transit system in the Mountain West and employs more than 3,000 people.

University of Colorado - A public research university with four campuses (Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Anschutz) offering graduate and undergraduate programs, including the Master of Public Administration program that Brandon completed. The Denver campus serves as a major educational hub for public service professionals in the region.