The Missouri Public Transit Association (MPTA) – the state’s transit advocacy organization – has named Gina Thompson, a transportation coordinator with the City of Joplin, and Lukas Yanni, a senior planner at the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), as the newest members of its Board of Directors. Both were elected during MPTA’s annual meeting at the 2024 Missouri Public Transit Conference & Expo, held Sept. 3 – 5 at the Westin St. Louis at the Ballpark, and will serve a two-year term.
Thompson was recently hired by the City of Joplin as the new transportation coordinator, where she works to build on the transit department’s foundation by promoting stability and strengthening community relationships. Her background includes a decade in education, serving as an assistant principal and as a special education teacher. These roles allowed her to gain experience positively influencing area children, while serving the local community, leading team building efforts and managing budgets.
Yanni recently joined Kansas City-based MARC, as a senior planner, working in Transportation and Environment. He previously spent over two years at the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) in Spokane, Wash., working as a principal planner and department manager in Service Development, and as an associate planner in Community Development. His focus across the two roles included short and mid-range planning and on long-range planning, respectively. At STA, Yanni was credited with helping to launch the first BRT system in Eastern Washington. He also served on the steering committee for the Regional Safety Action Plan. Yanni’s prior experience includes working as a transportation planning consultant at AECOM and at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG), conducting planning work and testing autonomous vehicles.
During the annual meeting, the MPTA extended the appointment of current board members, including Cindy Baker and Terri Barr-Moore both of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Matt Crawford with City Utilities, David Johnson with the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance, Taulby Roach of Bi-State Development, Ed Thomas of Camden County Developmental Disability Resources, and Dorothy Yaeger of OATS Transit. Each will serve an additional two-year term.
The association also appointed the following six officers to one-year terms: President – President and Chief Executive Officer of Bi-State Development Taulby Roach; Vice President – Director of Transit at City Utilities Matt Crawford; Secretary – Vice President of Communications for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority Cindy Baker; Treasurer – Director of Ray County Transit Janine Clampitt; Past-President – Deputy Director of Public Works and Transportation at the City of St. Joseph Chance Gallagher; and At-Large – Executive Director of OATS Dorothy Yeager.
“We are thrilled to be able to work with each of these individuals,” said Kim Cella, executive director of the Missouri Public Transit Association. “Their collective experience, coupled with their diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, will go a long way towards furthering the organization’s mission.”
To learn more about the MPTA visit www.mopublictransit.org.
Missouri Public Transit Association (MPTA) was established in 1980 as a Missouri non-profit corporation. It was formed to provide a unified voice for public and specialized transportation providers in Missouri and to work toward elevating the status of public transit as a national priority.
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For more information, contact:
Kimberly Cella
Missouri Public Transit Association
314.231.7272