Meet the APTA Staff: Cherise Myers
10/7/2026
Senior Director–Workforce Development
Workforce Development and Educational Services Department
As APTA’s senior director of workforce development, Myers works at the intersection of people, technology, and the future of public transportation. She collaborates with public- and private-sector organizations to develop innovative workforce strategies that help the transportation industry recruit, retain, retrain, and prepare its workforce for the future.
Her goal is to help make transportation an “employer of choice” for top talent. As part of APTA’s Workforce Development and Educational Services team, Myers supports initiatives that elevate transit as a career and provide opportunities for professional growth and development. Her work also focuses on preparing today’s transportation workforce for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and other advanced technologies reshaping the industry.
A key part of her role is listening to APTA members and turning workforce challenges into practical resources and solutions. For example, APTA’s 2023 Transit Workforce Shortage Report identified undesirable schedules, long hours, and a lack of flexibility as contributing factors to high turnover, with some workers moving to opportunities with companies such as Uber, Amazon, and FedEx. In response, Myers worked with APTA members to launch the Operator Scheduling Working Group, bringing together operations executives, labor relations executives, organized labor partners, and technology vendors. The group collaborated to address operator scheduling challenges and developed the Scheduling Practices Toolkit, which highlights potential solutions for transit agencies.
Another current initiative is National Transit Career Day, designed to spark interest in transportation careers and showcase the wide range of opportunities available across the industry. More than 100 organizations participated in the initiative in 2025, using a free online toolkit featuring career videos and career brochures. The next National Transit Career Day is scheduled for November 12.
APTA members and employees can turn to Myers for guidance on workforce development strategies, recruitment and retention, professional development, and preparing employees for changes in the industry. She also serves as the staff advisor for the APTA Workforce Development Committee and the APTA Strategic Engagement Council, providing additional opportunities to collaborate with members and industry leaders.
Myers came to APTA with 16 years of experience as a manager at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA). Working in NYMTA’s People Department provided the opportunity to collaborate with experienced operations leaders and administrative executives. On any given day, the work could include walking subway tracks to survey assets, visiting a bus depot to talk with dispatchers about new technology, or facilitating an executive team retreat at headquarters. In addition, she helped create a women’s employee resource group, Empowering Women in Transportation, which remains active today.
What interests Myers most about public transportation is the combination of people, innovation, and infrastructure. “Public transit is ultimately for the people and made by the people,” Myers says. That people-centered perspective is at the heart of her approach to workforce development. For Myers, workforce development is about more than filling open positions. It is about creating pathways into meaningful careers, helping employees adapt to a changing industry, and ensuring public transportation has the people and skills it needs to move communities forward.
Outside of APTA, Myers serves as vice president of the COMTO DC Chapter and is a recent graduate of the WTS Signature Leadership Executive Program. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., whose pillars include sisterhood, scholarship, and service.