Employee Spotlight: Deputy Director of Transit Shoun Reese

Tell me what your current job entails?

As deputy director of Transit, I am the ambassador for public transit to those within IDOT and throughout the state. As ambassador, I work to inform and educate people about public transit, and I have the opportunity to shine a light on the needs, accomplishments and blockades of transit. I oversee the development of policies and procedures related to public transit and work with my bureau chiefs to troubleshoot issues that arise. I also explore new innovations, public transit theories and applications. I identify potential funding and write grants to bring these new innovations, theories and applications to fruition in Illinois.

Most important impact of your work?

The most impactful part of my work is knowing that we are ensuring that people have access to mobility. Have you ever had a moment when your car was in the shop or broken down for an extended period? For some people, the answer is no because they have multiple cars. Can you imagine the feeling of being immobile and the stress of trying to coordinate transportation to get to work and your kids to school or the doctor? That is a pain point for so many across our state, and the work I do with my team helps to alleviate it. My team knows that I want to be able to travel the entire length and width of Illinois using public transit. We are not there yet, but I have a wonderful team, and we will make it happen. Access to mobility can help to stabilize communities, allow people to age gracefully at home, help to decrease the out-migration of people from our state and ensure that Illinois remains a vibrant place to live.

Favorite part of the job?

I love the challenge of my job. There are days that I feel overwhelmed and think there must be an easier way to make a living. Then we figure out how to get public transportation in an area that didn’t have it before, and I think about the impact I can make in just one person’s life, and I’m renewed. What we do isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s good work.

Anything to highlight?

Where do I start? The Transit team is working with the Bureau of Planning to develop a public transportation plan that we hope to have finalized in 2026. It is my goal to have this plan serve as IDOT’s public transportation cornerstone for the next five to 10 years. And to that end, we are developing an in-depth, statewide, transit-provider inclusive plan called Next Move Illinois that will illuminate a path for transit for the next decade or more.

We received an Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility grant to use technology to connect six transit agencies covering 30 counties in southern Illinois to one another. We hope to develop the technology so that other state agencies that fund mobility can access it as well. This would mean more funding to public transportation, but more importantly, it would remove barriers for the riders who need access.

We received a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant to conduct an express bus feasibility study along the I-74 corridor, which could result in more mobility access between Peoria and Bloomington-Normal. We worked with Winnebago County, which will be launching public transportation in their rural areas for the first time.

We received grant funding to put EV buses in rural Illinois to test the viability of electric transit vehicles in rural settings. The other significant thing I want to highlight is that we’ve latched on to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ moonshot concept that challenges us to ask the following questions: 1. Can we unify sources of state and federal funding provided to agencies or individuals for mobility services? 2. Can we consider the impacts of every project entering concept development and what they will mean for users who are asset-limited (no car), income-constrained and employed by coordinating with partners to implement strategies to help improve access opportunities? 3. Can we implement a statewide mobility management program to address unmet mobility needs of vulnerable individuals? As you can see from some of our accomplishments, I believe Illinois’ answer is a robust and resounding YES! Oh, and I forgot to mention that my job is also to be the hype woman for transit – Let’s GO!!!!

Anything to tell us about your department and what it does? Things people might not know? What’s important about it?

Let me start first with things people might not know. There is a common misconception that “Transit” is the bureau. However, there are three transit bureaus that report to me – Transit Operations, Transit Capital and Transit Compliance. What do we do? We support the operations of three large urban transit systems through the Regional Transportation Authority in the Chicago area, 11 small urban transit systems and 45 rural transit systems stretching across all of Illinois. We provide funding and oversee the completion of transit capital projects like purchasing buses, building and renovating facilities, supporting bike and pedestrian trails, etc., and we provide compliance oversight to make sure rural transit providers are meeting the same standards as urban providers.

We also supply nonprofit agencies who provide transportation for seniors and people with disabilities with vehicles through our Consolidated Vehicle Procurement program. What’s important about what we do? See above. No, seriously, we make sure that the funding flows to the transit agencies so they can take those asset-limited, income-constrained and employed users where they need to go. It may not be important to everyone, but it’s vital for these individuals. We also work with our transit agencies to make sure they provide safe access. I could nerd out here and talk about the role transit plays in congestion mitigation, clean air, community livability or healthy living, but some may stop reading, so I won’t go there. I will just say for every bus that is on the road, there are at least 10 jobs tied to it – and that’s not counting the passengers on that bus.

What prepared you for your current role?

My path to my job was not conventional. I have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in human services with a social service administration concentration. I’m not bragging, but I am a pretty good grant writer.

In 2011 I took a job with a transit agency to manage grants and procurements, and I got bit by the transit bug. I worked at that transit agency for nearly 10 years doing everything from purchasing land to purchasing and launching technology. I worked daily with the bus operators and mechanics evaluating their environments to make sure they had what they needed. Picture it – me in a dress with steel-toed work boots standing in a mechanic’s well looking at the undercarriage of a bus – I did that and loved every minute of it.

If someone was looking to follow in my footsteps, I’d say stay open-minded, be curious about everything, don’t shy away from the hard stuff, be willing to do the stuff no one else thinks is important, welcome the doubters, and love yourself enough to stand firm on your nos and your yeses no matter the consequences. The education and work experience are all supplemental in my opinion – it’s the character that matters.

How do you contribute to your profession and community?

I am a member of the AASHTO Transit Management committee, which supports AASHTO’s Council on Public Transportation, and I am an active member of the American Public Transportation Association. I am currently serving on a National Cooperative Highway Research Program committee researching volunteer driver programs as a method of providing public transportation. I attend Fresh Visions Community Church and have served on the scholarship selection committee for the Baptist Foundation of Illinois.

What do you like to do outside the office?

Rest. I love to write and have been working on a book. My dream would be to write a script for a Hallmark Christmas movie, because it would encompass things that bring me joy – writing, Christmas and redemption, and who doesn’t love a good comeback story?

I also love to travel. Actually, I love the arriving and being there, not the getting there. I am a crafter and tinkerer down to my soul; I will take stuff apart and build it how I think it should be. I have my own set of pink tools, and I’m in Menards more than my husband. Menards and Hobby Lobby are my quick-fix, happy places.

Anything else you’d like people to know about you?

I believe in the possibility of people to do the impossible. And I’ve come to understand and be okay with the fact that giving my best looks different from day to day.