New Fleet and Transit Services director aims to innovate transportation

UCLA’s incoming Fleet and Transit Services director collected city maps as a kid because he found streets fascinating.

Clinton Bench said he thinks street planning, which is constrained by urban development, must be creative to get people from place to place in the fastest way possible, and Los Angeles’ history is most intriguing to look at.

Bench will officially take over the fleet on June 30, replacing Sherry Lewis, who is retiring after more than 41 years of service.

As director, he said he will aim to continue innovating UCLA’s approach to transportation to be more efficient and sustainable, continuing the work of his predecessor.

Fleet and Transit Services provides the UCLA community with vehicles used to conduct university business, maintaining services such as the vanpool and the BruinBus, as well as individual vehicle rentals. The department’s director coordinates initiatives such as the promotion of alternative fuel vehicles and decisions such as new vehicle acquisition to fulfill the university’s mission.

Lewis has been working with Bench to help him transition into his position at UCLA since the announcement of his appointment, Bench said.

She was a “champion” of sustainable transportation, said David Karwaski, a senior associate director for UCLA Transportation.

She oversaw the transition from diesel fuel to compressed natural gas in UCLA’s bus system and a decrease in commuters’ use of single occupancy vehicles to about 50 percent, he said. At the end of her tenure, the department actually experienced a decrease in annual fuel consumption, despite the fleet’s growth, Karwaski added.

As the deputy executive director of planning at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Bench created sustainability initiatives that he said focused on encouraging individuals to choose what he thinks are healthier transportation options, such as using public transportation, bicycling or walking.

Bench’s first boss, Karl Quackenbush, said the two bonded over a laminated map inside his office, which became a running inside joke still intact more than 20 years later.

“He considers all angles to a particular issue before making a decision, and once he makes the decision, he’s very resolute about it,” said Quackenbush, the Boston region Metropolitan Planning Organization executive director.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation director of planning David Mohler said he thinks that Bench is very committed to the public process and transparency.

“You could put him anywhere, and he would find a way to do a good job and advance the things he cares about,” Mohler said.

When he told his friends in Massachusetts he was hired as UCLA Fleet and Transit Services’ new director, Bench said they were concerned because of Los Angeles’ reputation as polluted and car-obsessed and his reputation as “the sustainability guy.”

Los Angeles, however, has the second-highest public transit ridership in the country, he said.

“It is a bit of an urban myth that no one uses public transit here,” he added. “(Los Angeles) is actually doing pretty good.”

Former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation James Aloisi said he thinks that California, especially Los Angeles, is actually more receptive to alternatives such as public transportation and microtransit, which includes transportation options such as vanpools, commuter buses and ride sharing services.

“Clinton’s a transportation geek in the best sense of the word,” he added. “He’s very well suited to bring those new ideas and new perspectives to Los Angeles area.”

Bench said he thinks the the biggest difference between working for UCLA and Massachusetts will be the decision-making process, which he thinks was very hierarchical at the state level.

“It certainly made it more difficult to be innovative,” Bench said. “Decisions still might take a while to make (at UCLA), but it’ll take a while because of the collaborative nature of the institution.”

He said he still aims to inform students and faculty about the benefits and reliability of healthier transportation choices, but also intends to engage the UCLA community and understand why they do or do not engage in alternative transportation.

“We can talk to (students and faculty) directly,” he added. “We know who our customers are. If we want a survey, we have their emails. It’s a great opportunity to implement strategic planning.”

Bench said he thinks one of the biggest challenges yet to be addressed is heavy-duty vehicles because evolving technology has yet to be applied to them. These vehicles are regularly used on campus to haul masonry at construction sites and sweep streets clean.

The department is considering introducing electric vehicles into the fleet, as well as equipping its vehicles with GPS units to monitor how the vehicles are being operated, Bench said.

GPS units can gather data about a driver’s behavior and help the fleet decide how to maximize efficiency and teach drivers how to share streets with bicyclists and pedestrians better, he added.

Because the fleet consists of about 1,100 vehicles, Bench said he thinks UCLA Fleet and Transit Services can lead by example and help make L.A. streets more inclusive.