After attending an aeronautical school, Gary Nyberg thought he’d have a career managing a small airport. Instead, he became a third-generation operator, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, who had worked as streetcar and bus operators in the Twin Cities.  

Once, early in his career, Nyberg was even assigned to cover his father’s work and discovered just how much his passengers appreciated him. That experience, he said, helped affirm his decision to work in transit.  

Still, he knew even then that he’d eventually want to get out of the driver’s seat and apply the skills he’d learned in school. After eight years as an operator, he got his first opportunity to do that, taking a role in the Transit Control Center.  

He made the most of it, too. After 43 years of service, Nyberg retired in early-2023 having made a deep imprint on the organization his family had been with for more than a century.  

His first foray into emerging transit technologies came in the early-90s when he helped test new GPS equipment on a few buses. It took a few years for the technology to come of age, but eventually Nyberg helped deploy GPS equipment across the fleet, allowing vehicles to be remotely tracked in real time.  

At the same time, he started taking on more of a leadership role in the expanding TCC and started to build a team that would help the agency start using new radio equipment and other emerging technologies, like real-time signs and transit signal priority.  

The evolution Nyberg saw during his career, he said, was remarkable. “Everything has changed immensely,” he said. “When you’re busy every day, it’s hard to see that. But when you step back and look at it, it’s really quite amazing how far we’ve come in the use of our technology. We’re able to monitor and respond to things in ways we never could have imagined when I started here.” 

The use of technology hasn’t just improved the customer experience but given the agency a wealth of data that can be used to make better decisions. “The ability to make more informed decisions is actually one of the biggest benefits we’ve seen from the use of technology,” Nyberg said.  

More than anything, though, Nyberg said he’s most proud of the relationships he built along the way. Many of his co-workers have become lifelong friends. In retirement, Nyberg plans to spend time with his family and on home projects, studying Chinese, and traveling.