Great People

Steve Mahowald retired a senior planner, but like many folks at Metro Transit, he began his career as a bus operator.

“I was driving cab for a living,” Mahowald said. “I’d commute downtown to my job on Metro Transit and that’s when my bus operator told me to apply.”

He took that advice and a half century later; he celebrates a long and storied career. At Metro Transit, he served as a bus operator for about 5 years, which gave him steady income and the ability to go back to college and finish his degree in Urban Studies. This gave him the launching pad to apply for a job in Service Development and eventually the ability to earn his master’s degree.

“I didn’t get the job right away,” he said. “It took me three times.”

He started as an associate planner and worked his way up to senior planner. Throughout the years, he’s worked on many projects, but he’s most proud of helping develop transit market areas in the mid-90s. This document provides cities with an understanding of what transit can do now, and what transit could provide given the right developments.

“Cities still refer to it today to help develop areas that are conducive to transit service,” Mahowald said.

Throughout the years, community is what keeps him coming to work every day – not only the communities onboard buses and trains, but the community built by his fellow employees.

“It’s very rewarding to see and hear from the people we serve,” he said. “But it’s also energizing to work with such talented people with a passion for our mission.”

And just like the bus operator who told him to apply, he’s even inspired some people to work at Metro Transit. While teaching at the University of Minnesota, he met a passionate and driven student interested in transit. That student is now the director of Strategic Initiatives.

After 50 years of service, Mahowald is ready to retire and he knows he’s leaving the future of transit in good hands.

 “The talent coming into Metro Transit today is incredible,” he said.

In retirement, he plans to spend more time with kids and grandkids, traveling, and advocating for pedestrian improvements.

When he was 18 years old, Al Daley didn’t want to leave Jamaica and join his mother in Minnesota.  “I was sure my mom made a mistake – I was going to leave Minnesota as soon as I could,” Daley said. “Thank god that didn’t happen.”

His mother was worried about the lifestyle he was becoming accustomed to, so she sponsored him to immigrate. From sunny beaches to the frozen tundra, Daley arrived in Minnesota in January of 1973.

“It was my first real experience with cold and snow,” he said. “I was excited for about 10 minutes. That excitement wore off quickly.”

After arriving he enrolled in college, but soon found out that it wasn’t a good fit for him. So, he entered the job market and eventually became an IT field technician. However, this job was shorter lived than he’d hoped – 3 years after starting, the now young father was laid off.

“I was looking for anything that got a paycheck coming in,” Daley said. “I drove taxi, school buses, sold cars, whatever it took.”

That’s when a friend suggested he apply to be a bus operator at Metro Transit. “I thought it was going to be a stop along the way. I hoped to return to IT,” he said. “That didn’t happen, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

He credits the people and the pay for keeping him here all these years. The interactions with customers onboard reminded him that his role was important, especially on cold winter days.

“They appreciate and need you,” Daley said. “They’re good people just trying to get from Point A to Point B.”

In retirement, he plans to spend more time with his son and his grandchildren, and when he can, return to Jamaica during the winter.

John Carrier couldn’t picture himself as a bus operator.

“My dad brought me to Metro Transit kicking and screaming,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a driver; it didn’t seem like me.”

Carrier had just earned an accounting degree and was working as a warehouse clerk. However, starting a career at Metro Transit became the first and final stop in his career. He'll retire next week after more than 38 years of service.

“I thought I’d be too nervous to do this job – but that didn’t play into it at all,” Carrier said. “I was surprised at how quickly I became accustomed to doing the job properly.”

Carrier started at Nicollet Garage, moved to Snelling and Heywood, and ends his career at South. For several years, Carriers served as a union steward, helping fellow operators solve problems. Onboard his bus, he also enjoyed helping people. He fondly remembers springing into action to help a blind person cross the street during a trip on Route 2.

“I was surprised passengers saw what I did and thanked me,” Carrier said. “It’s amazing how the stuff you do resonates with people.”

In retirement, he looks forward to sleeping in, traveling to Europe and Central America, and spending more time with his wife and two children.

Greg Tuveson originally wanted to become a state trooper. So, his mother – a bus operator herself – told him to work part-time at Metro Transit while he studied. That’s when fate took him in a different direction.

“I enjoyed being a bus operator – driving the routes and meeting all the people,” Tuveson said. “This job really worked for me.”

He discovered that the pay, benefits, and work-life balance helped him get married, start a family, and buy a house.

“Overall, Metro Transit is a great place to work,” he said. “I’m grateful for the support and balance I can have – it’s why I’ve been here so long.”

He also discovered that even after 25 years as a bus operator, there were other career paths available to him. He started out as an instructor then became a street supervisor and he now ends his career as an assistant manager of street operations.  

“I almost went to a different job at transit, but I’m happy that I went into street operations for a change of pace and advancement,” Tuveson said. “It’s not just a desk job – it gets you into the field.”

It was in this new role he found new learning experiences and supported big events like the State Fair, the Superbowl, and proud to help launch the METRO A Line, the region’s first bus rapid transit line.

“I’ve had a lot of good fun with the work I’ve done,” he said. “The relationships I built with people in and outside of the agency was the most enjoyable part – I’ll miss them.”

In retirement, Tuveson plans to spend more time with his five children and two grandchildren. He also plans to become a snowbird and split his time between Minnesota and Arizona. He also looks forward to when his brother David, a cleaner at Metro Transit, joins him in retirement. 

Matt Homan didn’t have to look far to see that working in transit could be a good way to make a living. Homan’s two older brothers, Jan and Jake, began at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission in 1975 and 1978. In 1984, Homan began his career as a fueler at the newly opened South Garage. Like his brothers, Homan also stuck around – he retired in February 2023 after more than 38 years of service.

When Homan began, he was much younger than many of his peers and it took time to gain seniority. He spent his first 16 years working overnights as a fueler and technician. As time went on, though, he was able to rise through the ranks and take on more and different responsibilities. At the Overhaul Base, he worked on transmissions, at the electrical bench, swapped engines, spent time in the frame shop and worked on non-revenue vehicles. Some of his favorite jobs, he said, were also the biggest – transmissions, differentials, trailing arms and suspension.

Homan worked on cars throughout high school and attended vocational school after graduating. Still, he continued learning throughout his career. The variety and chance to continue learning on the job, he said, helped keep him interested over the years. The job had some less-than-ideal moments, though. After exchanging a broken down bus on a particularly cold winter day, Homan recalled having to wait four hours for a tow truck and trying to stay warm by sitting on top of the engine. “You forget how cold cold can be,” he said.

In 2009, Homan moved to building maintenance as a facilities technician. His years in building maintenance were spent entirely at the Ruter Garage, a building he became quite familiar with and for six years was solely responsible for. “I’ve been here so long I know every wire hanging from every rafter,” he said. He also took pride in his work: “I always thought how the building looked and how things worked was a reflection of me,” Homan said.

In retirement, Homan planned to put his sawmill to work, cutting lumber and building a cabin.