Bus system’s director leaving for D.C. job

The director of the Columbia-area bus system has taken a job running a larger transportation system near the nation’s capital, leaving the capital city looking for a new chief.

Bob Schneider helped guide the expansion of the once-troubled COMET bus system that now has a reliable source of income through the penny sales tax. He is leaving March 31 to become director of a commuter transit system that has three times as many buses and twice the budget as the Central Midlands Transportation Authority. The CMRTA oversees the system – now rebranded as The COMET – that serves riders in Columbia as well as Richland and Lexington counties.

Schneider announced his move to Woodbridge, Va., Monday on Facebook, where the post was accompanied by an image of that state’s slogan, “Virginia is for lovers.”

Schneider, 41, said in an interview Tuesday he took the job because it posed a bigger professional challenge. “It’s a combination of opportunity and timing,” he said.

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission runs buses into Washington for commuters from south and west of the nation’s capital off I-95, he said. But that public system also provides money and some oversight of a heavy rail line shared with commercial rail companies, Schneider said.

“Rail is a really big deal because you’re talking about high volumes of people,” he said of a professional challenge that’s new.

“During my time here, I’ve grown to love Columbia – and I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to work with this (COMET) team,” Scheider said in a statement.

He leaves a $154,000 post for a position that carries about a $200,000 salary, Schneider said. His wife is a teacher in Columbia. They are the parents of two children.

Schneider, who has been director since November 2011, inherited a bus system that was running a multi-million dollar deficit and had no dedicated funding system. Routes were cut back heavily, and there was insufficient money to return to its previous size, much less grow.

Since his arrival, voter approval of the penny-on-the-dollar sales tax stabilized finances. Ridership grew from 1 million yearly to 2.5 million, Schneider said. New buses are replacing aged ones, and propane-driven, neighborhood-friendly smaller buses are being introduced.

Joyce Dickerson, chairwoman of the board that oversees Columbia’s buses, credited Schneider for his accomplishments. “He was a catalyst for change, and the results speak for themselves,” she said in a statement. “We will both miss Bob and wish him the very best in his new challenge.”

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This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Bus system’s director leaving for D.C. job."