NEW TRICKS FOR
OLD BUREAUCRACIES

IMPROVING POLICY OUTCOMES
IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

By Joshua Schank with Emma Huang and Marla Westervelt Berg

Foreword by UCLA Planning and Public Policy Professor Brian D. Taylor

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Ready to transform government from the inside out?

It’s easy to complain about government bureaucracy and transportation in large American cities, but what if you could actually improve them instead?

That’s exactly what the authors of New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies set out to do in the Office of Extraordinary Innovation at LA Metro, a transportation agency with a $9.5 billion annual budget in a county larger than 40 states.

Now you can learn from their hard-earned successes, and valuable mistakes, as they provide helpful lessons learned for anyone looking to make change in public agencies.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Navigate internal resistance

  • Build coalitions and fix processes

  • Recognize impenetrable fiefdoms

  • Pick your battles and win them

Using amusing behind-the-scenes stories, New Tricks presents a pragmatic playbook for those who want to deliver lasting government reform, and an outright nerd-fest for anyone working in public transportation!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  • Partner, InfraStrategies, Los Angeles

    Email: joshua.schank@infrastrategies.com

    Joshua is a partner with InfraStrategies, a consulting firm that works with transportation organizations across the world on strategy, innovation, and policy. He is also the Executive Director of ACES, a Senior Fellow with the UCLA Institute for Transportation Studies, and a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University.

    Joshua joined the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) in 2015 as the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer, where he was responsible for fostering innovations that improve mobility, equity, and environmental outcomes across LA County.

    Before that, he served as the former President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a national transportation think-tank based in Washington, DC. He is the co-author of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding.

  • Principal, InfraStrategies, Los Angeles

    Email: emma.huang@infrastrategies.com

    Emma is a Principal Consultant with InfraStrategies, where she helps transit agencies navigate critical challenges, from foundational strategy to implementing innovative service models and policies. She has led the development of major strategic plans including Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) 10-year strategic plan, Point B, San Mateo County Transit District’s plan, Moving San Mateo County, and CapMetro’s Strategic Plan. 

    Prior to joining InfraStrategies, as a Manager with Los Angeles Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, Emma spent over six years focused on advancing strategic initiatives for the agency, including the development and implementation of an innovative FTA Mobility-on-Demand partnership with Via, Metro's 10-year strategic plan, Vision 2028, and Metro’s Traffic Reduction Study exploring congestion pricing in Los Angeles County.

    Emma has a Master of Public Policy degree from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

    LinkedIn.

  • Principal, Cityfi, Chicago

    Email: marla@cityfi.co

    Marla is a Principal at Cityfi, where she helps governments and private-sector companies - from early-stage startups to global firms - navigate the rules, politics, and partnerships that shape innovation in civic space.

    Marla was a founding member and Head of Research at LA Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, led global policy at the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, and built regulatory strategy and data systems from the inside at Bird. Her work bridges public systems and private ambition to turn civic friction into real-world results. She began her career at the Eno Center for Transportation. 

“This collective story of aiming to make a positive difference, running into one brick wall or another, and then recalibrating to be smarter and more effective the next time around should be an inspiring lesson on growing throughout one’s career.”

Brian D. Taylor, Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy, UCLA

“Making change in public institutions is hard! Schank, Huang, and Westervelt recount amusing stories of their successes and failures at LA Metro to illustrate how we can make things happen!”

Nadine Lee, General Manager of Dallas Area Rapid Transit

“Cities face big transportation problems, and they cannot be solved without innovative thinking and major policy change. I love that in higher numbers, people are bringing their entrepreneurial spirit to the public sector. But as Joshua, Emma, and Marla outline, it is still not easy or guaranteed to succeed. Fortunately, they took some hard knocks that you can learn from, vs. making the same mistakes. The authors' persistence created positive change, and in this book, they distill some helpful lessons learned for anyone looking to do the same.”

Gabe Klein, Former Director of the Chicago and Washington, DC Departments of Transportation

“Anyone dedicated to reforming public agencies and modernizing transit service in cities should read New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies. You will not only enjoy an engaging book, but you will also gain valuable insights about the methods and pitfalls of prodding and coaxing bureaucratic organizations to improve processes, performance and outcomes for their constituents.”

David Bragdon, former Executive Director of Transit Center