Patrick Preusser has almost 30 years experience in the public transportation field. He’s worked on transit projects in Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles; Honolulu; even Saudi Arabia.
Most recently he was the chief operating officer for the public transit system in Denver, Colorado.
What brought him to Traverse City? This was his plan all along.
“This is something that I’ve been progressing to throughout my career,” he told IPR. “Ultimately, my professional goal was to evolve into the CEO of a small transit agency.”
His first day on the job was July 22nd, 2026.
Taking the bus
After just 2 weeks as CEO, Preusser jumped on a bus with IPR — the #2 line from the Hall St. Station to the LaFranier Park & Ride.
It costs $1.50 to ride one way, but some routes are free. The bus was clean, it smelled good, and the big windows made it easy to enjoy the iconic Traverse City views.
Preusser’s first task as CEO has been to talk to the bus drivers, dispatchers, city planners, and anyone else who has a stake in the public transit system.
As soon as he walked onto the bus, he greeted the driver, Samantha Vreeland.
“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to meet you yet,” he said.
Vreeland’s brother was a driver, that’s how she got into it. The #2 line is her regular route. She likes the job because she “gets to meet lots of different people.”
According to Preusser, hiring and maintaining drivers is one of the biggest challenges at BATA.
“It’s a good immediate need to have,” he said. “There’s a high demand for the service that we’re providing.”
According to the BATA website, bus driver positions start out between $21.87 and $26.92 per hour. Drivers are offered paid CDL (Commercial Drivers License) training and many opportunities for advancement.
After someone is hired on as a bus driver, according to Preusser, “they have an opportunity to become a dispatcher. There’s supervisory roles, and it continues up from there.”
Preusser said he’s hoping to be “as creative as we possibly can to make sure that we’re recruiting and retaining the best talent” so that BATA can provide as much service as possible.
Get out there and ride the bus!
Peter Low sat down one seat ahead of Preusser. He didn’t know Preusser was the new CEO. Low rides the bus everyday.
“It’s free,” Low said. “And you don’t need a car if you don’t want one.”
Low said he loves BATA, but has had some issues with the BATA Bus Tracker app. Sometimes the arrival times are off.
“It’ll say ‘arriving at 9:15’... but there’s no bus,” he said.
Preusser’s only been on the job for a couple of weeks, so he was eager to hear candid opinions from riders. He wrote feverishly in his notebook while Low described his experiences on BATA.
When Low found out that Preusser, in the seat behind him, was the new CEO, he was glad to share his insights and Preusser was glad to hear from a frequent rider.
BATA provides about 1,000 rides a day, but many people in Traverse City have never taken the bus. Preusser, as BATA’s new leader, hopes to change that.
“If you haven’t had an opportunity to ride our services, we invite you to please come out and ride,” he said. “We’re providing people access to school, to jobs, to healthcare, we’re contributing to the economy, and creating a workforce.”
The best way to improve public transportation in our area, he said, is to use it.
