News

Center Remembers Paul Larrousse

Posted December 2018

Paul Larousse, Executive Director of the National Transit Institute, passed away November 14.

News of his death reached Seattle just as NTI’s Transit Trainers’ Workshop (TTW) there was ending, TTW has always been one of Paul’s favorite events; the Seattle TTW was probably the only of these events Paul ever missed during his nearly eighteen-year tenure as NTI Director. At prior meetings, Paul served as MC during all the plenary sessions, but he also acted as official greeter, making sure that every participant felt welcomed and valued. His good humor proved infectious and made TTW an event that many frontline trainers made it a priority to attend.

NTI is based at Rutgers University where Paul continued to teach until his death. He combined his role as a teacher and an administrator of a national training organization with a commitment to being a leader in the industry. Over the last few years, he served as Chair of the APTA Workforce Development Committee and a member of APTA’s Executive Committee. In those roles, he showed a particular commitment to reaching out to young people interested in professional transit careers.

Paul respected the complementary role the Transportation Learning Center plays in frontline workforce training, and he was a close associate and good friend of many of us who work at the Center.

In his memory, APTA has established a scholarship (https://www.aptfd.org/how-you-may-help/Pages/Memorial-Giving.aspx). His family has also suggested donations to the Human Rights Campaign in his memory.