Kobii Howard

Superintendent of TSD, 27 years at LBT

Kobii joined LBT as a Bus Operator and was promoted to Transit Supervisor in 2002. He became Superintendent in April 2022.

He’s excited for the new faces at LBT who are contributing new ideas to improve service in the future, in addition to slowly returning to normal service after the pandemic. Kobii strives to make LBT better by considering his decisions from the customer’s perspective. He focuses on enhancing the customer experience while promoting efficient service to get customers where they need to go. He draws on his many years of service, particularly as a Supervisor, to inform his decisions.

His leadership philosophy is to lead by example.

Chaka Garbutt

Dial-A-Lift Coordinator, 23 years at LBT

Chaka joined LBT as a Bus Operator, then moved on to dispatcher, supervisor and became the Dial-A-Lift Coordinator six years ago.

Prior to joining LBT, Chaka worked with people with disabilities, and she is very passionate about it. She spends most of her time promoting Dial-A-Lift, which is LBT’s curb-to-curb, share-ride paratransit service exclusively for people with disabilities who cannot use our fixed-route service. Chaka makes every day life better for customers and her co workers by spreading light and having a positive attitude. She recently joined the City of Long Beach’s Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Disabilities, which is a further testament to her passion for serving, helping and advocating on behalf of people with disabilities.

Paul Pisciotta

Transit Supervisor

Paul joined LBT in 1996 as a Utility Worker and then became a Mechanic before becoming a Transit Supervisor in 2002. He’s seen the culture of the organization change over the years, in addition to management. But one of the biggest changes Paul’s seen over the years that’s made a large impact to TSD, is technology.

With the use of individual driver data and the implementation of KPIs in the past several years, Paul said there’s been more accountability within the department. Operators often take pride in their on-time performance and it motivates them .

“It gives them a sense of self-worth and an improvement to the skill, so they have more ownership (of their work),” Paul said. “It’s become more streamlined and true.”

Paul is excited to see how new technology advances LBT’s future, including using more computers instead of paper and the improvements to battery-electric bus technology.

Back to School

The Community Relations team went to numerous back to school events, in addition to visiting several campuses, to promote LBT’s services and the GoPass in recent months. Events included the Back-to-School Summer Jam in North Long Beach, where students received free school supplies.

Beach Streets

The Community Relations team represented LBT at Beach Streets on Sept. 17, 2022, where the city closed streets in East Long Beach for residents to walk, bicycle and play. Community members and employees stopped by the Community Relations booth to take a photo in front of our Zero-emission bus.