Public Transportation Director of Greenville’s Greenlink to Testify Before Senate Banking Committee, Ranking Member Tim Scott

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 10:10 am, Greenlink’s Director of Public Transportation James Keel will testify before the United States Banking Committee and Ranking Member Tim Scott during a hearing on “Local Views on Public Transportation, Transit Infrastructure and Operations, and Federal Transit Programs.” Greenlink provides public transportation in Greenville, South Carolina.

“South Carolina communities have continued to invest in the expansion of efficient public transportation,” said Senator Scott. “I look forward to Director Keel coming before our committee to share his expertise and how local solutions for local needs – like public transportation – lead to success for all Americans.”

Click here to watch the hearing live on March 16th at 10:10am.

Full Biography:
James C. Keel, MBA began his public transit career as a Bus Operator for East Carolina University (ECU) Transit in Greenville, North Carolina. He managed ECU’s Charter Services Unit before relocating to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2015 to work for Greenlink, the City of Greenville, South Carolina’s Public Transportation Department. Mr. Keel currently serves as Greenlink’s Public Transportation Director. He concurrently serves as the Executive Director for the Greenville Transit Authority, which provides public transit service throughout Greenville County. Chairing the Policy Committee, Mr. Keel is an active Board member of the Transportation Association of South Carolina (TASC). He was also recently elected to the role of Vice President for the 2023-2025 term. 

Since joining Greenlink, Mr. Keel has overseen several major projects, including two Intelligent Transit System (ITS) Deployments, Mobile Ticketing System Upgrades, and two Proterra Electric Bus Build and Deployments, one of which is currently underway. In July 2019, he guided staff to implement systemwide changes based on a Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) completed in late 2017.  These systemwide changes provided for improvements to the existing route structure—which had not been updated in approximately 30 years—resulting in a 60% more efficient system to support essential workers. In 2021, Greenlink achieved a “State of Good Repair” for all vehicles in the fleet.

Under Mr. Keel’s leadership, Greenlink is implementing the first phase of its Transit Development Plan (TDP), which focuses on extending hours of service, increasing route frequencies from 60-minutes to 30-minutes, and adding routes to better connect riders with career opportunities, grocery stores, recreational activities, and the like. To support these improvements, Mr. Keel is administering an over $50 million capital project, which will result in a new Operations and Maintenance facility equipped to support these expansion efforts. The new facility is scheduled to be in operation by June 2024.