Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips serves as the Executive Director of both the Lakeland Area Mass Transit District d/b/a The Citrus Connection and the Polk Transit. Tom came to Citrus Connection from Michigan City, Indiana in August of 2011. He was employed at PACE Suburban Bus in Chicago. He managed the largest US Paratransit site. At Citrus Connection, Tom oversees 150 employees. He administers an annual budget of $10 million dollars and in just one short year, he has introduced a day pass based system, increased ridership 27%, reduced operating costs by 8.6%, and refunded the County over $100,000. He has secured funding agreements with Polk State College, PACE Center for Girls, Learning Resource Center, Legoland, Southeastern University, Explorations V Children’s Museum, Everest University, University of South Florida the Lakeland Campus and the COLTS program. His most recent accolade was being chosen by Mass Transit Magazine as 2012’s Top 40 Under Forty – The Best and Brightest. Tom has been married to his wife Michelle since 2001. They have two boys, Marshall, age 10 and William, age 4.