Justin Stuehrenberg

First, his professional life: Justin Stuehrenberg is the general manager for Metro Transit in Madison, Wis. The system operates a fleet of roughly 190 fixed-route buses and serves nearly 14 million rides annually. Over the past year, Metro rolled out a $194 million BRT system featuring 62 electric articulated buses, a new account-based fare payment system, and opened a second operational facility. Stuehrenberg has been in this role since May 2020 and previously was a VP at IndyGo, where he managed the Red Line BRT project, which was the first all-electric BRT in the country. NOTE: Stuehrenberg announced on April 2 that he will be leaving Metro Transit to take a job at a consulting firm.

What do you like best about your current city of residence?

Madison, Wisconsin, is a wonderful place to live, it's incredibly walkable, friendly, beautiful, and has lots of diverse activity.

My kids, Warren (11) and Arthur (9), are able to safely walk or bike all over our urban neighborhood independently, and all of their friends from school are within biking distance. Arthur even rides the Metro bus, by himself, home from after-school care. I feel this level of freedom for kids is not available in many places anymore, and I love that we have it in Madison.

Our neighborhood (Marquette) has music festivals seemingly every weekend through the summer. And people are out enjoying the city no matter the weather. While it certainly gets cold, people don't hide out. Winter activities such as skiing, ice skating, and my favorite — hiking across the frozen lakes — are on regular display. Various organizations measure ice thickness and, as long as it's four inches thick, it's generally safe to cross the ice. They even have ice boat races — essentially tiny sail boats equipped with ice skates.

The Stuehrenberg family (clockwise from left: Justin, Katie, Warren and Arthur) having fun in the trendy Dumbo neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.

What does your Saturday morning routine look like?

These days it's mostly going to various soccer games or other kids' events.

Favorite places to travel?

My favorite travel experiences were Berlin and Sarajevo. Both offer such an interesting mesh of different cultures, plus an energy of people enjoying their lives. Sarajevo was profoundly impactful for me to see the different architectural styles of various conquering powers forming and telling the city's history, like rings of a tree.

We have traveled internationally every other year for about 15 years now. This summer we are doing our first major international trip with the kids, spending several weeks in the Czech Republic, France and Belgium. I'm excited to expose the kids to all the different cultures and experiences the world has to offer.

Favorite current TV shows?

Recent favorites have been "Shrinking" and "Bad Monkey" on Apple TV and "Nobody Wants This" on Netflix. My all-time favorite show is "The Wire."

Favorite types of music?

I listen to nearly all types of music and regularly rotate between them. I usually just shuffle everything, so a playlist might go from country to rap to 80's pop — an eclectic mix.

Relaxing in a miniature train with his sons in Fennimore, Wis.

What podcasts do you listen to?

I'm really interested in finance and economics, so "Marketplace" or "Freakonomics" are my usual go-to's.

Favorite way to stay active?

Walking to work. It's a really helpful way to get some exercise and clear my head.

Favorite guilty pleasure?

I really enjoy the game Risk. I play the electronic version against people from all over the world, with over 100,000 active players. At one point I was ranked in the top 30, but I have fallen a bit.

What would surprise people to learn about you?

While living in Indianapolis, my wife and I rehabbed and then managed several apartment buildings. Nearly all of the properties we purchased were unlivable at the time, and we were able to not only restore them, but also to help bring needed investment to struggling neighborhoods. I'm proud that our investments didn't displace any existing tenants and avoided any evictions during the entire time of ownership.

Tell us about a memory you have of riding public transit?

I grew up in a small town and had never really ridden transit, so when I went to the University of Illinois with its strong culture of riding the bus, I was in awe. Students from the "6 pack" dorms would cram into 20-year-old high-floor Crown-Ikarus 286 buses for the one-mile trek to campus. While other students were complaining about the age and condition of the buses, I was marveling at the efficiency of moving so many people so quickly.

Wisconsin winters allow Justin's sons to enjoy activities like ice skating on Lake Monona.

Later, after I started my career in the aviation industry, I was in Germany and witnessed elementary-age kids in small towns riding the train to school by themselves. That cemented for me how much freedom good transit can bring and inspired me to refocus my career on enhancing it.

What do you think you would be doing if you didn't work in public transportation?

In addition to real estate, I very much enjoy woodworking and have built several pieces of furniture in our house. I'm not good enough to make a career out of it, but it might be fun to try.

Tell me about your woodworking. What was the first piece of furniture you made?

I took a woodworking class at a local art center in Indianapolis when I was fresh out of college, and I built the kitchen table that we still use. I've made various other things since. My most recent project was a window seat/board game cabinet.

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