Her Story
About Onnika
Onnika Payne is a transportation planner with over eight and a half years of experience in public transportation. She specializes in project management, grants and compliance at the federal level, as well as mentoring and collaboration. Payne transitioned into the field after working in nonprofits and marketing following college. She participated in a leadership development program, served as a mentor, and completed internships with a local city government in Los Angeles and her current agency before being hired full time shortly after earning her master's degree. Her work centers on paratransit services for persons with disabilities. She holds a master's degree and was named to the National Dean's List during her undergraduate studies. Payne received the Best and Brightest Scholar Award through her leadership program. She is actively involved in professional organizations including WTS Women Advancing in Transportation, COMPTO Conference of Minorities Transportation Officials, and mentoring through the nonprofit Brazen. She volunteers with the LA Regional Food Bank and her church. Payne attributes her professional success to the people she has encountered, including mentors and networking opportunities, combined with her education and a commitment to giving back.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Onnika
01What do you attribute your success to?
I feel like what has shaped me the most is people. I feel like, on top of my education and background. I feel like being around the right type of people, being mentored, being invited to rooms that I never would have thought I'd been in, networking, I feel like all of those combined have helped shape me into who I am and into where I'm trying to go. And then also, I want to add the aspect of giving back, as well. Being able to put a smile on someone's face, rather that's advice, rather that's just listening, I feel like those things have shaped me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice I would give is to be open. And be eager. Because this is a diverse field, it's changing every day. Transportation is not the same like it was in the 60s, or the 70s, or the 80s, and especially now with AI advancing, autonomous vehicles, you have so many different changes. So I would say be open to learning, be eager. be diverse, be able to move yourself around, because some in my role specifically, I don't always do the same thing every day. Sometimes I get pulled, sometimes I just get additional things. So it helps me diversify and spread myself. And places and challenges me to grow. Just be open and eager to learning, to growing, to networking, and to always have your ear, eyes and ears, open to, what's coming next, because we don't know.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Yeah, I would say the challenges is, would be You know, of course, the advancing of AI, we don't know what that's gonna look like, what does that mean? Also ensuring that, There is enough, vehicles, or fleet, as they call it, as we call it, to sustain, the volume of passengers and trips. I would say that is something, As well as, you know, inflation and the price. The prices of things have gone up, and they're continuing to go up. Is that gonna come down? If not, how does that affect, people that are low income, or, you know, that are barely just making it? those things are, challenges, as well as the funding to purchase the vehicles. The different the competitiveness now with grants, you know, is it going to be more competitive? Is it going to be less money? Is it going to be more money? Not only to purchase the vehicles, but also to Also, provide the services, to third parties, and to be able to pay these third parties to provide the services to people.
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