Kevin Sliger

Chief planning & development officer

Ben Franklin Transit 

Age: 34

Current city of residence: Richland 

Briefly describe your company:

Ben Franklin Transit (BFT) is the primary public transit provider in the Tri-Cities area, including Benton City and Prosser. BFT provides over 3.6 million rides a year and helps keep the Mid-Columbia moving.

Briefly describe your job and what you do. Tell us how you got into it. 

I oversee the planning, scheduling and continuous improvement of BFT’s multiple transit services, while also strategizing how our services can better meet the demand of the rapidly growing Tri-Cities region. I also oversee our agency’s Project Management Office, which leads implementation of BFT’s Capital Improvement Plan. 

How long have you worked there?

10 years 

Tell us about your work history.

The majority of my career has been spent working at BFT. I started as a transit planner in 2015 and have since worked my way up through the ranks. My time at BFT has been amazing, and I feel blessed to be able to help improve the transit network that I grew up riding. BFT gave me freedom as a teenager and my time riding the system sparked an interest in transit and the built environment.

Before my time at BFT, I worked as a contractor for Google in the Seattle area. My work at Google included Geographic Information Systems (GIS) projects that aimed to improve the front-end experience for Google Map users. The main project I worked on was general transit feed specification (GTFS) integration, which allows for static and real-time transit information to be accessed through Google Maps. This was my first job out of college. 

Tell us about your first job.

My formal first job was at Fairchild Cinemas in Pasco. I started as a junior in high school and worked there for about five years. I was a trusted member of the team, so I would be asked to work when I was back on break from Western Washington University. The job helped fund my education and allowed me to grow as a person. It taught me the importance of customer service and how to manage teams. 

What advice would you give to your younger self about achieving success?

Focus on daily, incremental improvements to work toward a goal. Building this habit will help you grow faster and make things seem less daunting. Also, “Ask more questions!” As a young professional, it can be intimidating to ask questions because there’s a fear of seeming unqualified. I learned this quickly in my post-college career, but I wish I would have learned the importance of speaking up and seeking clarification earlier in my life. 

What was your dream job as a child?

Architect or marine biologist. I have also been fascinated with the world around me, including both the natural and built environment. 

Who are your role models – and why? Tell us what you learned from them.

Jaime Lerner. Mr. Lerner was a Brazilian politician and urbanist that is well known in the transit industry as the father of “Bus Rapid Transit,” which is a cost-effective approach to providing reliable, high-capacity transit. His leadership can be described as “pragmatic.” As a leader, he focused on practical solutions whose successes were measured by tangible results. Mr. Lerner also emphasized the need for quick action, no matter how small or insignificant, so progress is continuous. 

What else should we know about you?

My formative years were spent here in Tri-Cities, and I’m thankful my career brought me back to the area. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two daughters, traveling, hiking, camping, football and snowboarding. My special interests include history and geography, and I truly believe understanding history and my surrounding environment helps me create a better future for myself and those I can impact along the way. 

How do you achieve work-life balance?

This has been a struggle over the years. I found it has been easier for me to focus on work-life balance the more I have managed people. I had a tendency to emphasize work-life balance to those I managed but not focus on my own. In helping others achieve work-life balance, I have learned how to balance my own life. I do this by making time for myself and my family and not bringing the stresses of work to my home life. I value both life experience and professional experience equally and understand that if I am not living a fulfilled home life, I can’t be effective in my professional career. 

Do you have family? Pets? Tell us about them.

Stephanie is my high school sweetheart who I have been married to for almost nine years. I met her when I was an 8th- grader at Carmichael Middle School. She attended Christ the King at the time. We dated throughout high school and college and got married when we were 25. Our first “child” was Remi, our double-doodle dog, who we adopted during the beginning of Covid in 2020. Our first daughter, Isla, was born in 2021. Isla currently attends preschool at Christ the King, following in her mom’s footsteps. Our second daughter, Lucy, was born in 2024 and just turned 2. I’m the youngest of four boys, which led me to quickly learn that I won’t always get my way in life, and my parents still live here in Richland. Both my mom and dad have large families as well, so family has always been at the center of my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

How long have you lived in the Tri-Cities? If you didn’t grow up here, what brought you here?

I moved to Tri-Cities in 2005. I went to both middle school and high school in Richland. I took part in the Running Start program at Columbia Basin College in high school and then went to college in Bellingham. I lived in Seattle for about two years out of college and moved back to the Tri-Cities in 2015. In total, I have lived in the Tri-Cities for 17 years, or roughly half my life. 

What’s your dream vacation?

Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia 

Planner or procrastinator?

Planner by trade, procrastinator in practice. 

First car?

Ben Franklin Transit buses! 

Introvert or extrovert?

Ambivert. 

Favorite thing to do in Tri-Cities?

Hike Badger Mountain, kayak the Yakima Delta, and enjoy the regional trail network along the rivers. 

What would people be most surprised to learn about you?

I was fond of poetry when I was younger, and I won several contests and had multiple poems published in statewide publications. 

Favorite Tri-City restaurant?

Greek Islands & Woo’s Teriyaki 

Favorite day of the week?

Friday. Work and play! 

Text, email, phone call?

Phone call. More personal. 

Would you rather travel back in time or to the future?

See the future. This could really help me out in my profession.