Alumni Spotlight: Lalitha Bala Cetty, Public Transport Service Corporation
Name: Lalitha Bala Cetty
Title: Deputy General Manager - Corporate Planning and Strategic Performance Monitoring, Public Transport Service Corporation
Cohort: 7
Graduated: 2010
Lalitha Bala Cetty serves on the Executive Management team for the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC), Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. An expert in the Industry, she is currently invested in moving the PTSC forward to a brighter future to attain its Zero Emission strategy and to attain a sustainable solution in the long run.
Bala Cetty has more than twenty years of experience in senior management and project management in a range of industries including public transportation, technical services, specialist services and sustainable development in both the public and private sector.
In addition to her Executive Master’s in Intermodal Transportation Management from TSCI, she also holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from India. She is PMP certified from PMI Institute, Certified in Transportation and Logistics from APICS, USA, as well as a Registered Engineer in Transportation from the Board of Engineering of Trinidad and Tobago.
Inspired at an early age by her father, who was a Civil Engineer in Indian Railways, India, it motivated her to start a transportation career by joining State Road Transport organization in India as Depot Manager. In this role, she was responsible for a business unit with the overall responsibility of 100 buses with 600 employees. By the end of her tenure, she was able to successfully convert loss making unit into a profit unit, which she explains turned out to be a first major achievement in her career.
Lalitha Bala Cetty is currently responsible for the Corporate Planning and Strategic Performance Monitoring of the PTSC and plays an integral role in identifying, analyzing, developing, implementing, and monitoring PTSC’s approved Strategic Plan (2021-2023), Strategic plan (2018-2020) and Development plan (2017-2022).
Bala Cetty is a firm believer that “in order to attain a positive impact, the transit industry needs to adapt the sustainable solutions and the new technologies such as electric fueled vehicles, accept the Artificial Intelligence in the future of the public transit, and interconnectivity to provide an excellent customer service.”
Advancements that Bala Cetty is leading within PTSC include the purchasing and implementation of 300 new buses, consisting of 240 electric fueled buses, and the complete digitizing of E-Bus and operations. This is the largest project within the history of the Corporation. Her current role is in line with portfolio management where she is responsible for selecting, prioritizing, and controlling PTSC’s programs and projects through the lens of their 4 strategic pillars, i.e., Increased bus fleet, state of the art physical infrastructure, modernization of ICT (Digitalization) and efficient and effective organization structure.
“I am very proud to be associated with the PTSC at this time of major transformation. I firmly believe that the PTSC is unique and requires innovative and sustainable solutions that are adaptable to the needs of the travelling public of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Her favorite experience from studying at TSCI was the International Trip to Belgium and Netherlands which she recalls was an outstanding experience to see the real-time operations at Rotterdam Port. The Cohort also visited NATO headquarters during the International Trip to understand the transportation challenges during times of war, and their solutions. The international perspective to transportation challenges was impactful for Bala Cetty, which she says she can personally contribute toward the development of solutions in operations, strategic direction, development plans, as well as technical and specialist services for the PTSC.
Lalitha Bala Cetty is currently open for new opportunities in the U.S. where she can utilize the knowledge and skills acquired from TSCI in a remarkable way and add value to the organization.
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