STEVE • IKE • TUCKER • WILSON
Transit leader, roadgeek, airport geek, traveler, and lifelong student of how people—and places—connect.
My career hasn't followed a straight line. Neither have I.
Steven R. Beck
ROADGEEK
Primary Interstates, 3DIs, oddball designations, complete routes, partial routes, and the occasional highway whose legitimacy is under review.
EXPLORE THE LIST →OTHER OBSESSIONS
Because apparently roads, buses and airports weren't enough.
ABOUT ME
I was born in 1975 to Robert and Deborah Beck in Rochelle, Illinois. I attended Lincoln School, Rochelle Junior High and Rochelle Township High School, graduating in 1993.
Scouting became a major part of my life beginning in first grade with Pack 552. In 1987 I joined Troop 312, where I earned Eagle Scout. I later returned as the final Scoutmaster of Troop 312 and helped two young men earn Eagle Scout.
I graduated from Kishwaukee College in 1998 and Western Illinois University in 2000, then returned for my master's degree, finally finishing in 2011 after a transportation internship. During college I was recognized in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges and inducted into Rho Phi Lambda.
My first career began with the Boy Scouts of America in 2001. After leaving professional Scouting and spending a few years figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up, I returned to graduate school.
Then transportation found me.
I began driving a bus for Laidlaw in 2007, became a supervisor with First Transit in 2009, and became a General Manager with Durham School Services in 2012. The rest is history.
SITW is personal too: Steve, Ike, Tucker & Wilson.
Lincoln School, Rochelle Junior High, Rochelle Township High School, Troop 312—and the place that still anchors the story.
Kishwaukee College, Western Illinois University, Rho Phi Lambda, and recognition in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges.
Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow leadership, Scoutmaster, transit executive—and a belief that leadership means leaving things better than you found them.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial • Atwood Park • Rochelle, Illinois
My Eagle Scout service project, dedicated September 1, 1991.
SCOUTING • SERVICE • NORVIN
My Eagle Scout project was inspired in part by my Scoutmaster and mentor, Norvin L. Moss, a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and a veteran of Vietnam and Desert Storm.
Norvin taught us respect for those who served, responsibility to our community, and the expectation that whatever was placed in our care should be better because we were there.
Years later, his family asked me to deliver his eulogy.
Until We Meet Again.
A living log of the pavement I've personally put tires on.
OTHER OBSESSIONS
A creative outlet, a stress reliever, and an ever-expanding collection of small plastic bricks that I apparently believe constitutes responsible adult behavior.
This is the beginning of the Brick Zone. Actual collection photos, favorite sets, architecture, vehicles, and whatever I swore I had no room for are coming next.
RAILS & TRANSIT
Systems, vehicles, facilities, operations, and an alarming number of bus photographs.
Once we start pulling from the Google Drive collection, this section may require its own ZIP code.
AIRPORT GEEK
Airports I've visited — organized by City • State • Airport, with the three-letter code front and center.
PHOTOS
Road, transit, airport, travel, Scouting, LEGO and life galleries will grow here over time.
A future collection of road, rail, airport, transit, Scouting, LEGO and family photographs.
Coming soonAmtrak routes and trips I've ridden will become part of the Roads • Rails • Runways story.
Coming soonIke, Tucker and Wilson — including their photos, stories, and the states they've visited.
Coming soonPROFESSIONAL
Transit operations, leadership, service delivery, people, vehicles, facilities, and the constant challenge of making complicated transportation systems actually work.
My career has taken me from driving buses to supervising operations, managing transit systems, and leading organizations. Transportation isn't just what I do—it's the thing I've spent most of my adult life learning.
Laidlaw — where transportation stopped being an interest and became a career.
First Transit — supervision, operations, people and the daily realities of transit.
Durham School Services — transportation leadership expanded beyond the driver's seat.
Leading transit operations, developing people, managing performance and building better systems.
CONTACT & CONNECT
Professional inquiries, transit conversations, or a compelling argument about an Interstate designation.
For the professional version of Steve — the transit executive, operations leader and transportation geek.
Connect with Steve →For professional inquiries or just a really good transportation question.
Email Steve →Family history, the Ancestry connection, and the stories behind the family tree will become part of SITW.
Coming soonSome things do not need to become part of the internet forever.