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Bernie Wagenblast (born September 1, 1956) is an American transportation journalist, radio personality and voice-over artist. She is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. The newsletter originated as a discussion group in June 1998, evolving into its current format shortly thereafter. She also edits The AASHTO Daily Transportation Update, published by the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...
, and hosts AASHTO's ETAP Podcast and the ITE Talks Transportation podcast for the
Institute of Transportation Engineers The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and ...
.


Early life

Wagenblast has been a lifelong resident of
Cranford, New Jersey Cranford is a Township (New Jersey), township in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 23,847, an increas ...
and attended Cranford High School. She went on to graduate from
Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
where she was active in the college's radio station, WSOU (South Orange, NJ), serving as the news director there in 1976–1977, and station manager in 1977–1978. In 2016 she was inducted into WSOU's Hall of Fame.


Career

Wagenblast is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. She also has served as the voice for various transportation facilities including
AirTrain Newark AirTrain Newark is a monorail people mover system connecting the terminals and various parking facilities at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and trains at Newark Liberty International Airport Station on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), ...
,
AirTrain JFK AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless train, driverless system operates 24/7 service, 24/7 and consists of three lin ...
,
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
, and the travelers' information station system at
Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...
and
John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...
. As of May 28, 2015, she can be heard as the voice on the refurbished cars running on the
PATCO Speedline The PATCO Speedline, signed as the Lindenwold Line in Philadelphia and commonly referred to as the PATCO High Speed Line, is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
. She is the voice of the
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desir ...
customer information line as well as the main phone number for the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...
. On July 4, 2004, she was the announcer during the laying of the cornerstone of
One World Trade Center One World Trade Center, also known as One WTC and as the Freedom Tower, is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Tr ...
at the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...
. Wagenblast was a traffic reporter for the New York City office of Shadow Traffic/ Metro Networks (a
Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
company), where she began her career in the transportation field in 1979 as one of that company's original on-air reporters. Through her work for Shadow, she appeared on several
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
radio stations over a five-year period, including WINS and WABC. On WABC she used the name Jack Packard, which was given to her by the station's morning DJ
Dan Ingram Daniel Trombley Ingram (September 7, 1934 – June 24, 2018) was an American Top 40 radio "disc jockey", in a 50-year career on radio stations, which included WABC and WCBS-FM, both ln New York City. Career "Big Dan" started broadcasting at ...
when Wagenblast began airing traffic reports on the station in December 1979. The name was based on a character from the old time radio program " I Love a Mystery". In addition to New York City, Wagenblast also appeared on
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
stations
WBAB WBAB (102.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Babylon, New York. It is owned by Cox Radio with studios and offices on Sunrise Highway (New York State Route 27) in West Babylon. Morning duo "Roger & JP" (Roger Luce and John Parise ...
, WERA, WMTR,
WNAB WNAB (channel 58) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, which maintains an outsourcing agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, ...
,
WVIP WVIP may refer to: * WVIP (FM), a radio station (100.5 FM) licensed to Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, United States * WNVU (FM), a radio station (93.5 FM) licensed to New Rochelle, New York, which used the WVIP-FM call sign in 2006, and the WVIP call ...
, and WWDJ. Other broadcast experience included positions at WHN (
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
),
WJDM WJDM (1530 AM; ''Radio Cantico Nuevo'') is a radio station licensed to Mineola, New York, broadcasting a Spanish language Christian radio format. The station is owned by Cantico Nuevo Ministry, Inc. WJDM broadcasts during daytime hours only, f ...
(Elizabeth, NJ), WDGS ( New Albany, IN) and WRNJ ( Hackettstown, NJ). After working for Shadow Traffic the first time, Wagenblast joined the
New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...
, where she helped to establish the city's first transportation communications center. Afterward, she moved to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was operations manager at TRANSCOM, a coalition of transportation agencies in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, from 1986 until 1996. She also was involved in the start of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, serving as co-chair of the Highway Operations Group. Following over a decade of work in government, Wagenblast rejoined the private sector serving as the NYC Director of Operations for SmartRoute Systems, a Senior Associate for TransCore and working with SmartRoute Systems to help grow their public sector
Intelligent Transportation System An intelligent transportation system (ITS) is an advanced application that aims to provide services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 's ...
s business. Wagenblast returned to WINS in April 2008, doing traffic reports in the early afternoon hours. She called her 23-year absence from the station a "lunch break" and one of the longest absences in the history of the New York media market. In addition, she was heard on WKXW and WRCN-FM. She worked for Total Traffic in
Rutherford, New Jersey Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,834, an increase of 773 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 18,061, which in turn reflected a de ...
. In 2024 she appeared as the voice of the subway conductor on the album ''Warriors'' by
Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...
and Eisa Davis.


Personal life

Wagenblast
came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
publicly as a
trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
in January 2023; although still going by Bernie, she said her full name would now be Bernadette. In an interview from June 2023, she said that although she had felt like a girl since age 4, she had been dissuaded against feminine dress or behavior at a young age. As a teenager she called Paula Grossman, the only openly trans woman she knew, from a
payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone or pay telephone or public phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic public areas. Prepayment is required by inserting coins or tel ...
to try and find support. Wagenblast later confided in her wife, and in 2017 she told her adult daughters about her identity. She began privately coming out to friends and family in 2022. Wagenblast and her wife separated after Wagenblast's transition.


References


External links

*
Video of cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower on July 4, 2004Shadow Traffic Turns 25
- Article from the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'', from December 7, 2004
City traffic reports are cutting through the gridlock
- Article from the ''Daily News'', from December 3, 2009
Out Of The Sounds Of Jersey, A Familiar Voice Makes A Mosaic
- Profile on
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', from July 4, 2014
The Voice of NYC's Subways Comes Out as Trans
Profile on Death, Sex and Money podcast from WNYC Studios, from April 26, 2023 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagenblast, Bernie 1956 births Living people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American transportation businesspeople American online publication editors American radio personalities American transgender women Businesspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey Cranford High School alumni LGBTQ people from New Jersey People from Cranford, New Jersey Seton Hall University alumni Transgender women entertainers Transgender women writers Radio personalities from New Jersey