Former TV weatherman forecasts bright future for Lab’s Transportation program

As a former TV weatherman, Jay Faught is used to predicting change. Now he's the one making change as Los Alamos National Laboratory’s first-ever transportation director.

It's a job that has him plotting new bus routes, managing parking lots and looking for ways to make the whole system more efficient. It has brought him full circle from a childhood filled with imaginary city planning.

Growing up, Jay and his older sister Rhonda would spend hours designing intricate maps of make-believe cities on posterboard. They carefully crafted roadways, intersections and even bus stops, which Jay would "drive" his Matchbox cars across.

"We'd draw roads, set up little traffic lights, and I'd imagine driving through the cities we built," Jay recalls with a smile.

He also used to beg his mom to take a job as a school bus driver so he could open the alluring bifold door for people — but to no avail.

"I don’t know why, but I thought that would be so, so cool," Jay says.

His passion for transportation was evident from a young age, and it continued to grow alongside his sister's ambitions. Rhonda pursued civil engineering and eventually became New Mexico's secretary of transportation. Jay, meanwhile, began working at the Ohio Department of Transportation during college and continued there after graduating, developing a deep understanding of the complexities of transportation systems.

Today, Jay faces one of his biggest challenges yet — managing the transportation needs tied to the Lab's expanding mission. It's a task that, like forecasting weather, requires a mix of data analysis, foresight and creative problem-solving.

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