 Bland also served as chairman of both the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association board of directors and the New York Public Transit Association as well as positions as Rabbit Transit general manager (3 years), the manager of operations planning for Syracuse's Central New York RTA (4 years), general manager at Cape Ann Transportation Authority in Gloucester, Massachusetts (1 year) and vehicle maintenance system coordinator at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (1 year).In the summer of 2012 Bland was considered among the top 2 candidates for the CEO position of both MARTA and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority as well as a featured speaker at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College.Bland was championed by area bike riders for his transit innovations that was inclusive of bicyclists, with such things as making the bus fleet completely bike capable in just 4 years, specifically training drivers and staff on bike needs and removing all restrictions on bikes with light rail.