Delon Hampton

Delon Hampton & Associates

What are the key challenges facing transit properties today?

It goes back to the same old thing, which is basically funding. Two aspects of that is the funding of extensions or new systems and keeping existing systems up to snuff.


How can transit properties take advantage of the industry consultants to address those challenges?

The key thing is to get them on board early. If you get them on board after the situation becomes critical, they can still help you, but you don’t get the maximum benefit from their services. If you get them on board early enough, you can do some planning, then hopefully things will not cost as much and you can stay ahead of the curve, so things won’t be so bad that it takes a major effort to get it going in the right direction.


What trends are you seeing in the transit industry right now?

Trying to find some unique financing situations where transit agencies can get the projects done within their budgetary constraints; that is the biggest thing. There are organizations like Houston’s Metro that are trying to use public-private partnerships to aid in the accomplishment of their goals and satisfying the needs of their riders. Public-private partnerships can be a short-term solution.


With reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU around the corner, what changes do you feel need to be made?

Hopefully the new reauthorization will bring about more money from the standpoint of meeting the needs of the people. There’s more need out there now then there is money to help satisfy those needs. Also, offering some emphasis for public-private partnerships can help get things done faster in their various jurisdictions.


What do you think of the New Starts process? Has it become more or less difficult for projects to receive funding?

To a certain degree it’s been a help. It could probably be streamlined more to make it a bigger help. It would be quite helpful if the New Starts process was addressed in the upcoming reauthorization, because you’d be able to get more things done and get them done quicker if you change the process. I know of one agency that has gone back and forth numerous times — they make a submittal for a project and then back comes the submittal with questions, etc., — and this has been going on for years. It would be better just to say no if you’re going to keep making people waste effort and time by going back and forth like that.


Do you feel that high-speed rail will ever become a reality in the U.S.?

No. The reason why, as you well know, is that putting in high-speed rail is an expensive process. Until the federal government puts enough money in the pot to make it affordable to the people who would be building them, I feel nothing significant is going to happen. Now, especially in the built up areas, it would be beneficial, but it’s so expensive. The land is so expensive that unless there’s some sort of relief, it’s not a feasible project. That’s why I think we don’t see any in this country now, and I don’t see any in the near future.


What about the upcoming vote in California?

Hopefully that will pass. I’ll tell you, I think that high-speed rail is something this country needs. I grew up riding trains when I was a boy and always enjoyed it. Even as an adult I enjoy taking train trips; it’s always a very pleasant experience. I’m unabashedly pro-train and, on top of that, we need it in this country. If they can do it in Europe and the Far East there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do it here.



Jerome Premo

DMJM Harris

What trends are you seeing in the transit industry right now?

Among the trends are some really remarkable ridership increases. That trend is important to constantly keep in mind; people are choosing transit. As an industry, we’ve successfully delivered a whole host of big-time projects that really matter for the communities for which they are constructed. The hope and need is for understanding that some of these bigger transit projects are really transformational projects for communities. In other words, they can’t be completed next month. There are so many different factors right now that are working on behalf of transit, so I’m positive about the potential, but short-term actions or responses can really frustrate longer term development of transit and communities.


Do you feel the economy is having an impact on projects or future projects?

Sure. Many different transit properties are financed through sales tax revenues and, as we’ve experienced in years past, dips in sales tax revenues cause cash flow problems, and many of these multi-year programs are obviously based on certain assumptions about income and revenue. If there’s a dip in some of that revenue my hope is that the reaction isn’t to fire the GM, rather it should be to recognize that these are long-term programs and there’s going to be some ups and downs in their implementation.


What do you think of the New Starts process? Has it become more or less difficult for projects to receive funding?

Yes, it’s more difficult. I’m a graduate of FTA’s predecessor agency, so I’ve got a lot of affection for the people, program and agency. The fact, though, is that the money available has, in effect, been largely committed, so there is only a limited amount, if any, remaining in the kitty.

My sense is that the program management is clearly related to the availability, or lack thereof, of funding, so that’s resulting in a stretching out of the review process. If you look at the number of projects entering the engineering phase and moving into full-funding grant agreements they are dropping. All this is occurring at a time when the transit projects that the country has invested in over the last decade are proving to be successful. So there’s a dichotomy here between delivering on tremendous projects on the one hand and the prospect of fewer projects on a go-forward basis. On the other hand, even with the FTA’s constraints, they are still funding some really great projects.


A particularly hot topic these days is sustainability. In what ways are consultants promoting green practices in their own businesses, as well as in project development for transit systems?

We’re making a push internally at our company to behave the right way, not just to tell other people how they must build things. We’ve got, from a company-wide point of view, some remarkable sustainability initiatives underway. They relate to the array of services we provide, particularly in the water and wastewater arena.


My own sense is that the issue isn’t to build into a specific segment of your work a single sustainability practice, it is rather to permeate the culture of the company in how it behaves in all of its practices with sustainable, smart ideas. Frankly, this is an essential value if we’re going to attract young, talented, energetic, creative people. I have kids and they really care about sustainability, and company’s that walk the walk are going to end up being employers of choice.


Is that your company’s greatest challenge right now?

Yes. It’s retaining and rewarding existing staff, while simultaneously attracting great people. We have a vigorous employee engagement program that affords people opportunities to help define the behavior in the workplace. As an example, in L.A., we have a ‘great place to work’ initiative underway. Also, we have a woman’s development forum, which is something we’re enormously proud of.


[PAGEBREAK]

Peter Gertler

HNTB Corp.

How can transit properties take advantage of industry consultants to address its challenges?

Clearly, many times we will have people that have come out of the FTA, local government or other transit agencies, who are experts in knowing where funding pots exist and understanding the mechanics of that funding. Consultants can bring new ideas, innovation and creativity in how to put together a funding package or to position a project, either on a local or national scale, so that it can compete effectively with other projects that it may be going up against.


Have you come up with a solution to help bridge the funding gap?

Delivery mechanisms tend to have a lot of focus right now in terms of how projects are actually delivered, through design-build or public-private partnerships (PPPs) and so forth, and those are interesting tools that we can offer in suggesting how to deliver projects. Doing a project design-build doesn’t necessarily save you cost, but it could expedite the ability to deliver that project, which in the long run will save cost. So, a project that may have taken five years can now be delivered in three years. Those are options, again, with having the expertise of actually managing those projects and understanding organizationally how a property would need to structure itself to deliver, and the expertise needed, to manage those projects.


The other thing we can do when we get involved in the early development of projects is to take into consideration issues, such as life-cycle cost, and understanding the delicate balance between a short-term savings in terms of the investment in capital versus the long-term maintenance and operation of these systems in perpetuity.


What trends are you seeing in the transit industry right now?

One is how to deliver projects. Clearly, as this country starts to embrace the PPP model that has been used in Canada quite extensively, as well as Europe and Asia, we’re seeing it now as a potential opportunity for how to deliver projects in the U.S. As agencies and the domestic industry get more comfortable with PPPs, we’ll continue to see a greater trend toward that being a real option.


The second trend is the focus and emphasis on sustainability and what role transit really plays in that as part of the overall solution. I always felt that with transit we had one of the significant solutions staring at us in the face, and as we go forward we’re really starting to embrace that. The third trend is, as gas prices continue to rise, the public is becoming more conscience of greenhouse gas effects and all of that. We are seeing a greater acceptability in the American psyche now that transit is a good thing for everybody and not just for everybody else.


Do you feel that high-speed rail will ever become a reality in the U.S.?

Let me first say that I’m incredibly biased because I was associated with the California High-Speed Rail project for at least 10 years. But, what we’re seeing here in California is that we’ve advanced the program quite significantly in terms of environmental and engineering studies. We’ve defined the program, have significant political support across both political parties and people recognize its value.


Frankly, there isn’t any real opposition right now in California to the high-speed rail program. In my career as a consultant, it’s rare on these major capital improvement projects that I see the environmental, development, engineering and financial community all coming together in support of a project. To back that up, there’s been some polling done in California and it’s polling positively, around 60 percent, in anticipation of the bond measure in November. My prediction is that California will be successful in November and will start real development of the actual program, as far as more advanced engineering and PPP agreements. Then, we’ll see other states that have been in the background so far, such as Texas and Florida, begin to move forward as well.


Robert Dietz

Gannett Fleming

What are the key challenges facing transit properties today?

Far and away the most important challenge facing the whole transit industry is the question of assured funding for capital and operating/maintenance. That overrides everything else. Another that is very critical is the issue of managing technology to achieve cost effective improvements. There’s so much out there right now that agencies get a lot of pressure to look at. The real challenge is figuring out what makes sense for them and is going to improve their service to the customer and their bottom line.


A third challenge is the fact that transit properties are seeing a significant rise in demand, because of the rising fuel costs for personal vehicles. However, the operators I talk to tell me that increase in demand and revenue is not enough to offset their own increased fuel costs.


The fourth is what I call the graying or aging of the engineering talent pool. If you look at most of the major transit agencies around the country their really experienced engineering staffs are getting close to retirement. The consultants are faced with much the same issue, and there’s a real question of how we’re collectively going to be replacing that talent pool for the next generation.


Do you feel the economy is having an impact on projects or future projects?

From my perspective, absolutely. The operators and regional authorities that own these systems are basically trying to do more with less these days. The current impact is that we’re clearly seeing a slowing down and stretching out of existing projects. I’m not sure it has an immediate impact on service, but it is certainly going to have adverse impact six months or a year from now, because we won’t be able to modernize our fleets or have the new facilities in place to maintain the new equipment that’s on order. Those kinds of things are going to have a ripple effect down the road.


With reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU around the corner, what changes do you feel need to be made?

When we talk about reauthorization, you have to keep in mind that it’s frustrating right now that our process has bogged down so much. It took two extra years to get SAFETEA-LU in place to begin with, and they’re just getting around to passing a technical corrections bill that does do some good things, but now we’re getting ready for the reauthorization.


With reauthorization, rather than get bogged down in the details, the single biggest thing is that reauthorization cannot be an end game for all surface transportation modes. That’s the real key. In other words, we can’t just go in there and say we need more money for transit and we’ll take it out of highways. That doesn’t solve anything in this country. The real focus for reauthorization is how we can generate more monies for surface transportation and not get bogged down in a catfight between transit and highway interests.


A particularly hot topic these days is sustainability. In what ways are consultants promoting green practices in their own businesses, as well as in project development for transit systems?

As far as internally, our corporate vision statement includes a commitment to sustainable design and sustaining our world. We feel very strongly, overall, that it’s an important focus, is going to be good for our customers and good for our business. What that means is that we have significant emphasis on getting our key designers to have the appropriate LEED accreditation. We set up our ‘green team’ within our facilities division about six years ago to focus on green design and sustainable options that we can present to our clients when we do designs. We also started company-wide recycling programs and have hybrid vehicles in our fleet to evaluate their effectiveness.


With project development, we can offer the capabilities to do the LEED-type designs and go after LEED-certified facilities. We’ve developed enough experience with that now to be able to demonstrate that there are many opportunities.


What is the greatest challenge facing your company?

Because of the economic conditions right now, so many of our projects are slowing down and stretching out. Our short-term problem is managing that impact. What it means, and I suspect we’re not alone in this, is our backlog of work is the highest it’s ever been in the history of our company and yet, day-to-day, we are struggling to keep people productively employed on our ongoing contracts. It’s a real challenge for us from a business standpoint because we don’t want to lose our good people. Things are going to pick back up, and when they do, we need to have those people available.


Our greatest long-term challenge is developing the next generation of experienced transit engineers, architects and planners; because I think we’re going to see an increased demand for outsourcing. Many transit properties are losing their people and really not able to replace the engineering staffs that they’ve had in the past. Over time, they’re going to be looking to the consultant industry to provide that expertise.


[PAGEBREAK]

Paul Skoutelas

Parsons Brinckerhoff

Ideas of how to solve the funding issue or planning for the future?

There’s not one answer, there are a lot of different possibilities. Certainly, in terms of dealing with the current crop of issues, it depends really on the individual agency and the constraints they operate in. Looking at alternative ways to deliver service in some cases may mean contracting services. Again, it will depend on the latitude and the freedoms that are available to that agency. It’s looking at the full-range of techniques and delivery methods, and then making sure that is tailored to the needs of the individual agency. Again, not all of those are going to make sense or be possible in each locale.


On the other side, it’s really doing the long-range envisioning and planning that each agency certainly needs to be doing as it thinks for the future. Just as our industry is looking ahead, each agency really needs to be thinking about their communities, how they will be growing, what the expectations are of the stakeholders and the public, and how it could meet those needs for the future.


This is a good time for transit to really make a splash and become a fixture in Americans’ transportation plans. Do you feel they are prepared to continue to do that in the future?

Well, as an industry there’s been a great awakening of the importance of the environmental issues we’re facing and the seriousness of them. I’m talking about global climate change and the role of transit in that. There is a great awareness that we are a mode of travel that meets that need to think greener about the future and how we live our lives. At the same time, there’s work underway at each of the agencies in varying degrees that is trying to make their operations more green and more responsive to the environmental issues. Sustainability is no longer a foreign concept. People understand it; they’re developing their own internal programs and managing their construction and design efforts with that in mind. It’s becoming a way of doing business, and it’s a greater recognition that it’s a responsible way to do business.


Do you feel more private sector involvement would speed up the process of some of these projects?

If it’s done correctly, it should be something that could speed up the process. Again, it’s taking advantage of the best of what the private sector can deliver in terms of expertise and resources.


What do you think of the New Starts process? Has it become more or less difficult for projects to receive funding?

When you talk to transit agencies that are advancing their projects, by and large the consensus of opinion is that the New Starts process has gotten too burdensome and too difficult in terms of advancing projects through the pipeline. There’s somewhat of an interesting point here, while we’re seeing a larger dollar volume of projects, there are fewer projects actually being advanced through the New Starts process. That’s not because there’s less demand, it’s because agencies are frustrated with the length of time it takes to advance these projects and the cost that it’s taking to advance them quicker through the process. All of that points to our need as an industry to relook at the whole New Starts process with an eye toward streamlining it, making it more efficient and ultimately moving projects through that pipeline more quickly to final completion. That is what the public expects of us and the New Starts process needs to be reflective of that reality.


Any thoughts on how to do that?

If you take the whole process from concept to planning, and the approvals that come at each stage, there are time frames that can be shortened. Review cycles can be shortened. We have to look at the criteria very carefully and ask if all of it is necessary. Those are the basic things that have to be done, again with a basic eye on how we can shorten this process. Our goal should be finding how quickly we can advance good projects to completion, not how long we can extend the process.


What is the greatest challenge facing your company?

Our greatest challenge for us and the industry, is the issue of workforce development. No matter who you talk to, we’re out there trying to locate, recruit and bring home the best talent that we possibly can. The industry, as it looks to the future and looks to being more robust, is going to need more talented people that have the experience to be able to operate, design and help build systems. Anything that we can be doing as an industry to nurture and train our work force, and to encourage more people to come into the transit industry because it is an attractive and exciting industry, we’re going to have to do.


0 Comments