Lorraine Brown has joined the South Bend Public Transportation Corp. (Transpo) as an operations supervisor. She began her career with Metro Transit in Kalamazoo, Mich., as an operator and rose through the ranks holding various positions including dispatcher, lead trainer and operations supervisor before retiring in 2012 after 20 years with the organization. Bus Operator Cheryl Moore was given the agency's first ever General Manager's Award for her efforts on the job to help a lost child. On Feb. 18, Moore was on her route when she found a 6-year-old girl cold, wet and crying, so she assisted the child and and called police.
Donald Filippi has joined the North County Transit District as chief of safety. He served for five years as superintendent, transit operations and safety section at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Jeff Jones, vice president - north American engine business and marketing communications, is retiring from Cummins Inc. on June 30. From early in his Cummins career, he has worked in customer-facing roles, including service, field sales and support, OEM account management, market communications and national accounts. Amy Boerger will succeed Jones in the leadership of the north American engine business. During her 30-year career, she has held roles in automotive marketing, field sales and service, OEM account management and Cummins Emission Solutions aftermarket business. Lori Thompson will assume a new position as vice president - engine business marketing, and will have responsibility for global marketing, marketing communications and emerging-growth opportunities. Her most recent position was vice president - truck and bus engine business.
VIA President/CEO Jeffrey C. Arndt was selected as one of the 2014 Champions of Diversity by the Texas Diversity Council. The award was presented to him at the council’s conference in San Antonio on May 1 during the CEO Awards Ceremony.
Bahar Namaki Araghi has joined Blip Systems as its new sales specialist and traffic engineer. She has a deep understanding of the various aspects of traffic engineering, intelligent transportation systems as well as their applications in traffic monitoring and management.
W. Ronald Coale, former Stockton transit district board member passed away at the age of 81 on April 17. He served 1973-83 as a member and chair of the board of directors for the Stockton Metropolitan Transit District (SMTD), predecessor to the San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD).
Thomas Clark was named vice president and director of business development for Parsons transportation group. He has led and managed marketing, research, and project delivery teams. His most recent experience involved serving as the global business development vice president for an international asset maintenance contracting company that provides its customers with highway, railroad, and industrial maintenance services.
Louwana Oliva was picked to be the next general manager of the Centre Area Transportation Authority. She has served CATA as its assistant general manager for the past four years, overseeing the day-to-day activities of CATA’s operations and maintenance departments, including all of CATA’s bus drivers and maintenance personnel.
Kevin R. Collins, PE, has joined HNTB Corp. as project director and vice president. He brings two decades of transportation industry experience, focusing on delivery of passenger rail projects, including light rail, commuter rail and streetcar projects, several in excess of $100 million. He is based in the firm’s Bellevue, Wash., office and currently serves as project director for the Sound Transit East Link Light Rail Extension
Arnold Isham Jr. was named assistant director of transit operations for Cincinnati Metro. During his 22 years with Metro, he has held various positions including group manager, sector manager, street operations/on-time performance manager and most recently station manager.
Tracey Bessellieu, vice president and director of talent at Parsons Brinckerhoff, received the 2014 Shirley A. DeLibero Award from theConference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). She is responsible for leading U.S.-based human resources operations, recruiting, and engagement teams. In this role she designs and administers the firm’s employment practices including talent management and strategy development. Ronald Birkelbach has been named a vice president in the Newark, N.J. office. In his new position, Birkelbach will lead the company’s systems group in the Northeast region, which provides comprehensive engineering services for rail and transit systems projects. Tad Widby has been named deputy regional business manager for the U.S. West region. He will work with company managers in the west to enhance relationships with key clients, expand business development opportunities, and invigorate marketing and pursuit efforts. Andy Paluri has been named New Jersey area manager. He previously served as the firm’s northeast region planning/environmental/traffic manager. Corinne Olivier has been named a senior supervising construction engineer in the Washington, D.C. office. In her new position, Olivier will provide program management support for transit construction efforts undertaken on behalf of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Claudia Bilotto has been named a senior supervising planner in the Atlanta office. She has served as a project manager and lead planner on a variety of assignments, including the development of state, regional, and community transportation plans, multimodal planning studies, roadway and rail feasibility studies, environmental documentation, and stakeholder and public participation strategy development and implementation. Kenneth Jackson has been named a systems integration manager in the New York City office. In his new position, he's responsible for managing testing and systems integration for the Second Avenue Subway project, including the computer network, fire alarms, HVAC and BMS systems, and control center software, as well as train control, signals and various communication systems, including radios, telephone, intercoms, CCTV, public address system, and information signage. Yazeed Khayyat has been named a design manager in the Lawrenceville, N.J. office. He has more than 28 years of experience managing multidisciplinary engineering programs for the transit industry. His areas of expertise include bus rapid transit development, railroad signaling, safety audits, traction power design, and communications systems.
Scott Wisner was promoted to bus services delivery manager at Valley Metro where he is responsible for the operations and performance of contracts for the fixed route bus system in the East Valley and a portion of the West Valley. Prior to this position, Wisner served as customer service manager for 13 years managing the regional call center, the reduced fare identification card program and the ADA Certification Office. Ron Brooks has been hired as manager of accessible transit services and is responsible for managing paratransit, RideChoice, the regional paratransit eligibility certification program, travel training and the regional reduced fare ID card program. He has held various positions over the past 21 years at Bay Area Rapid Transit District and Palm Tran. He also worked for 13 years with Veolia Transdev, where he served as project manager, director of business improvement, and most recently as vice-president of paratransit and IntelliRide development.
Clinton B. Forbes was appointed to the position of vice president, operations, of the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). He has 25 years of service in the public sector, more than 10 of which have been spent serving at the senior management level at large public transit authorities.
Katharine Eagan, AICP, was named interim chief executive officer of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority. She joined HART in 2009 as chief of service development, directing service planning and scheduling, as well as marketing and community relations.
Fred Cozzi has joined Railhead Corp. His focus will be on continuing strong market growth of Railhead’s LDVR, Tools and LED Lighting solutions.
Beverly A. Scott, CEO/rail and transit administrator of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was named WTS International's Woman of the year. She's renowned throughout the U.S. and North American transit industry for her visionary leadership, results-driven management style, and progressive approach to labor-management relations. Jeannie Lee, project manager for the Orange County Transportation Authority, was named Member of the Year. This recognition is awarded to a member who has shown extraordinary commitment to the goals and growth of WTS and has promoted the reputation of WTS within the transportation industry. Claudia Folska, member of the RTD Board of Directors, was given the Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award. She has worked to ensure all people are represented and considered in the design of transportation systems.
James A. Martin, P.E., PMP, has been promoted to vice president of STV. He is the director of rail vehicle engineering for the firm’s transportation and infrastructure division. Leonard R. Smith Jr., P.E., has been promoted to vice president. Manager of the Harrisburg, Penn., office, he is assuming responsibility for all management operations and business development for STV’sTransportation & Infrastructure Division in Pennsylvania within the Northeast Region.
Phalease Crichlow was named vice president of human resources for the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corp. (IndyGo) In her new role as a member of the corporation’s executive team, Crichlow will oversee the human resources division which encompasses recruitment, professional development, benefits and employee relations. Bryan Luellen has assumed the role of director of marketing and customer information. In his new role, he will oversee IndyGo’s Customer Service Call Center, the agency’s advertising programs and develop strategic community collaborations.
Robert E. Skinner Jr., executive director of the Transportation Research Board,announced that he intends to retire after 30 years of service to the National Academies effective at the end of January 2015. He joined TRB as senior program officer in 1983. In 1986 he became the director of TRB’s Studies and Special Programs Division, and in 1994 he was appointed executive director of TRB. In this capacity, he has addressed a wide range of research and policy issues and transportation challenges facing the nation.
Richard Mebane has joined Activu as vice president of professional services. In this new role, he will be responsible for driving customer satisfaction while overseeing new customer deployments, upgrade projects and customer support.
Justin Southcombe has joined Perpetuum as commercial director. He has spent 18 years in the railway sector with Alstom Transport, where he held senior roles in strategy, tenders and operations.
David Mitrou was named general counsel and director – labor affairs for the company’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail contract by Keolis Commuter Services. He previously worked at The McCormack Firm in Boston, where he was a partner with extensive experience representing commuter rail operators and other public transportation service providers in Massachusetts. Michael Cawley was named director of human resources and training for the MBTA commuter rail contract. In this role, he will be responsible for all aspects of human resource management, creating a performance-based culture and building a world-class team to work for MBTA Commuter Rail
Simon Lewis was named a Traisr product specialist for MchMahon Associates Inc. He combines unique knowledge of a wide range of software applications and data solutions for complex requirements in all aspects of transportation infrastructure, performance and safety management.
