- Alma Mater : York University, University of Toronto
- Favorite book: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
- Favorite TV show: "The Big Bang Theory"
- Favorite movie: "The Predator"
- Favorite hobby(s): History and visiting museums.
- Fun fact about yourself: "I like to visit ancient ruins and historical buildings to imagine life in that period."
- Favorite station or stop that you have ever visited or frequent (and why): "Berlin's DB Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof; the atmosphere outside and inside the station was captivating for the rider, with dozens of shops, lawn chairs for lounging and all modes of transport connection."
- Favorite route you have ever ridden or frequent (and why): "Go Bus from Bramalea Station to York University; I spent many years riding the bus. The ride was comfortable with an MCI D4500, and panoramic with the double-deckers."
Naeem Farooqi is one of the few rising stars in public transit today that truly embodies innovation, passion and leadership in a manner that is revolutionizing the industry. His drive to excel in all aspects of his field has seen him transition from a statistics intern at the Canadian Urban Transit Association, to an award-winning program analyst at Metrolinx (Ontario), dynamic supply chain and business development director, and now as global bus expert and principal consultant at WSP, where he leads the company’s Canadian transit advisory services group.
Farooqi actively introduces innovation throughout the entire lifecycle of urban transit buses and deploys those innovations around the world. In his role at Metrolinx, Farooqi was instrumental in establishing the Transit Procurement Initiative, a group of over two dozen Ontario transit systems that seek to achieve economies of scale by bulk purchasing a variety of urban transit bus models. To achieve this outcome, Farooqi actively engaged with in stakeholders and developed bus specifications that were flexible enough to allow participants to customize buses for their local constituents. Beyond bus specifications, Farooqi was influential in developing and leading an award-winning vendor managed parts inventory project, known as the Transit Inventory Management System (TIMS). TIMS pooled the supply chains of over 10 transit systems into one centralized vendor, which yielded costs savings by reducing lead times, pricing, and local on-hand inventory levels. This project innovation was recognized by Supply Chain and Logistics Canada in which Farooqi won the 2012 President’s Award — and was, at the time, the youngest recipient of such a prestigious award.
Farooqi continues to innovate in his current role as a principal consultant at WSP. For example, Farooqi initiated and led the development of a first-in-class app to streamline the 300-point condition inspection of in-operation transit buses as well as quality assurance for new factory build bus models. This app has been successfully used to complete inspections for more than 600 vehicles in five continents. Furthermore, Farooqi is completing his Ph.D. in mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Toronto. Through his Ph.D., Farooqi co-founded the bus Operations Research Lab, which collects and analyzes big data from in-operation Canadian transit buses. The lab boasts over 6,000 vehicle records that have been in continuous operation for up to 18 years. This research is allowing Farooqi to establish industry-leading predictive lifecycle costing models and map the total cost of ownership for various fuel propulsion types, ranging from diesel to compressed natural gas to electric configurations. Farooqi’s research is also instrumental to the development of a maintenance policy algorithm that examines the trade-off between vehicle reliability and total cost of ownership. In leading the deployment of big data in urban transit, Farooqi’s research was able to develop an algorithm for over 50 transit systems to identify transit disruption frequency and duration, which he presented at last year’s Canadian Urban Transit Association’s national conference.
Farooqi recognized early in his career the strategic importance of transit buses to urban mobility, in which more than 62 percent of Canadian public transit trips begin, occur, or end on a bus. At WSP, Farooqi pioneered a Canadian advisory practice group in transit fleet and maintenance in which he grew a team from one to nine individuals in Canada with global expansions in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. Identifying industry interest in alternative fuel propulsion technologies, Naeem co-developed the Battery Optimization Lifecycle Tool (BOLT), a one of a kind tool that evaluates the triple-bottom-line impact of implementing battery electric buses. BOLT has the capability to examine vehicle range using a programming algorithm, which populates a transit agency’s electrifiable index (percent of routes/blocks that can be serviced by battery electric buses) and lifecycle cost comparison. Farooqi has been leading the expansion and implementation of BOLT in European, North America and South America markets in which the tool now predicts more than 30 models and 100 battery configurations. He also led the first-of-its-kind low emissions pilot of inter-city coaches using compressed natural gas. This feasibility study involved a two-month pilot across various northern Ontario inter-city routes and enabled a key northern client to participate in critical carbon reduction research.
Propulsion technology is only one aspect of Farooqi’s achievements. As part of his approach to optimizing transit bus lifecycles, Farooqi has successfully identified opportunities to improve per-kilometer costs for specialized transit operators by exploring “right-sizing” fleet methodology. Farooqi also worked with a bus OEM to develop and build a more flexible vehicle configuration, which has helped specialized transit agencies save millions of dollars in operating costs without jeopardizing passenger comfort.
Farooqi is heavily involved in the industry through multiple associations and committee member positions. He sits on the Canadian Urban Transit Association and Ontario Public Transit Association maintenance committees and is the secretary of the vehicle committee for the former. Internationally, Farooqi is involved with the UITP Bus Committee providing North American insights to the global association.
Apart from his affiliation with industry associations, Farooqi has spent a significant amount of time investing in developing new talent in the industry. Last fall he taught a graduate business course on infrastructure at the Schulich School of Business, York University. He has also visited schools in emerging markets to provide books for their libraries, as well as leading activities on public transit. Farooqi has developed the “Design the Bus of the Future” contest for children under 12, which involves a basic lecture on vehicle design, propulsion and passenger amenities, in which case children are then given an opportunity to showcase these concepts by designing the bus of the future. This activity is a favorite for many parents who send their children to organizations for “Take your Kid to Work Day.”
Farooqi has also used public transit as a way to give back to the broader community. During the aftermath of the Haiti earthquakes in 2010 and subsequent fatal floods in Pakistan, Farooqi mobilized a team of volunteers and collected more than $100,000 from commuters connecting through Toronto’s Union Station, Canada’s busiest public transit station. These funds were matched by the Canadian federal government. More recently, he is working on a project to retrofit motor coaches (D4500) into portable inspection and medical hospitals for remote areas in Africa with Humanity First, an international humanitarian organization.
"During my third year of my undergrad, I had the opportunity to go on an exchange to Warwick Business School, in Coventry for over a 1 year, I was able to relay on public transit as my only form of transportation across England. This experience got me interested in public transit as a career choice, which led me to my internship at Canadian Urban Transit Association as part of my undergrad course."
"I enjoy solving complex problems, which have many challenges and concerns for transit agencies. For example, when adopting Battery Electric Buses (BEB), vehicle range is only one component of the larger puzzle to BEB adoption. We need to consider infrastructure at the facility and the human element of training them on the technology. Moreover, consider even the tools, which are used to repair the bus need to be static free."
"Balancing the challenges of deadlines and resolving long-term client challenges are a constant challenge. The impacts of certain technologies and recommendations aren’t fully felt today and making those recommendations require further analysis and scrutiny, which at times can lead to challenges around deadlines."
"I am proud of the opportunity to work with such a great team at WSP along with my clients who make each project interesting. As part of my Ph.D. I have been developing a lifecycle algorithm, which optimizes the trade-off maintenance policy impacts on total cost of ownership. I am very humbled to have been able to use this to assist agencies across North America optimize their bus lifecycle."
"Enjoy everyday to the fullest and maintain a work life balance. Always try to speak to everyone the way you would like to be spoken to and remember the person turning the wrench is just as important as the CEO of the agency in making sure the service in running on time. Try to spend a day a quarter giving back to the industry, through initiatives and projects that help improve people’s lives."
"I enjoy being part of the industry because it really is a family of people who share a common vision and idea of improving the lives of people and how we all move through our cities, towns and rural communities. Working across the globe on projects from Peru, USA, Bulgary, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia has given me a unique perspective of the global transit industry, which has been very rewarding to be part of."
