Christopher M. Thompson, P.E., was recently named a senior associate with Gannett Fleming in the firm’s Philadelphia office. Thompson serves as a vice president and project manager of Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems, a division of Gannett Fleming specializing in transit and railroad track, signal, communication, and electric traction design. Brian W. King, P.E., was named a senior associate based in the firm’s corporate headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa., King serves as a manager of maintenance facilities in the Transit and Rail Section.
Diane O'Keefe has been named vice president and Illinois area manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff. She spent 30 years with the Illinois Department of Transportation, most recently serving as deputy director of highways for region one. Charles Maass has been named a senior supervising construction engineer in the New York office. Maass will serves as Parsons Brinckerhoff’s resident engineer for the Second Avenue Subway project, responsible for overseeing construction work on the 96th Street Station and adjacent tunnels as well as restoration of the street above. Terry Marcellus has been named a senior commercial specialist in the Sacramento office. He will be responsible for managing the delivery of design-build construction packages for the initial segment of the California High-Speed Rail. Tony Mendoza has been named a senior supervising planner in the Los Angeles office. He will be responsible for the management and supervision of regional and local transit planning projects in Southern California. Bridget Wieghart was named a senior supervising planner in the Portland, Ore., office. She will be responsible for complex transit, multimodal, congestion pricing and freight transportation planning projects in the Northwest.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), was named Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee for the 113th Congress. He currently serves as a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Kevin Dawson was named regional sales manager to serve the northeastern U.S. transit market for Nova Bus. Prior to joining Nova Bus, Dawson was acting vice president of sales for North America for a major motor coach manufacturer. Jean-Pierre Baracat was appointed president of Nova Bus. He joined Nova Bus in 1994 and served as vice president, business development since 2004. Baracat holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and is a member of the Quebec Order of Engineers (OIQ).
Gina Trombley has joined Parsons Corp. as a senior vice president of mining and international rail infrastructure. She will lead Parsons’ project development in the mining and international heavy haul rail segments. David “Dave” Warner, Parsons’ Seattle area manager, has been recognized by Engineering News-Record (ENR) as one of the Northwest’s Top 20 Under 40. Warner joined Parsons in May 2010, and he has more than 11 years of experience managing infrastructure projects in the Northwest. He currently serves as project manager for the city of Seattle’s Elliott Bay Seawall Project. Michael “Mike” Johnson was named executive vice president and global business development manager of Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. Johnson will lead PTG’s global sales and marketing program. Garold “Gary” Adams was named global operations director of Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. He will oversee operations of PTG’s four divisions and companywide support services.
John Andrews was named regional sales manager for the eastern U.S. Region for New Flyer Industries Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience in senior capacities in the transit bus industry and has also been active in many industry national and regional boards, committees and task forces.
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has elected Suzanne Burke as chair of the SORTA board for 2013. Karl Schultz was elected vice chair. Burke is CEO of Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio and serves on the boards of Every Child Succeeds and ITN Greater Cincinnati. Schultz is a member of the Miami Township, Clermont County, Board of Trustees and serves as a member of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Planning Authority (OKI) board of directors. J. Thomas Hodges received a Royal Coachman award from SORTA on Jan. 9. The Royal Coachman award is given to honor an individual’s commitment to the development and betterment of public transportation. Hodges was a member of the SORTA board of trustees since March 2010. He was board chair from May 2012 until November 2012. He also served on the board of the Everybody Rides Metro foundation and SORTA’s strategic planning committee.
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) announced the appointment of Julie LaSusa as the director of training and development. She comes to the company with more than 15 years in the wireless communications industry. Her experience includes sales, staffing, customer service and sales training, project management and strategic planning for acquisition/merger training. LaSusa is Certified Technical Trainer Certification Certified (CTT+) and is a member of the American Society of Training & Development Association (ASTD).
Vice Chairman Greg Winterbottom was unanimously selected as the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors. Winterbottom has more than 25 years of experience in transportation to the OCTA board, on which he has served since 1993 as one of two public members. He previously served as chairman in 2004. Replacing Winterbottom as vice chairman is Director Shawn Nelson, also the Fourth District Supervisor, who joined the board in 2010. Prior to being elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Nelson served as the mayor of Fullerton in 2004-05 and 2006-07. Also, sworn in as directors were San Clemente Councilwoman Lori Donchak, Anaheim Councilwoman Gail Eastman, Garden Grove Councilman Steve Jones, First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer.
Kris Wylie has joined Seon Design Inc. as a corporate sales executive. His territory includes the northeastern U.S., as well as Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Wylie holds a degree in business management. He has come to Seon with experience in wireless voice, wireless data, asset tracking/management, VOIP technology, public and private cloud infrastructure, VMware and Hyper-V virtualization, enterprise hosting, and of course AVL and video surveillance in mobile environments.
First Transit District Manager Tim McGowan, Pasadena ARTS and DAR, and General Manager Phil Pumphrey, Omnitrans, were both appointed certified community transit managers (CCTM) by the Community Transportation Association of America. CCTM status marks the greatest performance and highest efficiency in the community transportation industry and shows that recipients have the ability to successfully manage a comprehensive and dynamic community transportation system.
The inaugural TRB Outstanding Young Member Award was presented to Stephanie Camay, transportation planner, URS Corp., on Jan. 14, as part of the Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lecture and Presentation of Awards at the TRB’s 92nd Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2013. The award, which is administered by the Young Members Council, consisted of a plaque and a $2,500 cash award supported by Stantec Inc.
Ron Garrison has joined Proterra Inc. He will lead the customer service department. Garrison comes to Proterra from StarMetro Transit in Tallahassee, Fla. A long-term and award-winning public servant, he is also a past chairman of the Florida Public Transportation Association.
TranSystems has promoted Dolores Buckenberger to the position of vice president in recognition of her contributions to the company’s success and growth. Buckenberger was instrumental in securing the firm’s assignment for the rehabilitation of New York City’s historic High Bridge, an original component of the Croton Water Supply System, which is currently being adapted as parkland to serve as a key pedestrian/bikeway link between Upper Manhattan and the western Bronx.
David Cangany named the new general manager of the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (TRANSPO). He is an Indiana native with an extensive knowledge of the transit industry. Cangany comes to TRANSPO from Cincinnati Metro. Most recently he worked as the performance manager, overseeing the transit operations performance team. Cangany’s transit career began as an operator for Indiana University Campus Bus Service and Bloomington Transit while enrolled as a student at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington. He received his Bachelor’s degree from IU in 2006.
Marnie O’Brien Primmer has been named chair of the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (NAPTA). O’Brien Primmer brings more than 14 years of experience in transportation infrastructure, planning and development, and community outreach in southern California to the organization, and is a driving force on behalf of residents regarding funding issues as well as the progress made leading to the passage of MAP-21. She currently serves as the executive director of Mobility 21, a five-county transportation coalition in Southern California.
Brenda Walker has been named director of finance for SunLine Transit Agency. Over the past 30 years, Walker has served in various leadership and management position within the public and private sectors. During her tenure at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Walker served as deputy director of operations and business support, interim director of transportation planning and development, budget manager.
