The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) hosted the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and other transportation equity champions for a signing of a reciprocity agreement on Jan. 9 between the CTA and SEPTA. The agreement allows historically underutilized businesses (HUBs) to gain a single small business enterprise certification to perform work for both transit entities.
CTA and SEPTA, along with the cities of Denver and Philadelphia, Port of Long Beach and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, were the first entities to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Project’s (EIP) Pledge. EIP was founded by Denver International Airport CEO Phillip A. Washington, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari to improve public contracting practices and create more opportunities for HUBs.
The signatories of the pledge are committed to the following efforts by December 2025:
- Increasing the number, size and proportion of contracting opportunities going to HUBs
- Increasing the number, size and proportion of contracting opportunities going to HUBs as prime contractors
- Streamlining the administration of contracting with HUBs to centralize certification, improve payment time and standardize transparent data collection
- Increasing the amount and type of appropriate financing available to HUBs aiming to meet infrastructure contracts by working with private and public partners
- Expanding the number of signatories to the Pledge.
In AASHTO Journal coverage of the event, CTA President Dorval Carter Jr., explains signing the pledge is the first step toward institutionalizing equity practices and contracting opportunities for HUBs.
The AASHTO Journal article also includes a quote from Washington expressing his hope the “reciprocity model becomes both a national certification model and database in the future.”
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
