Need for Competent Engineering for Transit Systems

An estimate has been made that $1 billion a year will be spent on new transit facilities for the next 10 yr. Civil engineers will be needed to design these facilities. Although turnkey projects have received some promotion, most major transit projects will follow conventional practices of design/bid. A corollary to these anticipated transit projects will be the need for specialized engineering competence in connection with the design of power supplies, signals, controls, communications, fare collection and cars. Numerous problems, both institutional and technical, will need solving on any new transit project. Many of these problems result from changing procurement practices—from private to public procurement. Other problems occur from the use of new materials, procedures, and technologies. The theme of this note is the need for engineering competence.