Delivering On-Time Projects for Fast-Growing Transit Agency

摘要

Sound Transit opened its first light rail operation in the Seattle area in 2009. Now, in the midst of a voter-approved, 116-mile, $14-billion regional light rail program to be completed by 2041, Sound Transit-one of the country's fastest-growing transit agencies-has systematically brought in projects on time and under budget, including almost 8 miles of tunnels. A major contributor to that achievement is Ron Lewis, who has spent the last 20 years delivering successful projects at Sound Transit, from Airport Link to the $3.6-billion East Link Extension, Sound Transit's largest project to date. Currently the agency's executive director of design, engineering and construction management, Lewis says success requires flexibility, and collaboration from within the 1,000-employee agency and with stakeholders. "I think our success starts well before construction," he says. "We have well-planned projects. We have done our homework and taken care of the details, looking holistically at projects as early as possible." Then, during construction, Lewis says collaborating with federal partners as well as contractors, designers, local jurisdictions and the community on an ongoing basis feeds relationships so that when issues arise, the group can readily work together to solve them.