Tom Williams, PE, VMA

Tom Williams has over 40 years of experience in trans­porta­tion planning and design. His expertise spans metro systems, light rail transit, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar, and heavy-haul freight rail. Tom’s background includes planning, feasibility studies, transit-oriented development, and program management. He is well-versed in managing projects within the FTA’s New Starts/Small Starts/Core Capacity program and coor­di­nat­ing with the NEPA process.

Tom draws inspiration from his personal connection to transit. “I am one of those ‘zero car households’ for which GIS exhibits are prepared during planning studies,” he explains. “I often discuss how, philo­soph­i­cally, I have chosen to be transit dependent because of the envi­ron­men­tal, land use, and sustain­abil­ity benefits.”

Tom’s proudest project is the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red-Purple Modern­iza­tion project. “Seeing the technical approach related to maintaining operations during construc­tion and the aerial structure come to life as envisioned in the conceptual design is very rewarding,” he shares. Tom was involved from early planning through to the Design-Build procurement phase.

“At CDM Smith, we are driven to first understand the client’s challenges, goals, problems, and concerns,” Tom says. “This fits my project planning approach. I want to help in solving transit system constraints to benefit the customers who use the systems. And I want the solutions to be constructable and fundable.”