Conversation with AECOM

Commuter Rail Conversations

In this first episode of Commuter Rail Conversations, we’re talking about creating certainty out of chaos.

The US is now in the eighth month of the Covid-19 pandemic. Transit agencies are facing unprecedented challenges. Not only are they managing drastically reduced ridership and farebox revenues, they’re working on strategies to help protect staff and transit riders, while also trying to re-establish public confidence in mass transit services.

Post-Labor Day hopes of returning to ‘normal’ commuting patterns were quickly dashed.

Pinning recovery hopes on turning the calendar past 2020 are being threatened by an uptick in cases and the so-called “second wave.” Major employers have announced they are not planning to welcome a return to the workplace before summer of 2021. And some have already taken steps to reduce their real estate footprint, having decided they will no longer require 8 hours/5 days in the office where working from home is a reasonable alternative.

Looking ahead, commuter rail CEOs have very difficult decisions to make about where, when and how full operations will resume. AECOM maintains that with the right analytical tools, a return to service can be fueled by meaningful and actionable data, allowing commuter railroads to progress beyond our “new normal” to a better normal.

Join us as we speak with AECOM’s Executive Vice President of the Americas Tom Prendergast, Vice President of Digital Innovation Orla Pease, and Vice President of Ventures Veronica Siranosian. Tom Prendergast is a founding member of the Commuter Rail Coalition and former head of the NY MTA.