Transit and Specialized Transit Services

• Public and Private sector Transit clients

• Conventional Transit, Specialized Transit, BRT, Coach, Student Transportation

• Planning

• Operations

• Transit feasibility studies and implementation plans

• Route network and service design

• Service and route reviews

• Low-cost methods of service delivery

• Transit-oriented design

• Smart card technology and implementation

• Ridership Growth Strategies

• Asset Management

• Business Models and Governance

• State of Accessibility and AODA

• Business Case Assessments

• Long-term Transit strategies

• Alternative low-cost forms of service delivery

• Public and stakeholder consultations

• Union-management relations

• Organization reviews

• CAD/ AVL and TSP functional design and implementation

• Public consultations

Public Transportation Feasibility Studies

• Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario

• East Hants, Nova Scotia

• Municipal District of Lunenburg

• Town of Stratford (PEI)

• Town of Cornwall (PEI)

• Town of Drumheller, Alberta

• Red Deer County, Alberta

• City of Selkirk, Manitiba

• Community Care Northumberland

• Municipality of Prince Edward County

BRT/ LRT Strategies:

• Mississauga Transit (Transit Advisor)

• Durham Region Transit

• Brampton Transit BRT Integration

• Kitchener Transit Transit Priority

• TTC Transit Priority and HOV lanes

• TTC LRT (Transit Advisor)

Transit Master Plans, Service Reviews, Ridership Growth/ Asset Management Plan:

• Woof Buffalo Transit (Fort McMurray)

• Grande Prairie Transit

• Barrie Transit

• Mississauga Transit

• Durham Region Transit

• Burlington Transit

• Cape Breton Regional Municipality

• Sault St. Marie Transit

• Port Hope Transit/ Cobourg Transit

• Huntsville Transit

• Windhoek, Namibia

• Doha, Qatar

Specialized Transit Studies

• Sault Transit Parabus 5-Year Integration Plan

• Travel Training Program and Current State of Accessibility – York Region Transit

• Handi-Trans Service Review, Cape Breton

• Para-Transit Service Review, St. John’s

• Handi-Dart, Coast Mountain Bus Company

• Bruce Grey Huron Disability Corporation

• Northumberland County

• Towns of Cobourg and Port Hope

• Community Care Northumberland

• Accessible Transportation (Hamilton)

• Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

• Kitchener-Waterloo Accessibility Implementation Plan

Transit Terminal Function Designs  

• Islington and Kipling Subway Station: Bus Terminal Operations Study and Inter-modal Terminal Functional Design – TTC, Mississauga Transit, and GO Transit

• Wood Buffalo Transit Terminal Design

• Grande Prairie Location and Concept Design

• Alton Inter-modal Terminal and Parking Facility Functional Design (Burlington)

• City of Kitchener Downtown Transportation Inter-modal Bus Terminal functional design

• Fairview Park Mall Transit Terminal Functional Design (Kitchener)

• University of Waterloo (Waterloo)

• Highland Hills Mall Terminal (Kitchener)

• Stanley Park Mall (Kitchener)

Other Project Manager Roles

• Transit Cape Breton and Handi-Trans Service Review

• Wood Buffalo Transit Master Plan Implementation Retainer

• York Region Transit Retainer

• Grande Prairie Transit Smart Card Business Case Assessment

• Integrated Student Transportation Plan for City of Grande Prairie

• Greater Toronto Area Farecard System (Smart Card) – York Region Transit

• Employee Transit Pass Program Evaluation – Transport Canada                                               

• Ontario Ridership Audit Study – Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA)

• Timed Transfer System (TTS) – Kitchener-Waterloo

• Integrated Traveler Information System – Moving The Economy

• Strategic Goods Movement Study – Ministry of Transportation (Onatrio)

• Smart Card Business Case Assessments: Sault Ste. Marie, Oshawa, Bradford, Grande Prairie, Wood Buffalo

• Transit Technology Implementation Plan and Implementation – Kitchener-Waterloo

• Transit Supportive Land Use Design Guidleines for the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and the Region of Waterloo

• Regional Transit Study for Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford/ Sackville

• Transit Priority (Halifax Transit)

Consulting Industry Accomplishments

• Reputation across Canada as the go-to person at HDR for Transit planning and operations expertise

• Involved in over 100 projects from rural to large urban environments and national studies

• Assisted municipalities in securing grants or receiving external enhanced funding

• Presented Transit papers at national and regional conferences

• Two clients received national CUTA awards for innovation and efficiency excellence

• Prepared a paper for Transportation Association of Canada entitled Right-sizing Transit: What is a Reasonable Level of Investment” designed for the non-Transit professional and elected officials

• Numerous letters of commendation from clients – municipal and federal

• Developed a unique design concept and operations plan for the Kipling Subway Station multi-modal terminal; the design was the first concept in over 40 years that was supported by the TTC

• Introduced Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) effectiveness measure to secure enhanced funding

• Became a national expert in rural community transit service, including transit feasibility studies through to the implementation and start-up  of new transit systems

• Involved in the functional design and business case assessments for the Presto card system, including the business case for Oshawa Transit and York Region Transit

• Developed the York Region Transit travel training manual – now called myRide - considered a model for other Ontario transit systems

• 95% of transit consulting projects managed were undertaken on time and within budget

Public Sector Accomplishments

• Progressed from Transit Planner to Director of Kitchener Transit within 3 years at the age of 29

• No increase in size of Transit administration support staff during 18-year tenure

• Became one of the most technologically advanced transit systems in North America by 1982; implemented computerized scheduling, automated passenger counting and reporting system, automated passenger

• information system, and vehicle location technology (predecessor of GPS)

• Had foresight to replace/ expand transit fleet by 25% before Provincial capital funding disappeared

• Reduced bus operator absenteeism by 30%

• Reduced maintenance staff by over 20%

• Only 22 lost days due to strikes over 18 years (Canadian Auto Workers - CAW)

• CAW acceptance of contracted low-cost transit feeder services

• Secured from 90% to 100% demonstration funding for several transit technology investments

• Helped develop the functional capabilities of the first successful smart card project in North America

• Managed all short- and long-term service plans, which were developed in-house

• Increased the role that Transit plays in urban growth through adoption of  transit-supportive development design guidelines in 1979 and saw the positive impact they had to help shape urban form and reduce future

• Transit costs; guidelines were emulated by many municipalities in Ontario

• Responsible for the location, concept design, and operation of the world class 28 bus bay (inter-modal) Kitchener Downtown Transportation Centre (built under budget at $10M in 1986); also negotiated with Province

• of Ontario to increase the funding available at the time

• Developed a Time Transfer System, establishing primary and secondary transit nodes and corridors, which were included in the Regional Official Policy Plan Review document

• Lead the design of four satellite bus terminals (mobility hubs) to accommodate up to 12 buses

• First official to have a low-floor wheelchair only accessible bus purchase policy in North America

• Introduced a number of initiatives in the early 1990s that meet today’s AODA requirements

• Developed a strategy to increase efficiency of school ‘specials’ by over 50% 

• Successfully secured approval to purchase abandoned railway corridors for future BRT/ LRT service

• Several presentations at Canadian and Ontario transit conferences, including roles on expert panels

• Contributing author to the Canadian Transit Handbook

• 1990-1992 transit consulting assignments in Windhoek, Namibia through Africa 2000 CIDA-FCM project; over 60 recommendations were adopted and the project was considered a model of success

• Developed route network and ridership forecasts for the amalgamated transit systems of Halifax Transit, Dartmouth Transit and Acadian Bus Lines (Metro Transit Commission)

• Introduced and trained Halifax Transit staff in the use of RUCUS, which was the earliest version of transit scheduling software in the world; this helped reduce the peak fleet by 10%

Education

• Civil Engineering, Municipal Discipline – Diploma (1975), Ryerson Polytechnical Institute/ University

• Numerous technical, management and labour relations courses throughout career 

Professional Affiliations

• Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists

• Numerous speaking engagements throughout career at CUTA, OPTA and TAC

• Advisor to Project Lift Board of Directors (10 yrs)

• Founder and Past Chairman of Kitchener-Kitchener-Waterloo Community Transportation Action Plan

• Founding Member of the Waterloo – St. Jacobs Tourist Train

• Board Member Canadian National Institute for the Blind (5 yrs)

 Wally Beck In The News > Click here