SAN FRANCISCO — WSP USA, a leading engineering and professional services consultancy, is joining the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system to celebrate its 50th year providing public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area.
WSP has been a trusted partner to BART for nearly seven decades, dating back to the firm’s work (then as Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas) as the engineer-of-record on the original rapid transit system, including the Transbay Tube, which connects service from Oakland to San Francisco via a tube under the San Francisco Bay.
This visionary project – which was the first completely new urban-scale, rapid transit system in the U.S. in 70 years – recognized the important link between land use and transit, while offering a viable alternative to the rising popularity of the automobile.
This month, BART celebrates 50 years of service to the communities of the San Francisco Peninsula, East Bay and South Bay. The service currently operates in five counties, transporting thousands of passengers daily via 131 miles of track and 50 stations.
“We opened our first transportation office on the West Coast in San Francisco to support the BART project in the 1950s,” said Paula Gartner, Northern California District Leader for WSP. “We’re proud to continue working with the agency today, and we’re bringing the same commitment to innovation and essential professional services that delivered the first fundamental service routes in 1972 to projects that are helping transition rapid transit in the Bay Area into the future.”
WSP teams have helped the agency deliver recent improvements and extensions to Silicon Valley, Warm Springs and the Oakland Airport Connector. The firm’s work continues today as part of the Arup/WSP Joint Venture to deliver Link21, which will provide a new transbay rail crossing between Oakland and San Francisco, in addition to other projects that will connect BART and Regional Rail and offer sustainable connections throughout 21 counties in Northern California.
“We are honored to be such a longstanding partner of BART and congratulate the agency on this incredible milestone,” said Jannet Walker-Ford, senior vice president and national Transit and Rail market leader for WSP USA. “The opening of BART service in 1972 marked a momentous occasion in transit history and made an incredible impact on the industry that continues today. We are excited to continue partnering with the agency well into the future to bring access to sustainable, equitable and reliable transit to communities throughout the Bay Area and Northern California.”
BART will mark its 50th anniversary on Sept. 10 with a festival at Lake Merritt Station and Plaza. WSP is a proud sponsor of the event.
About WSP USA
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 12,000 employees in 200 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper. wsp.com
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