HDR’s Pat Porzillo, P.E., was recently promoted to be the firm’s transit engineering director.
Working out of Washington, D.C., Porzillo will provide technical leadership focused on transit engineering design and implementation services for light rail, subway, automated people movers and commuter rail.
Today’s transit ridership environment is fast-changing, and Porzillo will help HDR’s transit teams monitor trends to better understand, serve and connect clients and communities. He will provide direction and oversight through all phases of projects, from planning through preliminary engineering, final design and construction to the initiation of service. Porzillo will work with teams to leverage resilient and emerging technologies, developing tailored solutions that tackle communities’ greatest transit challenges.
“Our industry is in a position of sustained growth — transit is evolving with new off-peak ridership improvements and transitioning from serving the commuter via suburbs to downtown core to other destinations for entertainment and sports,” Porzillo said. “We have an opportunity to support new and emerging ridership trends and develop infrastructure to connect new destinations as well as developing new revenue opportunities for our transit clients.”
Porzillo has 37 years of experience in planning, design, construction, and maintenance and operations of transportation infrastructure. His experience includes serving as chief engineer of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, associate vice president of commuter rail for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, deputy division engineer at Amtrak, and track, bridge and building supervisor at Norfolk Southern. Porzillo implemented infrastructure upgrades that enabled the Acela high-speed operation in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. As a project manager, he’s led contracts valued at up to $1.5 billion across the U.S. and overseen teams of up to 1,000 employees.
Active in the overall transportation industry, Porzillo is a member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association’s Ties and Fasteners Committee and the Rail Transit Committee. He’s also a member of the American Public Transit Association’s Noise and Vibration Committee.
“Pat possesses deep technical knowledge combined with diverse public agency and consultant-led project experiences which are invaluable,” said Matt Tucker, HDR’s Global Transit Director. “I look forward to collaborating with him as we partner with the transit industry to develop and implement infrastructure improvements that enhance the quality of life in communities.”
