Mass Transit magazine features agency profiles, industry trends, management tips and new product information.
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50 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 Andrew Wyly Maintenance Manager UC Davis Unitrans Justin S. Wheeler, P.E. Southern California Business Class Area Manager – Rail/Transit HDR ANDREW WYLY has served as the maintenance manager at Unitrans since May 2011. He is responsible for the unique bus feet that Unitrans operates as the public transportation provider for the city of Davis, California, and the University of California, Davis. Te feet includes 49 buses, most of which are standard CNG buses, similar to other transit systems, as well as two modern Alexander-Dennis double deckers. However, what makes Unitrans feet unique is the presence of four vintage London double-decker buses, originally built in post-WWII years (1948-1954). Wyly has overseen the most recent rebuilding of these buses, including installing modern die- sel engines in two of them and converting the other two to CNG. Tis has made it possible to allow the 60-year-old buses to continue in service today. In addition to the special challenges of main- taining a diverse vehicle feet, another notable as- pect of Unitrans and Wyly's role as maintenance manager is the use of student employees as shop assistant mechanics. Te Unitrans maintenance department includes just four full-time mechan- ics to maintain the feet, and all of its maintenance work is performed in house. To make this possi- ble, the career mechanics oversee 12 to 15 student mechanics who work part time while pursuing their undergraduate degree at UC Davis. Wyly leads this efort and takes great pride in teaching these students how to perform various maintenance functions safely and correctly. Te students gain skills that serve them in their future, along with a strong apprecia- tion of bus technology. Several do continue in the transit in- dustry, ofen in engineering positions, having beneftted greatly from their maintenance work experience. Wyly began his career in transit at Unitrans as a bus driver and shop assistant in the 1990s. He has been very active in the industry, including partic- ipation in regional, state and national conferences, workshops, and information sharing. www.MassTransitmag.com/11617558 JUSTIN WHEELER has man- aged multi-disciplinary teams of experts in the design of complex rail and transit projects for multiple clients throughout the Southwest since joining HDR in 2002. Notable projects include the Downtown San Bernardino Passenger Rail in Southern California, West Valley Light Rail Tran- sit in Utah, and Sugar House Streetcar in Utah. As a project manager, Wheel- er has spearheaded technical innovations and led large and diverse teams of engineers and support staf for several of HDR's most complex rail projects, in- cluding the San Bernardino proj- ect and the Raymer to Bernson double track project. Since 2009, he has served as the client man- ager for an on-call engineering services contract with Metrolink and has managed a total of $16 million in contract task orders. His experience spans diferent rail modes and project delivery methods. He understands the design-bid-build de- livery while involved in design-build projects and public-private partnerships. Wheeler was the track segment lead for the Regional Transit District's Fastrack Project in Denver, the Eagle P3 Project. Additionally, he has been involved as a program manager on one of the nation's most successful New Starts projects with Valley Metro in Phoe- nix. He was part of the program management team spearheading the implementa - tion of the Valley Metro Light Rail Project, which broke every ridership forecast statistic while creating more than $2 billion of private development. Wheeler was nominated by senior leadership in 2011 for HDR's Career Skills Program — an internal leadership and management training — and be- came a Dale Carnegie graduate. With a frm of more than 8,500 employees, it is a great honor to be selected as one of the few to attend this training. In 2012, he was selected as a senior ofcer within HDR, landing directly at the associate vice president level. www.MassTransitmag.com/11617621 "I developed a strong interest in rail transit engineering while traveling extensively in Europe and seeing firsthand how well- designed systems are embraced by the communities they serve … We have an opportunity in the United States to really transform communities and influence more sustainable land uses through the careful planning and design of rail transit systems." "Working in maintenance always presents new challenges every day. Our shop at UC Davis has many students working alongside our mechanics. This mentorship is what makes it a special place to work."