05/03/00
The Chicago Transit Board today approved a five-year contract for program manager services to oversee the CTA's Capital Improvement Program. Over the next five years, the Chicago Transit Authority will invest more than$1 billion in capital improvement projects. The areas to be improved and the new facilities will have their useful life extended by up to 40 years.
In order to effectively execute the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), the CTA solicited the services of a professional Program Manager to implement, lead and direct the program to enable the CTA to achieve four Program goals. These are: committing 80% of the funds within five years; realizing the majority of the benefits within five years; moving the CTA infrastructure toward a state of good repair; and equitably distributing benefits throughout the CTA service area.
The CTA solicited letters of interest and qualifications for the CIP management services and received seven responses. The international firm of O'Brien Kreitzberg was selected as the firm to provide the professional program manager services. O'Brien Kreitzberg is one of the country's leading construction program management firms, with over 16,000 people worldwide. The firm has managed capital improvement programs totalling over $191 billion, including major transit projects in New York, Dallas, California, Honolulu and Toronto, as well as airport improvement programs at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, Boston's Logan Airport, New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and Newark's International Airport. O'Brien Kreitzberg, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Under the terms of the five-year, $60.8 million contract, O'Brien Kreitzberg will manage the CTA's Capital Improvement Program and the individual construction projects that make up the program. In addition to these projects, approximately $800 million will be spent to bring the CTA's bus and rail fleets into a state of good repair. That program will be managed internally.
Over the next five years, the Chicago Transit Authority is fortunate to face the challenge of managing more than $1.2 billion in capital improvement projects that will improve, enhance and renew our rail and bus systems," said CTA President Frank Kruesi. "Just two years ago, 19% of our capital needs were funded, now we have 70% of our capital needs funded. These capital improvement projects would not have been possible if not for the strong funding support from Congress, the Administration and Governor Ryan's Illinois FIRST program."
Kruesi added, "By importing the talent of a professional program management firm of the stature of O'Brien Kreitzberg, the CTA can move forward with our capital improvements with the assurance that these projects will be managed by a national leader in the field of transportation construction project oversight."
Chicago Transit Board Chairman Valerie B. Jarrett said, "The CTA, our customers and the communities we serve stand to benefit greatly from the influx of capital funding for improvements to our rail stations, our track structure, bus turnarounds and bus facilities. It is critical that the CTA meet the program goals we have established and that we spend our funding in a fiscally responsible and timely manner. Through the CTA Capital Improvement Program, we are not only improving our system, we are investing in our future."
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