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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis February 22, 2013
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APTA MEMBER PROFILE
Meet Raul Bravo!

Raul Bravo
President
Raul V. Bravo + Associates, Inc.
Reston, VA
Chair, APTA Standards Development and Oversight Council
Chair, International Subcommittee, APTA P3 Projects Committee

How many people do you employ/how many people at your agency/business?
55 full-time engineers and professionals and 45 part-time associates.

How long have you worked in the public transportation industry?
37 years.

How long have you been an APTA member?
18 years.

What drew you to a career in public transportation?
I was a project engineer working for Ford Motor Co. I worked there for about nine years. It was a very exciting and challenging opportunity, but at that time—in the 1970s—it was obvious that public transportation was entering the early stages of a renaissance.

Events such as the energy crisis helped me recognize the need to further develop a comprehensive transportation network, so I became involved with public transit. I viewed this as an exciting and challenging opportunity, also because of the importance of mass transit as a public service.

Raul V. Bravo + Associates mostly deals with public transit systems, including rail and buses. We provide services from the early stages of planning, project development, and procurement, and manage project delivery and support operations and maintenance. Safety and security planning is also included in our portfolio. We believe that in order to best serve the needs of our clients, we must have solid knowledge and understanding of all aspects of a transportation project.

What have you found to be the most valuable APTA benefit or resource – that helps you do your job?
The ability to participate with my peers and colleagues through APTA committees, task forces, and other membership groups in the development of a true and sustainable national transportation network.

Please explain why or how this has helped.
I have been able to join in a healthy and sometimes intense exchange of ideas, with common sense objectives and goals.

For example, I chair the APTA Standards Development and Oversight Council. The creation of standards has brought together all sides of the public transit industry to create an updated, state-of-the-art system.

Before the creation of standards, individual agencies developed their own requirements and specifications, leading to confusion in the industry. Not only that, the cost of developing such systems and technologies was very high because the development work had to start fresh each time. In contrast, I recently completed a cost-benefit analysis for using APTA Standards that showed $82 in savings for every dollar invested in the process. I achieved this result through an assessment of cost benefits applying to the initial development of standards, as well as the cost of maintaining vehicles and systems not covered by any existing standards.

This was a necessary effort in order to justify the investment and maintain FTA as a partner in the effort. I knew the benefits were significant, but did not expect the magnitude.

What do you like most about your job?
I am 75 years old and still involved in the mass transit industry, because I believe in it and the service it offers to the public. I’ll continue to stay active because of the satisfaction in accomplishing meaningful and worthwhile objectives. It keeps me awake, keeps me going. It’s a very satisfying and rewarding business.

What is unique about your business (what would readers be surprised to learn)?
I founded Raul V. Bravo + Associates as a one-man shop in 1979. Today, after 34 years of measured and steady growth, we have a staff of about 100 full- and part-time professionals, have worked for almost 250 clients in the public and private sectors, and have delivered projects in over 25 countries.

I am very proud of our staff, especially my two sons helping RVB+A to continue delivering meaningful and practical solutions. I love participating in it. I can see the wide involvement of our company in all areas of transportation—rail, bus—and also the impact of our work in the communities.

Make sure you see Raul Bravo's video, after you've read this!

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