Joseph Black Email & Phone Number

Austin, Tx, Us

Montreal, Quebec, Ca

Lead WSP USA's Rail Corridor Development program, targeting intercity passenger rail corridors for alternatives analysis, service planning, operations analysis, and infrastructure planning activities.Lead the Rail Operations & Service Planning group for WSP's Transit and Rail National Business Line, providing technical management, personnel management, budget management, and strategy for the group.Collaborate with other disciplines to create innovative offerings in the transit and rail space.Manage projects and programs to deliver rail operations expertise to major rail capital projects and asset management activities.Develop, share, and act on business intelligence to enhance proposals and bids, and assist in the creation of technical and cost proposals for the Rail Operations & Service Planning practice.

Dallas, Tx, Us

Provided expert rail operations, owner’s representative, and program management experience to clients in the passenger transportation industry, working for a world-leading engineering consulting company with annual revenue in excess of $15 billion.Experience with Jacobs includes working as the Revenue Readiness Lead for the Silver Line Phase 2 project, extending Washington Metrorail service to Dulles Airport and into Fairfax and Loudon Counties, and as the Deputy Project Manager for the Federal Railroad Administration’s Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Study.Led teams of rail operations analysts in performing highly complex studies and investigations for clients across the passenger transportation spectrum.Directed programs and projects.Advanced business development efforts by providing intelligence and analysis of client needs and potential project opportunities.

London, Gb

Delivered consultant advisory services in the field of rail operations, rail infrastructure operations, rail planning, schedule optimization and related activity, in railroad, subway/metro, and light rail environments, for a consulting firm owned by the British national railway, Network Rail.Provided quality review and oversight for projects in the western part of the United States.Fostered and maintained relationships with clients and gathered business intelligence of developments with target clients, identified and assessed project opportunities, acted as technical lead for the development of responses to Requests for Credentials and Requests for Proposals, identified people to serve on teams in proposals, and worked with the business development team to join on sales calls, make presentations at national meetings and develop collateral material as appropriate.

London, Gb

Directed consultant advisory services in the field of rail transportation operations, rail infrastructure operations, rail planning, schedule optimization and related activity, in railroad, subway/metro, and light rail environments.Organized, led, and provided the necessary consultant skills and resources to deliver NRC's services in North America drawing from employees in NRC, Network Rail and external partners, and serving as the key technical resource for developing and executing projects in this area of activity. Performed quality review and oversight for rail operations projects.

Led the execution of the Rail District's Lone Star Regional Rail Project, including the new LSTAR passenger rail service in the Austin-San Antonio Corridor. Total value of the overall program was over $4 billion. As a member of the Joint Executive Team for Project Connect (a joint venture between the area's transportation entities and the city of Austin), led policy for rail and bus improvements in the Austin metropolitan area. The company is a public agency responsible for planning, constructing, and operating a new regional passenger rail service proposed to serve the I-35 corridor from Georgetown and Austin to San Antonio, TX.Handled responsibilities of executive management, strategic leadership, Board relations, station planning, transit-oriented development strategies and tax increment financing arrangements, government and public relations, program management, rail operations review, budget management, freight railroad and other third-party negotiations, and procurement and negotiation of a P3 contract to deliver the Lone Star Regional Rail Project.

Managed the planning and execution of the District's mandate to provide passenger rail service in Central Texas, and to plan and execute the relocation of the current Union Pacific freight railroad corridor to a new line east of I-35 in an alignment between Taylor, TX and Seguin, TX. Total value of the project was over $4 billion. Represented Lone Star Rail District on the planning committee of Project Connect (a joint venture between the area's transportation entities and the city of Austin), and in that role regularly presented to the Transit Working Group of the regional MPO, made up of policymakers from the Austin region.Managed project and program and performed strategic planning, including planning and negotiation for TOD and new tax increment zones around proposed stations.Handled Board relations, government and public relations, program management, rail operations review, budget management, and provision of passenger rail operating experience to the project.

New York, New York, Us

Delivered in-depth technical analyses of rail operations (commuter rail, heavy rail, and light rail), plus bus rapid transit (BRT) including simulation modeling, infrastructure planning, operating plan evaluation, rail rolling stock evaluation and specification, signal and safety systems design, and schedule development, in light, heavy, and commuter rail and bus rapid transit environments. Provided strategic and tactical planning, plus personnel and budget management.Performed business planning and business development activities.Designed, planned, and led training programs dealing with rail operations analysis, rail simulation modeling, and operations planning for a variety of clients, including SEPTA, Caltrain, Metrolink, MTA NYC Transit, NJ TRANSIT, PATH, and Amtrak.

Managed all rail operations - transportation and mechanical functions (plus management oversight of engineering functions) at a major metropolitan area passenger railroad, meeting on time performance and capacity goals during a time of intense infrastructure overhaul and construction.Evaluated and re-engineered operating plan to increase on-time performance and decrease operating costs.Managed overhaul of the locomotive engineer training program, purchase of locomotive simulator, replacement of operations planning software, and redesign of operational efficiency testing program.

Responsible for basic life support, emergency response, ambulance operations, pre-hospital patient care and patient transport in a 911 setting. Routine duties included checking and maintaining BLS medical bags and assisting paramedics.Decorated for a life save at a fire scene.

Willow Grove, Pa, Us

Responsible for emergency response, basic life support, ambulance operations, radio communications, pre-hospital patient care in a busy 911 system just outside Philadelphia, PA. Routine duties included checking and maintaining BLS medical bags and assisting paramedics.

New York, New York, Us

Conducted in-depth technical analyses of rail operations (commuter, heavy, and light rail), including rail simulation modeling, infrastructure planning, operating plan evaluation, rail rolling stock evaluation and specification, signal and safety systems design, and schedule development, in light, heavy, and commuter rail environments.Supervised and mentored teams of operations analysts on major projects for clients including Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Florida DOT, Georgia DOT, and the Port Authority of New York / New Jersey.

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Managed a staff of five application developers and data analysts, responsible for the design of data processing applications to track all safety-related statistics across the Authority, including Section 15 (later National Transit Database) reporting, for development of safety recommendations for rubber-tired and steel-wheeled modes.Coordinated with SEPTA’s third-party administrators for Workers’ Compensation claims to ensure data accuracy and prompt claim payment. Efforts resulted in a successful changeover of contractors with minimal impact to data integrity or claims processing.

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Managed a staff of five field investigators, responsible for the investigation of all employee injuries and serious passenger injuries and accidents in the SEPTA five-county service region, including bus, paratransit, light rail, heavy rail, and commuter rail.Arranged and coordinated training for investigations staff with the Bucks County Police Training Center and the National Fraud Center.Investigated over 800 injury and accident cases, with the majority resulting in identification of needed safety improvements, or identification of fraudulent claims.Identification of fraudulent employee injury claims resulted in an average savings of over $10 million over the life of the claims in a one-year period.

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Starting entry level as a Ticket Agent with the Authority's Railroad Sales contractor, worked in a variety of positions with Revenue Collections, Stations, Transportation, and Administration, before transitioning to Authority-wide responsibility in the SEPTA Safety Department.

B.A, Political Science

M.S., Transportation Program; Engineering And Applied Science