Lawrence F. Hughes Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

New York, Ny, Us

New York, New York, Us

New York, New York, Us

Chief advisor on transportation regulatory matters for leading national provider of intercity and commuter bus service through brokerage agreements with numerous motor carriers of passengers. Engaged in strategic planning for expansion of bus operations, inclusive of planning and administration routes, schedules, and bus stops. Buses serve fourteen states and District of Columbia, and consistently earn highest passenger satisfaction ratings among all large bus companies and brokers. OurBus has been characterized as one of two juggernauts by the leading bus industry think tank, the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University.

Planning and marketing advice to clients involved in passenger transportation. Primary areas of expertise include service design and route planning; scheduling (demand analysis, headway specification, vehicle blocking, runcutting, and rostering); system map and individual route schedule design, including accessibility for people with disabilities and limited English proficiency; Title VI analysis; and drafting of RFPs and proposals in response to RFPs.

Sole practitioner providing legal and regulatory advice and representation to clients involved in passenger transportation. Types of clients have included privately-owned and government-owned public transportation systems, brokers for motor carriers of passengers, paratransit and ambulette transportation operators, providers of commuter vanpool services, new entrant bus manufacturers, and transit system employees. Scope of advice inclusive of liability avoidance, operating authority application and adjudication; interaction with federal, state, and local government regulators (e.g., FTA, FMCSA); litigation research, drafting, and support; contract drafting and review; transit labor protection; and general ancillary services (taxation, trademarks, and personal bankruptcy).

Advised senior corporate executives on various legal and policy aspects of the operation of transit bus service and tax issues. Interpreted statutes, regulations, and administrative guidance related to FTA programs and ensured company compliance with ADA, drug and alcohol, charter and school bus, and National Transit Database regulations. Provided guidance on issues relating to threatened condemnation and ultimate sale of transit bus business to city, including advice on termination and condemnation issues, relevant City Charter provisions and other administrative law, IRC § 1033 tax strategies, and FTA § 13(c) labor law protections. Successfully formulated plan, authored competitive proposal, and participated in negotiations to enter paratransit business as a profitable venture by repurposing an underutilized piece of real property. Leveraged competitive advantage based on available synergies with already-existing bus operations. Scouted for opportunities to profitably operate transit service under contract, and wrote proposals for operating transit services in Gainesville, Ga., Santa Clarita, Calif., and elsewhere. Prepared schedules and cost analyses for new and revised transit routes. Wrote schedules based on ridership and policy, blocked equipment, cut and rostered runs, and published timetables. Analyzed cost using fixed capital costs of additional vehicles, incremental operating costs based on revised schedules, and estimated revenue from ridership changes. Supervised external scheduling vendor. Engaged and managed outside consultant to conduct timekeeping studies tracking drivers and associated costs and revenue. Implemented new systems that reduced excessive costs and earned performance incentives.

New York, Ny, Us

Planned and implemented service changes designed to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the transit system and enhance the urban environment. Most successful was the transformation of a failing express route within Brooklyn; service that once operated hourly weekday daytime only now provides daily service every 7½ minutes midday and every 2–3 minutes rush hour. Designed and implemented fare policies. Established peak/off-peak fare pricing, with induced ridership and higher peak fare offsetting lowered off-peak fare, increasing overall fare revenue. Integrated MetroCard system on privately-operated buses and designed TravelCard for discounted travel. Increased ridership by improving usability of maps. Co-authored detailed airport maps with Port Authority. Designed and published first city-wide express bus route map, and incorporated privately-operated local route on MTA transit maps. Conducted feasibility study with officials from Brazil to demonstrate their bus rapid transit system. Designed and implemented a trial route in lower Manhattan, elements of which were incorporated into New York City Transit Authority’s “Select Bus Service” system. Increased ridership at minimal cost by installing bike racks on buses, specifically helpful for riders desiring to cross major East River bridge without sidewalks, thereby saving significant time and distance. Developed a more precise sampling scheme calculating the number of passenger miles carried which reduced required NTD sampling by 75%.

New York, Ny, Us

Collected, analyzed, organized, and published data relating to bus and rail operations of MTA New York City Transit.

San Jose, Ca, Us

Merit-granted position involving transportation route planning, scheduling, and bus stop management while studying at university.

Master Of Laws - Llm, Taxation

Doctor Of Law - Jd, Law

Master Of Science - Ms, Transportation Planning And Engineering

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Applied Mathematics

Non-Matriculated, Physics

Education record

Non-Matriculated, Mathematics