September 27, 2024 – Adam Baginski, PE, PMP, Vice President of Rail/Transit Services at Envision Consultants, Ltd., admits that when great opportunities arise, patience isn’t always his strong suit. However, since joining Envision over two and a half years ago, that impatience has served his team, the company, and its clients well.

After a 14-year career at Conrail, Baginski joined Envision in 2022, an SBA certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), to help manage the Project Management Oversight (PMO) Contract the firm had secured with the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Envision was recently notified of award for a third consecutive National PMO Contract, which Baginski will spearhead as the Program Manager with support from Envision’s team of top-notch Rail and Transit and Project Controls professionals. The five-year contract term will keep the firm tasked with FTA assignments through 2030.

Since then, in addition to overseeing the firm’s work for the FTA, Baginski has assembled a strong team of Rail and Transit veterans helping to grow Envision’s presence, and win new work, in both the Rail and Transit industries. He also was tapped to manage the firm’s Philadelphia office, overseeing a move to a larger space last fall. In addition, he’s become a sought-after speaker and presenter at industry conferences, including the prestigious American Public Transit Association (APTA) Rail Conference in June, the Commuter Rail Coalition (CRC) Conference in March, and the NJ TransAction Conference last year.

Baginski shrugs off his busy schedule. “I can’t just sit when I know there is a need for our expertise,” he said. He’s also quick to credit both the firm and his team for Envision’s growth in Rail and Transit.

“If there’s one thing I’ve gotten right, it’s putting together a great team,” he said. “We’ve hired some real ‘rock-star’ veteran industry professionals along with younger professionals with solid skill-sets who are willing and eager to learn. We’ve got a great team.”

Baginski also credits Envision’s strong, 30-year reputation for reliable, results-oriented project controls as a reason for its success in the Rail and Transit industries.

“Envision started as a project controls firm, providing scheduling and estimating services, and that’s what we’re known for—and have delivered well—for 30 years. My job has been to bring that ‘heart’ of Envision—what we do best—to the rail industry,” Baginski said.

“Because of that combination of rail construction and project controls experience, we’re able to give our clients a much higher-quality, more accurate level of scheduling and estimating.  That’s true especially in the design phase of a project, because we have ‘boots-on-the-ground’ knowledge of the rail industry, its idiosyncrasies and its requirements.”

The railroad and public transit industries are different than others, in part, because of the around-the-clock nature of their service.

“All railroads and transit agencies exist to provide a service. In the case of passenger [transit], you’re connecting people to work, to employment, to shopping—to all of it. On the freight side, you’re literally keeping the lights on—you’re keeping power plants running and keeping factories running,” he explained.  “Unlike other industries, those services can’t stop for long periods to accommodate construction. The trains can’t stop, and work in one location affects the entire line.”

Envision’s depth of expertise—in Rail and Transit engineering, operations, construction, bridges, electrification, traction power and administration—also is unique, Baginski said.  As Chief Engineer at Conrail, Baginski was responsible for overseeing track, buildings, bridges, communications and signals, for ensuring that work was done safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, and for managing an annual budget of $60M. His team members are equally experienced, he said.

“We know how to build these projects. We know how to develop the schedules and the phasing.  And we know, realistically, how much it’s going to cost,” he said. “We also know the variability and the challenges, including passenger demands and capacity limitations, that are inherent in these projects. We know because we’ve been there.”

As a result, an increasing number of transit agencies are relying on Envision to seamlessly provide project controls and construction consulting services on their capital projects, Baginski stated.

As a WBE-Prime, Envision is providing programmatic and PMO services to the FTA on multiple Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) projects as part of an ongoing, $7M contract awarded in 2022. Work involves replacing two movable bridges—the Devon Bridge in Stratford and the Walk Bridge in Norwalk—with new lift bridges.  The Walk Bridge project also includes three contiguous bridge replacements, a new set of track interlockings at two locations, and the construction of a new, electrified passenger train layover yard at the Danbury Dockyards. Both the Walk and Devon bridge projects, totaling $2.5B, are critical links along the busy Northeast Corridor, Baginski said.

Envision also is providing PMO services to the FTA for the CTDOT Stamford Transportation Center Escalator and Elevator Improvements project. The $25M project involves the rehabilitation or replacement of 17 escalators and 5 elevators, as well as other improvements to boost passenger circulation and ADA compliance at the station. In addition, the station itself is being modernized, with new mechanical equipment and safety features.

Envision has been a consultant to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) on multiple open-ended PMO contracts involving multimodal transportation projects. Currently, as a subconsultant, the firm is providing program management, design support, value engineering, constructability, and design review services to PennDOT’s Bureau of Rail, Freight, Ports and Waterways for multiple projects throughout the Commonwealth. Projects include platform and station improvements, Corridor ID and service expansion studies, a master plan for the Keystone Corridor, grade crossing elimination studies, and expansion of Amtrak Pennsylvanian service on Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Line.

Envision has been successful working for both passenger and freight rail owners because its team understands the specific issues they each face, where those issues differ, and where they align, Baginski said.

“The needs of passenger rail and freight rail are very different. Their operations are very different, and they often don’t speak the same language,” he added. “We’re one of the few ‘bilingual’ consultants who can truly bridge those gaps.”

Envision also has expanded its role in recent years from subconsultant to prime consultant, a shift that is the result of hard work, reliability, expanded services and building a formidable full-scale design and construction consulting team. As a result, new opportunities are opening up for the firm that Baginski is eager to capture. As a WBE-Prime, the firm also recently completed a regional freight plan for the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO). This first-ever, integrated freight plan encompasses rail, highway, marine, pipeline and air freight to support the growth of an inclusive multi-modal network within South Jersey. The plan echoes goals of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which emphasizes the need for a transportation network to support economic development. South Jersey residents also have listed economic development as a top priority, Baginski said.

Although he’s energetic, delivering new consulting services regularly, Baginski is adamant that the Rail and Transit group’s growth is steady, balanced and well planned.

“For us, it’s about maintaining our quality,” he said. “and making sure that we have the right people in the right place, at the right time.”