Who We Are

Lea+Elliott professional staff includes planning, engineering, program management, and O&M experts who have worked for public and private sector owners; transit system operators and agencies; transit system suppliers and manufacturers; design A/E firms; and contracting firms. Our first-hand knowledge of complex funding strategies (including Public Private Partnerships and Concessionaire approaches), environmental approval processes, transit system technologies, infrastructure design and construction processes, and project delivery approaches enables us to fully integrate a transportation project (from concept to passenger service) adding value that results in creative, on-target, cost-efficient transportation solutions that satisfy the owner’s goals and objectives.

What We Do

Lea+Elliott is a transportation consulting firm offering a broad range of services for clients worldwide. Our principal activities involve transportation system planning, procurement, project structuring strategies, and implementation oversight leading to the start of passenger service. We are experienced in all modes of transit, including high-speed rail, automated and conventional rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, automated guideway transit (or automated people mover (APM)), conventional and advanced technology buses, personal rapid transit, and emerging technologies. Our projects primarily involve airports (landside access and airside), urban communities, commercial/business districts, regional transit, and commuter lines.

Why We're Unique

Lea+Elliott is unique. Here’s why:

We are the transit industry’s technology leader, especially in automated transit systems.
Our performance-based contract documents specify performance, rather than detailed design, thus maximizing competition and assuring clients of the best value for their investment.
We have more experience in the successful development and implementation of landside and airside transit systems at airports than any other consulting firm. We know and have successfully managed the challenges of working in an active airport environment.
There are 41 airport people mover systems in the world. We led 38 of them. No other firm can make that claim.
We had a key role in the implementation of all three FTA-funded Downtown People Mover Systems in Miami, Jacksonville and Detroit and in the privately funded Las Colinas APM near DFW International Airport. Some recent and current urban projects include the Bay Area Rapid Transit District project in San Francisco that is structured using a PPP funding mechanism and the Doha West Bay APM System in Qatar.
Our clients include some of the largest rail transit authorities in cities across North America, from New York City in the east to San Francisco in the west, as well as Amtrak and the Federal Transit Administration; we serve them in multiple assignments.
Beyond North America, our experience includes projects throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Our firm offers state of the art systems expertise (vehicles, train control, power distribution, communications), coupled with extensive expertise in the infrastructure (that supports the system) and the successful integration of these two major aspects of a project.
With extensive transit experience, we offer strategic options to our clients - including bus and emerging bus technology options, fixed rail solutions, and policy approaches which may include a 'No build' alternative if the financing mechanism or the cost/benefit analysis does not justify the investment. We guide and advise clients throughout the decision-making process.
We work exclusively for owners, never suppliers of transit systems, assuring unbiased guidance and advice to our clients.

These combined attributes are only available to clients through Lea+Elliott’s dedicated team of transit professionals.

Our Culture

Throughout our firm's history, Lea+Elliott has maintained a corporate culture that is based on respect, recognition and innovation among the members of our employee-owned firm. We care deeply about each other and our clients. Our performance reviews assess how well we treat each other and those we serve. For us, being a family is more than a corporate phrase. It’s something we truly live. This attitude is reinforced through our mentoring program that seeks to enhance the personal and professional opportunities for every single employee. Lea+Elliott’s integrity is unquestioned – it comes from our founding principals and is maintained with pride by our leadership team and staff.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, citizenship status, national origin or ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, political affiliation, or any other factor protected by law.

Our Employees

We are proud that many employees have worked at Lea+Elliott for at least 20-30 years. Lea+Elliott attracts and retains internationally recognized specialists representing the gamut of transit experience. Many of our professionals have worked for airport, public transit authorities, suppliers, design architecture and engineering firms, and construction firms.

Our staff members, individually and collectively, have earned well-deserved reputations as team players that view each project from the owner’s perspective.

Our Reach

Our reach is worldwide. We have hundreds of clients around the globe, as we have delivered projects in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. A large majority of our clients turn into long-term repeat clients based on the value of the services they receive and the trust they have in the experts at Lea+Elliott.