Perkins&Will and Nelson\Nygaard Announce New Transit Leads

Background & Experience

Mrowiec previously served as the lead architect of the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 in New York City. He also led conceptual design for AirTrain stations for the extension to LaGuardia Airport, among other major undertakings. With over two decades of transit architecture and design experience in the New York metro area, he leads teams to build consensus and finds solutions to complex problems. His previous work on the PATH extension to Newark Airport master plan integrated new rail link stations to reconnect areas underserved by mass transit. Other projects he has led have engaged small business communities at the street-level to mitigate the impacts that years of construction can have on their livelihoods.

Lane is a sustainable transportation and urban planning leader with 25 years of experience advancing inclusive, climate-friendly solutions internationally.  He previously led two environmental and mobility think tanks, serving as CEO of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and as COO/Deputy Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.  He has overseen the development of industry best practices, including the BRT Standard, BRT Planning Guide, Equitable Transit Oriented Development Standard, and Safer By Design.  He also founded PhillyCarShare, earning an EPA Environmental Achievement Award.

“Now is such an important moment—with unprecedented investment flowing into sustainable transportation infrastructure—to transform our public transit systems, our urban development, and our streets to secure a climate-friendly, equitable future,” says Lane.  “I’m excited to work with a firm that puts people at the center of its work.”

A Unique Opportunity

The density of transit infrastructure in the Northeast is unlike anywhere else in the U.S. The Northeast Corridor rail lines alone support 820,000 trips each day: 780,000 on eight commuter railroads, and over 40,000 on Amtrak’s various intercity services across 457 miles of main line railroad. The public transit systems in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. metro areas account for over 50% of U.S. public transit ridership.  On top of this, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates an estimated $95.5 billion dollars to the region in support of new passenger and freight rail, airports, roads, and bridges.

“The importance of this moment in transportation investment and community development cannot be overstated,” says James McGrath, Perkins&Will firmwide Transportation Practice Chair. “We have a generational opportunity to expand, enhance and repair transit service and infrastructure while also better serving our communities, repairing our urban and civic fabric, and revitalizing high-capacity transit station areas, all while focusing outcomes on social equity and climate resiliency. Our firm is uniquely poised to move communities forward from multi-mobility planning through urban design, station architecture and deeply sustainable district developments.”