Since joining STV in 2005 Tyler Bonstead has dedicated himself to managing the planning and design of high-speed rail, light rail transit (LRT), commuter rail and bus rapid transit systems. Bohnstead is presently a senior planner and head of STV's west region planning group, involved in several cutting-edge programs, including the nation's first true HSR service and one of the first projects to enter the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Small Starts program.
Bonstead's focus is on major transit corridor projects. He is currently leading the planning and outreach for the 30-mile Los Angeles to Anaheim segment of the proposed California High-Speed Train Project — one of the only statewide segments that integrates high- and low-speed trains along the same tracks. As part of this endeavor, he is involved in the innovative implementation of a phased plan for the project. As resources allow, smaller stage commuter rail and Amtrak service improvement projects are completed first that can also be used for high-speed rail service at a later date. This ensures the completion of the project while still aiming for an ultimate vision of the corridor. His team used a similar plan for the Metro Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor project.
Another notable project is the Riverside County Transportation Commission Perris Valley Line extension of Southern California's Metrolink commuter rail system. The documents that Bonstead prepared led to a successful FTA Small Starts Application for the project and are now used as a template for other Small Starts projects around the country.
Additionally, Bonstead is spearheading plans to connect Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to public transportation — a 30-year-old project that may soon come to fruition. For this, his team is employing an innovative analysis of travel time benefits to choose a configuration that best serves LAX's many separate terminals.
Bonstead gives back to the transit community through his role as the president of the Railway Association of Southern California. He enjoys attending public transportation meetings around LA to get a comprehensive feel for the city's current transit projects and the public's views of transit across the region.
Working with the Public
“The thing I like the most is the amount of interaction I get to have with the public. I get to go out to public meetings a lot of the time. For me, that is one of the most important pieces of the process, talking to the public and getting their input.
“Also, planning. In my eyes that's the part of the project where we get to have the most flexibility to design the project. The planning phase of the process is very big picture. There is a lot of freedom to come up with the best concept for the community when planning a new transit line.
“Planning gives me a lot of flexibility to work with the community so that we can do some major things at an early stage, before we get too far down the road when it's a lot harder to make a lot of changes.
“I do enjoy the fact that I get to work almost exclusively with public transportation and giving people options to get to their houses or their jobs or their schools. It's something that would be a passion of mine even if I wasn't planning public transportation projects as a job.”
“When I talk to people from the public and from the industry, I feel like it is very tough for them to see a project that has a real need and then have to wait 20-25 years for it to be completed. I would really love to see if projects could be built in an accelerated timeframe so that they could be up and running in 10 years as opposed to 30. Then there would be a public transportation option for just about every piece of LA County.”
A Special Event
“I didn't have a lot of chances to use public transportation as a child. We didn't have a whole lot of transit options in our small town. We were about an hour away from San Francisco, and most of the time we'd drive. Every once in a while, though, we would take the ferry into the city and then walk around or take public transit. Those were special events for me.”
Car Free
“I went to college in Manhattan and didn't touch a car for four years and enjoyed that lifestyle of being able to walk or take the train or bus everywhere. And even though I live in LA today, I choose to live near public transit. I still do a lot of my trips through public transit and want other people to have that option too.”
Future Professionals
"I like mentoring. I do it as part of WTS (Women's Transportation Seminar). I've had two mentees so far. I like being involved with people who are in grad school or who are just finishing up and coming into the industry because I am pretty young and may have some pointers that I can offer about how to get your foot in the door, what skills are important, and what you need to do as a young professional to advance yourself."
