Jason Lurz is the director of Metro Operations for the Maryland Transit Administration. With an annual budget of $60 million, Lurz oversees a fleet of 100 subway cars operated and maintained by 345 employees who safely transport 60,000 riders per day.
Since taking over as director in 2010, Lurz has brought his vision and intensity to bear on the challenge of improving information access and document control. As the director of Metro Operations, Lurz has initiated and personally managed some of the most significant improvements in safety, fiscal responsibility and modernization that the MTA has seen in recent years. Lurz's safety initiatives have included the joint development of a state-of-the-art First Responders training program for MTA staff and local emergency services organizations.
In his efforts to reduce costs at Metro, and the MTA as a whole, Lurz has reached out to other modes to collaborate on a wide variety of initiatives to share resources and reduce the duplication of work. Some of his more notable collaborative projects have included the implementation of the agency-wide ProjectWise document management system and IBM’s Maximo asset management system.
During his tenure, the installation of the SupplyPro materials and workflow management system has managed the task of improving employee access to tools and consumables, while at the same time reducing waste and loss. Lurz has actively worked toward resolving these problems across all of Metro’s systems.
Lurz's projects have successfully unified the control and monitoring of HV/AC equipment and assets, station and parking lot lighting, building access control, and even the track itself. All of these projects have led to a system that is easier to maintain, less expensive to repair, and on which training and maintenance can be simplified.
Lurz has received a Governor’s Award for Safety Innovation and a technology “User Experience Award” for his efforts in creating maintenance kiosks.
Growing Up in Transit
"I have been fortunate during my career to have had the unwavering support of my peers and superiors and to have truly witnessed teamwork at its best. Together we can solve the transit challenges of today and resolve the hurdles of tomorrow. The world is getting smaller but it is transit innovation that will bring people closer together.”
"'I am my father's son.' The true meaning of this idiom escaped me until recently. Since the age of 8 I have been, in some form or another, active in transit. My father, who recently retired from the Maryland Transit Administration, would often take me to his work. There, I would spend countless hours.
"One of my fondest memories dates back to when I was 10 years old. My father had taken me to see the newly constructed Baltimore Subway System. The system had recently been opened to the public but my father had taken me there for a private tour. I still remember the 'new station smell' and the whisper-quiet escalators.
"Little did I know that one day I would be in charge of that very system. My father loved his job in transit and so do I."
A Job Well Done
"The best thing about my job is that it allows me to touch the lives of millions of Marylanders; for most riding transit in the morning is their first experience of the day. So, I strive to ensure their day starts off on the right foot. Gettting them to their destination on-schedule, while providing a safe and comfortible ride is my satisfaction of a job well done."