One word to describe yourself: Resourceful
Alma Mater: Keller School of Management at Devry; University of California, Irvine
Fast fact about yourself: I’m a hobbyist pizza chef who enjoys experimenting with traditional and innovative pizza recipes.
What’s your best experience on transit and what made it memorable? One of my most meaningful experiences was working on the Redlands Passenger Rail Project, which was a rail extension project in San Bernardino and Redlands, Calif., which I helped design and manage over the course of eight years. Seeing it through construction and into service was incredibly rewarding. What made it especially memorable was when friends sent me a photo of their family riding the train—something that quickly became a weekly tradition for them. Knowing that a project I worked on is now part of people’s everyday lives made the effort feel truly worthwhile.
Avi A. Shah started as an intern at HDR in 2010 and eventually became an engineer in training. In the past 15 years, Shah’s proficiency in track design and modeling, along with his ability to manage multi-disciplinary teams, led to his promotion of client manager in 2022.
Prior to becoming the transit section manager at HDR, Shah honed his technical skills, taking on more complex responsibilities and managing tasks on key projects such as the Orange Couty Transportation Authority’s Capital Rail Program Management and Metrolink Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion program. He became a licensed professional engineer in California in 2015 and later progressed to transit project manager. Recognizing that successful transit projects require acute business understanding, Shah began the journey to further his education. He graduated with a master’s degree in 2017 from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
In his current role, he manages major rail design projects as HDR’s transit section manager for Orange County. As program manager working with the Orange County Transit Authority in California, he leads technical reviews, backend funding coordination and risk management for more than a dozen rail projects. Colleagues say he has a keen understanding of complex issues and consistently delivers results under pressure while maintaining excellent communication and responsiveness.
No project better captures Shah’s professional growth than the $360 million Redlands Passenger Rail Project. Beginning as a drainage engineer, he advanced to deputy project manager. He played a key role in guiding the project through construction, coordinating design changes, leading weekly meetings and aligning the needs of the construction manager and contractor. His experience throughout the construction process deepened his understanding of constructability and highlighted the value he brings to turning complex projects into reality.
Outside of this project, Shah works closely with fellow HDR section managers across Southern California to ensure team members have work plans aligned with their career aspirations. He mentors and supports other engineers, helping them achieve their professional goals. His leadership on key transit projects established innovative design standards that continue to guide transit projects to enhance mobility and accessibility for millions of people in Southern California. He has managed the development of many new specifications, including precast concrete sound walls for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
He also revamped standard design forms for Metrolink, including cost estimates and special design request forms for the agency. Shah is also project manager leading preliminary engineering and design for the transformative BNSF San Diego Convention Center Platform project. The 850-foot passenger platform in downtown San Diego will expand service capacity by accommodating eight passenger train cars. The project will also provide users with a one-seat ride for more seamless access to downtown amenities.
In addition to his role at HDR, Shah remains heavily involved with the Railway Association of Southern California (RASC), a nonprofit that brings together railroad planners, engineers, contractors and agency staff throughout the region. Beginning as volunteer in 2020, he advanced to president in 2023. His year-long tenure led to significant growth of RASC at all industry levels. The RASC scholarship fund, which was established for graduates and undergraduates seeking careers in the transit industry, awarded $18,000 in scholarships during his tenure.
He led the launch of a college program to promote the next generation of transit professionals. Chapters of RASC were created at local universities to facilitate guest lectures by transit experts, aiming to spread knowledge and excitement about the industry at the grassroots level. Field visits were prioritized, taking members onto jobsites to experience a project first-hand. Following his presidency, Shah has remained committed to developing RASC. He played a leading role in planning the California Passenger Rail Summit in 2024, bringing together transit and commuter rail agencies to promote the industry to understand the various projects underway by agencies around the state and to develop ways to support one another in improving mobility across the transportation system.
Is there a specific experience that led you to where you are today?
A major moment in my career was my internship with HDR. I began during the summer between my sophomore and junior years in college. At the same time, I was beginning the more challenging upper-division civil engineering courses. The hands-on exposure to real-world projects during my internship helped me connect classroom concepts to practical applications, which deepened my understanding and interest in the field. Beyond the technical experience, it also taught me what it means to be professional—how to communicate effectively, work in teams and approach engineering problems with a client-focused mindset. It was a formative moment that reinforced my decision to pursue a career in civil engineering.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What I enjoy most about my job is working on projects that have a meaningful impact on how people and goods move within my community. I find it rewarding to contribute to solutions that improve daily commutes, enhance access to jobs, schools and recreational opportunities, and ultimately help people save time. Knowing that my work helps create a more efficient and connected community is what makes the job fulfilling.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of the job is managing the competing priorities and expectations of diverse stakeholders, including transit agencies, city or state transportation departments, the public, contractors and internal technical teams. Some of the projects I have worked on are high-profile and politically sensitive, with significant public visibility. This adds pressure to proactively manage risks, communicate clearly and adapt quickly to challenging circumstances, all while maintaining momentum toward project delivery.
What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of and why?
The accomplishment I’m most proud of is managing the delivery of an emergency response project in San Clemente, California, following a landslide that caused the critical railroad tracks to shift by nearly two feet. This incident forced service to shut down on the only rail connection between San Diego and Los Angeles. Our team worked quickly and collaboratively to design and implement a stabilization solution, installing 220 tieback anchors into the bluff to secure the hillside. It was incredibly rewarding to restore a critical transportation link and support regional mobility under such urgent circumstances.
What is an accomplishment you would like to work towards in your career?
An accomplishment I’d like to work toward is taking on more leadership roles within professional associations that shape the future of our industry, such as the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Serving as president of the Railway Association of Southern California sparked a passion for engaging with industry organizations that bring professionals together, advance education and promote the value of our work. I want to continue contributing to the broader engineering community and help influence the direction of the profession through active leadership and collaboration.
What is your best advice/tip/best practice you can share from your area of expertise?
The best advice/tip I can share is to understand the big picture. Transit engineering is not just about trains and tracks, it’s about community, people and sustainability. Our projects help transform communities, so it is important to think beyond the design plans.
About the Author
Megan Perrero
Editor in Chief
Megan Perrero is a national award-winning B2B journalist and lover of all things transit. Currently, she is the Editor in Chief of Mass Transit magazine, where she develops and leads a multi-channel editorial strategy while reporting on the North American public transit industry.
Prior to her position with Mass Transit, Perrero was the senior communications and external relations specialist for the Shared-Use Mobility Center, where she was responsible for helping develop internal/external communications, plan the National Shared Mobility Summit and manage brand strategy and marketing campaigns.
Perrero serves as the board secretary for Latinos In Transit and is a member of the American Public Transportation Association Marketing and Communications Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism with a concentration in magazine writing and a minor in public relations from Columbia College Chicago.