ABHISHEK DAYAL GOT HIS UNDERgraduate
degree in architecture but
quickly saw urban planning and city
planning were where his passion was.
With planning being all encompassing,
he saw the impact on how people travel
through a community and the impact on
development patterns.
In 2005 Dayal went to Valley Metro,
when the capital program — light rail
in particular — was in its infancy stage.
In November they broke ground on the
initial line so he had the opportunity to
work on several projects from beginning
to implementation.
Dayal began his career at Valley Metro
as an entry-level planner in 2005. He rose
through the ranks and currently leads
the agency’s eff orts to implement seven
high-capacity transit projects to create a
66-mile regional rail system.
As manager for capital planning in
the Capital and Service Development
Division, he is responsible for directing,
and managing transit corridor and facility
development planning activities.
Working with consultants, he recently
transitioned key Valley Metro visions like
26 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
the Gilbert Road Light Rail Extension,
50th Street Light Rail Station, Tempe
Streetcar, South Central Light Rail Extension
and the Northwest Light Rail Extension
Phase 2 from planning to fi nal
design. Together, these projects total $1.42
billion in design and construction costs.
Dayal saw the potential of an agency
wide enterprise GIS (geographic
information systems) system having
an impact throughout Valley Metro
and draft ed a 3-year strategic plan. He
worked with a consultant to create a
training program, got a budget approved
to enhance and expand the GIS program,
developed a GIS working group and a
few years later they even hired a fulltime
GIS administrator. Bringing those
skill sets in house has continued to save
them money.
Fact:
Dayal currently
sits on the
Conference
of Minority
Transportation
Officials
(COMTO)
Arizona Board
of Directors.
MassTransitmag.
com/12343935
“Our industry is really small … make sure you
establish good contacts and networks. You never
know where you’ll land or where others might land and
how you might have to work with them. Continue to
establish good contacts and do a lot of networking.”
Abhishek Dayal,
AICP
Manager
Capital Planning
Valley Metro
Fact:
Custis has
led sessions
on career
development
at TRB and in
2017, launched
a mentoring
series at the
Coalition for
Smarter Growth.
MassTransitmag.
com/12358500
relations challenges facing Metro today,
her leadership and steadfast engagement
on transit issues makes her
a critical leader and transit partner.
She served on the board of directors
for Young Professionals in Transportation
from 2011 to 2013, heading up
communications and then membership
at a time when the organization
was adding three to five new chapters
a year in cities across the United States
and Canada.
Custis began her career in transit
managing outreach and national
grant programs for the Transportation
Learning Center, an organization that
coordinates front-line transit worker
training through labor-management
partnerships at numerous agencies.
AIMEE CUSTIS IS THE DEPUTY
director at Washington, D.C.’s Coalition
for Smarter Growth, where she
has had a tremendous positive impact
on transit and transit advocacy across
the district’s region.
Closer to home, Custis has been a
transit activist in and around Washington,
D.C., for years. Th rough her writing,
community advocacy training, and
outreach to local and regional offi cials,
Custis has shaped public opinion and
helped to raise the profi le of the value
of transit investment, and transit-oriented
development to the economic
vitality of the Washington region.
Custis has been involved in several
successful transit campaigns, including
for dedicated bus lanes on the
busy 16th Street corridor in 2016, and
the adoption of an 81-mile bus rapid
transit plan in Montgomery County,
Maryland in 2013.
Today, Custis is heavily involved
in efforts to win a dedicated funding
source for the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority. With the
enormous fiscal, safety and public
“Don’t be afraid to reach out to people in the
industry. Ultimately transit is really a people-based
industry and is people-centered; everyone who works
in the industry is, and was at some point, where you
are. Being willing to reach out to people to ask for
help and collaborate has been valuable to me.”
Aimee Custis,
MPP
Deputy Director
Coalition for
Smarter Growth