The Project Sponsor responsible for any transit capital project must possess the legal authority to carry out all the requirements necessary to effectively plan and implement the project. Statutory authority may be required to perform functions such as:
Planning, design, construction, ownership, operation, and maintenance of public transit facilities, equipment and rolling stock
Local financing, including use of public funds, taxation, and issuing bonds Receipt of Federal and state grants
Procurement and awarding contracts Real estate acquisition and condemnation
Construction in public right of way (ROW) including relocation of utilities Safety and security certification of the project including hazard analysis
A review of existing statutes will increase understanding of the Project Sponsor’s authority and any legal constraints that may affect the project. The purpose should be to identify requirements and constraints in an orderly and timely manner and to deal with them as the project advances. This is especially critical for projects that are to be built in public ROW, ROW belonging to railroads or state highways agencies. Failure to recognize and accommodate legal requirements may jeopardize the entire project and, at the very least, severely affect the subsequent grant approval process and project schedule, as well as project costs. The Project Sponsor must be diligent in maintaining cognizance of changes in the legislative/regulatory environment, which may impose future constraints on a project. The ability to anticipate and deal with those potential issues in the PD and Engineering phases may save considerable time and effort during construction. In
addition to state and local requirements, specific Federal statutes, rules, regulations, and circular listings, include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq) Brooks Act qualifications-based procurement method (40 U.S.C. Chapter 11) Buy America (49 CFR Parts 661 and 663)
Capital Leasing (49 U.S.C. § 5301) Cargo Preferences (46 U.S.C. § 1241) Clean Air Act, CAA (42 U.S.C, 7401 et seq) Copeland Anti-Kickback Act (18 U.S.C. 874)
Davis-Bacon Act, wage rates and labor provisions (40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, DBE (49 CFR Part 26)
Equal Employment Opportunity, EEO (49 U.S.C. § 5332b)
Final Interim Policy Guidance, FTA Capital Investment Grant Program, August 2015
Financial Capacity Policy, FTA Circular 7008.1A
Financial Plans as described in FTA’s Guidance for Transit Financial Plans
Flood Insurance as set forth in section 102 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973
Land Acquisition and Relocation (49 CFR Part 24) MAP-21 (49 CFR Chapter 53, October 2012)
National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq) National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470)
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES (33 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq)
Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (29 U.S.C. Chapter 15) Project Management Oversight Rule (49 CFR Part 633)
Public transit employee protections set forth in 49 U.S.C. § 5333(b), also known as Section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act
Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (49 U.S.C. § 20101)
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, accommodations for persons with disabilities (29 U.S.C. § 504)
Safety and Security Management Guidance for Major Capital Projects (FTA Circular 5800.1)
State Safety Oversight Rule (49 CFR Part 659)
There is occasionally the perception that State/local laws may conflict with Federal requirements. If one does not defer to the other, the Project Sponsor must comply with both. For example, in real estate, state law may necessitate a payment not mandated by Federal requirements. In such an instance, the Project Sponsor typically must comply with the state law even if such payment is not eligible for Federal grant participation. When a transit agency undertakes a capital project, the relationship of the agency’s project team to the agency’s operating, finance, planning, design, construction and other
established to achieve scope, quality, cost, and schedule goals. Through its governing board, the Project Sponsor is responsible for performing the following functions:
Establishing project policy Assuring financing of the project Approving funding applications
Approving budgets, commitments, and expenditures Approving project scope and definition (design criteria)
Establishing change control policies and procedures to control scope, cost and schedule creep
Assuring quality of all end products Approving contract documents
Approving award of contracts and contract changes Acquiring land
Executing the project
Determining operational readiness and certifying that the safety and security requirements outlined in the Safety and Security Checklist have been fulfilled A typical Project Sponsor organization will have a chief executive officer (e.g., president, general manager, or executive director) who will implement board policies through the day-to-day operations of the Project Sponsor. Often this individual will be assisted by heads of departments such as engineering, construction, real estate, finance, procurement, legal, personnel, operations, safety, security, and public affairs. Taking into account the Project Sponsor's organization, the project to be implemented, and the Project Sponsor's future role and responsibilities in the new project, there are a number of successful organizational approaches with regard to staffing the project. These include:
Developing or reassigning an in-house staff (with prior successful track record with similar projects) to a project office to undertake the entire project. This in-house staff organization may be augmented by a PMOC or project advisor to assist in providing independent advice or analysis to senior management.
Utilizing existing third-party agencies (with prior successful track record with similar projects) such as another transit agency or state or local government agencies to perform the work under a third-party contract. This third-party organizational arrangement may be augmented by a project management oversight consultant or project advisor to assist in providing independent advice or analysis to senior management.
Under the dedicated management team with sufficient resources to oversee and supervise a consultant(s), delegating responsibility to a general consultant for planning, designing, and constructing the facility, or assignment of the management of design, and construction to separate consultants. Consultants must have a successful track record.
If the Project Sponsor does not have adequate and dedicated management resources to oversee the general consultant, Project Sponsor can delegate the responsibility of project management to a program/project management consultant.
Utilizing contractors for alternative project delivery methods, such as D/B, D/B/O/M, and concessions.
Combinations of the above approaches.
No matter which organizational approach is chosen, the Project Sponsor has the ultimate responsibility for the effective management of the project. The project staff may typically be organized in a matrix form of organization delineating engineering and construction activities. The matrix must clearly indicate which Project Sponsor staff member(s) are responsible for overseeing and supervising any non-Project Sponsor (i.e., contractors, consultants, etc.) activities. A matrix organizational form is often defined with multiple reporting relationships as further explained below.
Figure 3-1 depicts a matrix organization in which line departments with functional responsibilities are shown vertically and project organizations with project responsibilities are shown horizontally. In such an organization, a staff person has dual reporting responsibilities to the functional manager and to the project manager. Figure 3-2 further develops this concept to define the project office into which staff can be assigned on a temporary basis while remaining functionally affiliated. This matrix organization is utilized on finite duration projects, such as MCPs, where dual focal points of equal importance are required – technical/scope and cost/schedule. Personnel assigned to the project report to the project manager regarding work priorities (what must be done and when), and to a functional manager for the technical adequacy (how work is to be done). The matrix form of organization permits the integration of technical specialists and firms that may participate on several individual tasks to contribute effectively, along with others, to the accomplishment of the project objectives for which the organization is responsible.
General Manager
Engineering Planning Construction Others
Project Manager X Project Manager Y Project Manager Z Project Responsibility
General Manager
Director:
Project Management Engineering Director:
Director: Planning Others Manager X Manager Y Manager Z X Y Z Project Engineering Other Units
Project Office Control
Figure 3-2. Matrix Organization with a Project Office
As a transit capital project, particularly an MCP, evolves throughout its phases from planning to implementation, it will refine its objectives and vary its organizational participation, depending on the specific requirements of each phase. Thus, the project management framework must be flexible to accommodate the needs of each phase.