Mass Transit - 36

Tamara N. Nicholson,

Tamara N.
Nicholson,
PMP
Project
Management
Oversight
Burns Engineering
Inc.

PMP, has more than 13 years
of experience involving the
oversight of multimillion-dollar
transportation projects and
currently works in project
management oversight at
Burns Engineering, Inc.
She began her career in 2006
working at an engineering
company as a project
administrator. She started
out performing QA/QC on
status reports for major
capital transportation projects,
which led her to become a
certified associate in project
management in 2009.
She then reached out to
professional engineers within
the company and explained
how systematically applying
project management
principles would benefit their
projects. She developed a
risk assessment and tracking
tool to record and track
budgets, schedules and
deliverables for 15 projects.
Successful implementation
of this tool resulted in

Jaime McKay is a

Jaime McKay
Transportation
Planner
WSP and Maryland
Department of
Transportation
Maryland Transit
Administration
(MDOT MTA)

36 |

transportation planner at WSP
and the Maryland Department
of Transportation Maryland
Transit Administration. She is a
great advocate for transit, but
especially so for transit in rural
areas and transit for people
with disabilities-two important
areas in transit that can be
critical for accessibility but
often times get overlooked as
urban and commuter focused
transit monopolizes attention.
McKay ensures these other
voices are not forgotten and
that they receive the help
and resources that are so
important for the communities
that rely on these services.
On behalf of rural providers
and providers for people with
disabilities, she has helped
develop GTFS information from
the ground up; put together
grant and funding applications;
and has dedicated much
of her career to outreach
to these communities.

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2020

"I am very analytical by nature, so identifying risks,
making recommendations and then seeing the impact
is very enjoyable. I also really enjoy working with the
project teams and other stakeholders. Even though
I'm in an oversight role, I approach it as a collaborative
effort with the ultimate goal of successful project
execution and completion, and it has been great."
zero project overruns over
an eight-year period.
In 2014, she performed
an initial scope, schedule
and budget review at the
beginning of a $19-million
station rehabilitation project.
She identified a cost risk
because of the project budget
having little contingency and
recommended an increase
in funding. Additional
funds were added which
prevented a cost overrun of
approximately $1 million.
In 2016, she began overseeing

a station rehabilitation
project that was halfway into
construction and behind
schedule. She identified
the project was lacking
manpower to be completed
on time. She recommended
adding manpower to
accelerate the work which
resulted in the project being
completed on time.
She's also part of industry
organizations, such as the
Women Transportation
Seminar (WTS), Philadelphia
Chapter and WTS's
Transportation YOU Program.

Fact:

Nicholson was accepted into the class of 2018 cohort
for the WTS International Mid-Career Leadership Program.

MassTransitmag.com/21149974 

"I don't come from a traditional transportation
planning background, which has allowed me
to view the industry and its many quirks from a
different perspective. Our industry is bursting
with incredibly talented, dedicated professionals
who sometimes seem to know everything about
every process, and it can be a humbling experience
to admit that you are uncertain or unsure."

She is also a holistic transit
professional. McKay not only
works full-time in a transitoriented role but is also heavily
involved in transit outside of her
day job. This includes her many
years on the board of Young
Professionals in Transportation
(YPT) International and YPT
Baltimore. She has been a
mentor in WTS Baltimore's
Transportation YOU program.

She is also someone who uses
a lot of her spare time riding
her bike to visit train stations
and rail throughout Maryland.
McKay is passionate about
transit. She's involved in a
broad range of transportation
organizations and dedicates
her time to some of the most
vulnerable transit communities.

Fact: McKay served as the chair of Young Professionals in
Transportation International from 2018 to 2019.
MassTransitmag.com/21149970
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21149974 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21149970 http://www.MassTransitmag.com
Mass Transit

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Mass Transit
