Patrice Siefers

Email: abpyh0@r.postjobfree.com

Address: *** ********* ****** #**

City: San Francisco

State: CA

Zip: 94133

Country: USA

Phone: 415-***-****

Skill Level: Director

Salary Range: $100,000

Primary Skills/Experience:

See Resume

Educational Background:

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Job History / Details:

iPATRICE M. SIEFERS abpyh0@r.postjobfree.com

439 Greenwich Street #3A San Francisco, CA 94133 415-***-****

DIRECTOR a PLANNING AND RESEARCH

Patrice Siefers offers in-depth knowledge and experience in all aspects of transit, transportation, city and environmental planning, policy analysis and project implementation. She is expert at transportation demand management, capacity analysis, capital project development, program development and advocacy, politics, press relations, finance and grants. She is an excellent team builder, trainer and mentor, program manager, and researcher. As a strong executive, she is experienced in fast-paced environments as well as working closely with elected officials, agency heads, peers, advocates, the public and the press. She has advocated for efficient and effective multi-modal transportation her entire 30-year career.

Patriceas hallmark is her ability to strategically assess potential project and program implementation pitfalls and create avoidance solutions as well as advocacy for projects and programs. Known for expediting approvals at all levels of government, Patriceas strengths include research, advocacy, planning, engineering liaison, environmental permitting and finding funding for new programs and projects. She is highly experienced in legislative analysis, policy analysis, budgeting and scheduling, work plan development, grant administration, crisis management, and transit and transportation program marketing. She has developed and implemented new transportation initiatives and measured their success as well as obtained funding for alternative transportation programs and projects. She has worked for the City and County of San Francisco with the Planning Department and assessed key projects for their environmental impacts. She has also worked for private consultants in key transportation projects including the aBaby bulleta train service operated by Caltrain, high speed rail, Amtrak service planning, taxi and paratransit services, bicycle and pedestrian planning, Great Streets programs and land use coordination for major new developments and facilities.

Patriceas accomplishments include saving tens of millions by negotiating part time transit driver contracts, meeting permitting and project deadlines, performing rapid corridor and alternatives analyses, implementing new transit services, obtaining public/private funding for new transportation programs, review of large numbers of technical studies quickly and accurately and facilitating solutions between public and private sector entities. Patrice also has developed effective public relations, marketing programs and advertising campaigns using print, radio, TV and direct mail.

Both executives and peers regard Ms. Siefers as a hard worker with exceptional people skills and a sense of humor. Decisive, she performs against tight deadlines and introduces change smoothly. She consistently wins cooperation at all levels and has high-level contacts. Highly articulate, Patrice makes forceful group presentations.

History and Highlights

EDUCATION

Patrice earned her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and her BS in Environmental Planning and Management from the University of California, Davis. She was the recipient of the Transportation Policy Fellowship at Harvard and the Kellogg Foundation Grant at Davis. After college, Patrice was selected by the U.S. Marshall Fund Council on International Urban Liaison to attend the Mass Transit Innovations in France study tour. She was also the recipient of the Thomas D. Albert Scholarship and graduated from the University of California, Irvine Transit Managerial Effectiveness Course. She is a member of the American Planning Association and the Womenas Transportation Seminar. She is a charter member of the Coast Rail Coordinating Council.

PRINCIPAL CORRIDOR OFFICER, AMTRAK, 2011-February, 2012

Ms. Siefers was recruited by Amtrak to be the Principal Corridor Officer for the Midwest high-speed rail system development and moved to Chicago in 2011. She worked with state DOTs, cities and consultants to reduce risk to the projects, implement station improvement plans and worked within the Amtrak organization to expedite service and on-board service improvements. Patrice left Amtrak following the RIF due to a 25% cut in Amtrakas budget, all of which was taken from management ranks.

Her responsibilities included working with the States of Illinois and Michigan DOTs and the Cities of Dearborn and Troy, Michigan on several specific rail station and rail line capital projects. She also served as part of Amtrakas station development team for the Midwest and liaised with Amtrakas Engineering Division and local station managers.

Risk Assessment

With the Illinois DOT, internal Amtrak divisions, the Union Pacific Railroad and Parsons Brinkerhoff Consulting, Patrice assessed risks to the timely implementation of the high-speed rail corridor from St. Louis to Chicago. The result was renewed diligence in property acquisition, environmental clearance, positive train control, and on-board service and equipment improvements that are now underway.

Station Development

Patrice worked closely with the Cities of Troy and Dearborn, Michigan to keep station development efforts on track. She worked in a politically charged environment in Troy to maintain enthusiasm for new station development, reduce station costs and gain Amtrak and FRA acceptance of the changes required by the City Council. In Dearborn, Patrice worked with the City staff, consulting team and Amtrak Headquarters station development staff to rapidly conclude that high-level boarding platforms were needed under new FRA regulations. This avoided project delays and maintained grant funding.

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER / SENIOR PLANNER / CONSULTANT

STV Incorporated, HDR Engineering, EIP, URS and Siefers Consulting, 1998-2011

Patrice worked for several consulting firms following rail and transit projects that she was committed to and she also established her own consulting firm in San Francisco.

Completed Caltrain Baby Bullet Train and State of Good Repair Capital Improvement Programs

Ms. Siefers was recruited from her senior management position at the Transportation Agency for Monterey County in 1998 to assist the Peninsula Joint Powers Board (aka aCaltraina) and their consultant, STV Incorporated, in planning and implementing both a state of good repair capital improvement plan and the expansion of commute service via the aBaby Bulleta train. She liaised with the client, track engineers, environmental agencies, the public, Caltrain operations staff and management to deliver a five-year capital plan unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors. She also developed the initial schedules and passing track locations now used for the Baby Bullet train service. The project included rehabilitation/relocation of several stations, new viaducts over dense areas of four cities, new maintenance facilities, tunnel repairs, signal upgrades, planning for future electrification and a new rail fleet.

Assessed Tri-Met Truing Capacity, Developed Early Plans--Portland Street Car

Patrice provided the Tri-Met rail system in Portland with two consulting servicesaassessment of wheel truing capacity at its main rail facilities and preliminary plans for the Downtown Portland Streetcar system.

Completed Traffic, Noise, Vibration Analysis for New West Oakland Amtrak Maintenance Facility

Patrice oversaw the traffic, air, noise/vibration analyses needed to environmentally clear Amtrakas new 5th Street Maintenance and Operations Facility. The project was highly controversial, located in an environmental justice residential community and was on a tight funding and implementation schedule. At risk was $29 Million in public funds. Using factual information and honest public participation, project controversy was diminished. The projectas environmental document was certified and not litigated. The facility was constructed and is now in daily use by Amtrak.

Obtained Third Track Environmental Permits for the San Joaquin train service

With HDR Engineering, Patrice and the UPRR Engineering Division in Omaha, Nebraska prepared environmental studies, species mitigation agreements and obtained environmental permits for third track between Stockton and Sacramento. She provided training to UPRR construction crews on handling endangered species and wetland habitat. The project fulfilled a longstanding State goal of providing passengers with a aone-seat ridea from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Patrice performed rapid work to assess species impacts, construction impacts, grade crossing and traffic impacts on 40 miles of active railway. She oversaw biological reports, coordinated with design engineers and construction managers to reduce impacts. Patrice worked closely with the state and federal resource agencies and UPRR to negotiate and implement mitigation.

Researched and Wrote Amtrak High Speed Rail Plan, Capital Improvement Program for the California Coast Line

HDR Engineering was selected to prepare a 20-year Capital Improvement Program to speed train service on the UPRRas Coast Line. The project was initiated by the Caltrans Division of Rail in response to the passage of the $10 Billion rail bond by Californiaas voters. Patrice worked as part of the team to add her knowledge of the Coast Line, options for improvement, costs and environmental impacts. She served as Deputy Project Manager for the 200-mile route study.

Avoided Potential Expense, Performed Value Engineering

Patrice was tasked by the HDRas National Director of Railroads to join a team of five railroad engineers and define construction acceleration methods for the Utah Transit Authorityas University Avenue light rail line. If not accelerated, the Federal Transit Administration would require the project be abuttoned upa prior to the Winter Olympics. The cost to do so and re-mobilize would run upwards of $10 Million, none of which would be reimbursable through FTA grants. Key construction tasks were limited by snow and ice conditions in the spring and business community objections to large-scale street closures. The team met in Salt Lake City for one week and developed four (4) key actions to speed construction. In addition, the key actions saved the project (net of new and abutton upa costs) a total of $15 Million. The line was opened in time for the Winter Olympics, and HDR earned new work with the Authority.

Avoided a New EIR/S for Sacramento RT 7th Street Light Rail/Avoided Litigation

Patrice was the project manager and author of the Addendum/Supplement to the Folsom Light Rail EIR/S that allowed extension of Sacramentoas light rail line from downtown to the Amtrak Station at 5th/H. The project alignment was a dense downtown area with traffic, parking and historic resource concerns. Sacramentoas hollow street system--the result of raising the city streets to avoid flooding from the Sacramento River--would result in severe vibration impacts to the historic D.O. Mills Grand Ballroom hung plaster ceiling. In addition the alignment was lined with land use attorneys who were upset that they would lose their parking when the light rail project was completed. In addition, timely use of funding regulations required construction to begin in six months eliminating the possibility of an amended EIR. Patrice carefully crafted the document and met several times with attorneys along the route and the City of Sacramento. No lawsuit was filed on the Addendum/Supplement. The project was constructed on schedule and budget with no damage to historic buildings.

Rapid QA/QC of Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit System EIR/S

While with EIP Associates in San Francisco, Patrice was relocated to Santa Monica for 12 weeks to critically review and amend the Wilshire Blvd. Bus Rapid Transit System EIR/S prior to its publication. The BRT system uses parking lanes along Wilshire Blvd. from downtown LA to Santa Monica. Patrice worked with local and consulting traffic engineers to minimize traffic and parking impacts; met with residents and businesses concerned over loss of parking; created new parking options as part of the project. The EIR/S was certified and the line opened as one of the first BRT systems in the U.S.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

CITY ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER (San Francisco 2006-2009 and Seaside 1987-1990): Ms. Siefers reviewed all traffic and transportation reports for projects proposed in the City and County of San Francisco and prepared environmental impact reports, none of which were legally challenged or appealed to the SF Board of Supervisors. For the City of Seaside, she served as current planner and streamlined the permit processing system by introducing a new process. She also performed zoning enforcement.

Senior Document and Project Management, Close Coordination and Mayoral Interface: While with the City of San Francisco, Patrice led the development of environmental documents for new hospitals, transit terminals, high-rise developments, tourist venues, and state college campus expansions. In this work, she brokered agreements on impact mitigation with developers, obtained new public benefits as part of development, and managed a fast-paced transportation planning function. Her work required the careful review of consultant traffic studies, coordination with highly political groups and neighborhoods and coordination with a multitude of city agencies and state transportation officials. In addition, key projects required on-going coordination with the Mayor Gavin Newsomeas office to revise key project elements and avoid undue impacts. In the case of San Francisco General Hospital Helipad and Campus Expansion, the work required fast preparation of completed analyses in order to meet the deadlines for a bond election.

Environmental Determinations/Permit Streamlining: With the City of Seaside, Patrice reviewed and made all environmental determinations for new projects in the City as well as performed citywide zoning enforcement. A key contribution to the City of Seaside was Patriceas leadership in working with all departments to develop and implement a new permit streamlining process to reduce the time needed for project and environmental document approvals.

DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (Sonoma County Transportation Authority, 2003-2005): Patrice accelerated development of species mitigation and the environmental document for the Highway 101 HOV lanes from Windsor to Petaluma. The results were: a successful and unchallenged environmental document, no legal challenge to the project and on-time project delivery.

Successful State to Regional Environmental Delegation: The preparation of the EIR/S was delegated from Caltrans to her agency as part of a pilot project in EIR/S delegation to regional transportation agencies. Initially the project was plagued with late species surveys. To resolve this, Patrice and the Executive Director met with resource agencies, took the approach of assuming species presence so that biological surveys did not hinder timely completion of the EIR/S and began mitigation negotiations promptly. The project will complete construction in Fall 2012.

Context Sensitive Traffic Improvements Approved by Caltrans: For the City of Sebastopol, Patrice intervened in delayed design approval of context sensitive improvements of Highway 116 on behalf of the City. This was one of the first approvals for non-standard highway improvements/context sensitive improvements made by Caltrans. Caltransa approval allowed the City to retain its quaint downtown ambience while also improving the safety of the key route through the town.

PROGRAM MANAGER, RAIL AND TRAFFIC CONGESTION MANAGEMENT (Transportation Agency for Monterey County, 1991-1998): Patrice led the development of the agencyas first Traffic Congestion Management Program and Capital Improvement Program, first Trip Reduction Program, and its first Passenger Rail Plan. In doing so, she led staff, technical committees comprised of each city in the county, obtained new air district funding sources, led public information for transportation funding, and established plan lines for a new transportation corridor through Fort Ord during base reuse planning. The property for the corridor was obtained at no cost from the U.S. Army.

Development of Unique Public Participation Events: Patrice led the development of four live service Rail Festivals as part of the TAMC Rail Planning effort. To implement these events, she coordinated the efforts of the TAMC, Southern Pacific Railroad, Amtrak, equipment suppliers including Talgo, ABB and Siemens and the Caltrain JPB. These events provided the public with displays of potential services, live train service, different types of rail equipment, station concepts, and public surveys of schedule, fare and stop preferences. Four festivals were helda1994, 1995,1996, and 1997. Data collected from the public was used to develop the preferred rail project and resulted in TAMC obtaining $17 Million in state rail bond funds to negotiate and purchase the Monterey Branch Line.

Board of Directors Workshops/Education: Upon her hiring in July 1991, the Board of Directors had just changed from seven (7) elected officials with a County majority to a 21-member board comprised of all 12 Cities, all five (5) County Supervisors and regional agencies. The complex Traffic Congestion Management Program was due in six months; simultaneously, the Board needed to be develop and adopt a Rail Plan, deal with Fort Ord Reuse, and value and negotiate with a private railroad for purchase of the Monterey Branch line. To accomplish success, Patrice began monthly training sessions with the Board on each aspect of the Congestion Management Program. She also prepared and conducted a day-long training session on rail negotiations with RL Banks. To keep both projects moving forward, she crafted a technical committee of Planning and Public Works staffs, a Policy subcommittee of the Board and a citizen committee. The end result was unanimous approval of the Congestion Management Program in six months, adoption by each jurisdiction of a uniform trip reduction ordinance and reprogramming of highway funds from a stalled project to one now under construction. The Monterey Branch rail line negotiations were also successful.

First Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, Monterey County: At the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Patrice consolidated all city and county rights of way plans and improvements to create a consolidated master plan for expanding bicycle and pedestrian facilities, improving safety, creating new parking and development initiatives for bikes and pedestrian transportation, and assigning funding sources to the projects.

TRANSIT PLANNING/MARKETING DIRECTOR (Monterey-Salinas Transit, 1983-1987): Patrice was responsible for short and long-range transit plans, capital project development, service expansion, seimi-annual service modifications, market research, permitting, public participation, fares, marketing, advertising, and creation of new public/private partnership transit services. She also had responsibility for press relations and training responsibilities for bus drivers and public information staff. The system was in a growth phase. She successfully oversaw development and funding of two (2) bus maintenance/operations facilities and three (3) new Transit Centers, two of which were privately funded in new land developments.

Private/Public Partnerships: Monterey-Salinas Transit operated without the benefit of a local sales tax. Severe traffic congestion resulted from the opening of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, on-going events at Laguna Seca and Pebble Beach, and increased visitation to the Monterey Peninsula and Salinas Valley. Patrice brokered funding agreements to split transit costs amongst event promoters, cities and associations and the transit system. She also planned, marketed and advertised the new services, including all creative development for advertising. One result was the Waterfront Area Visitor Express (WAVE) that continues to successfully transport visitors and local residents from downtown Monterey to Cannery Row, Fishermanas Wharf and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Patrice developed similar new services for the Monterey Jazz Festival, Laguna Seca Racetrack events, Pebble Beach events and other local festivals.

TRANSPORTATION AND AIR QUALITY PLANNER, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (1979-1983): Ms. Siefers started her professional career at AMBAG and prepared transportation improvement programs, air quality plans and analyses, regional transportation plans, aviation elements of General Plans, short range transit plans, on-board surveys, visitor transportation surveys, origin-destination surveys, and transportation corridor studies.

$2.9 Million in Additional Transit Funds: A key accomplishment was obtaining $2.9 Million in additional federal transit funds that were originally allocated to another urbanized area in California. Rather than have these funds lapse, Patrice arranged to have Caltrans reallocate the funds to the AMBAG Region. Monterey-Salinas Transit and Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District used the funds to purchase new bus fleets.

Complete Resume Available on Request

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