Kevin Desmond

Seattle, WA

 

Kevin Desmond is Principal + National Director, Transit and Rail. He spearheads the firm's work helping governments, agencies, and non-profits pursue more sustainable, just, and safe mobility services. A leading figure in the world of public transit, Kevin most recently served as CEO of TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation authority, which pre-pandemic carried 1.5 million daily transit trips.

As TransLink’s CEO, Kevin oversaw planning, financing, and management of a multimodal transit network that includes bus, rapid transit, passenger ferry, paratransit, commuter train service, and a major road network, staffed by a team of more than 8,000 people. Under his leadership, Vancouver adopted an unprecedented $9 billion transit expansion plan, and led large North American metros in transit growth for four consecutive years. In 2019, TransLink was awarded Outstanding Large Transit Agency by the American Public Transportation Association.

Prior to TransLink, Kevin was General Manager of Seattle’s King County Metro Transit for 12 years, where he helped to grow ridership by 44% while launching major light rail, BRT, and streetcar services. He has also held critical leadership roles at Pierce Transit and New York City Transit.

Over the course of his career, Kevin has pioneered an array of operational, fleet, technology, and market development initiatives, and has been a significant voice for forward-thinking environmental policies and investments.

Desmond, Kevin.png

Senior Principal + National Director, Transit and Rail

 

Expertise

  • Transit planning

  • Transit operations and management

Tell us about a recent interesting project you've worked on.

Wrapping up my last year as CEO of TransLink in Vancouver, BC, we were thrust into the unknown of Covid and the impacts on a large regional transit agency with 9000 employees and over 500,000 daily riders. Our challenges included shifting quickly into new safety protocols; flexing instantly to a remote work environment for office workers; addressing the existential financial challenge brought on by collapsed ridership; and envisioning how to welcome back our customers in due course. We learned a lot about ourselves and the incredible resilience of our organization. A lot of unsung heroes!