thoughtleaders
BY MITCH MAC DONALD, GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
transit authority
interview with Mortimer L. Downey
When it comes to handicapping the upcoming battle over
highway spending, veteran public servant turned consultant
Mort Downey may have the ultimate inside track.
SOMETIMES, IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIMING.
The nation is gearing up for one of the most critical periods in the history of U.S. infrastructure.
And sitting in the sweet spot where influence and investment collide is one of the most knowledgeable
authorities on infrastructure of the last 25 years: Mortimer L. Downey III.
Downey is a senior adviser to Parsons Brinckerhoff, providing advisory and management consulting services to the firm and its clients, which include public and private entities, developers, financiers,
and builders of infrastructure projects worldwide.
Although he works in the private sector today, Downey has had a long career in public service. From
1993 to 2001, he served as deputy secretary of transportation, the longest-serving individual to ever hold
the Department of Transportation’s number-two job. As its chief operating officer, he developed the
agency’s highly regarded strategic and performance plans and had program responsibilities for operations, regulation, and investments in land, sea, air, and space transportation. His reputation is such that
in 2008, he was named to the transportation policy committee for the Obama presidential campaign,
and during the presidential transition was appointed leader of the DOT’s agency review team.
Previously, Downey was for 12 years the executive director and chief financial officer of the New York
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the nation’s largest independent public authority.
Downey has received numerous professional awards, including election to the National Academy of
