Michael Schneider is a founding Partner of InfraStrategies. He has a four-decade record of project management, technical innovation and thought leadership in the infrastructure field, and is a frequent speaker and participant and in a variety of professional and management areas. Formerly Senior Vice President of HDR Inc., an international engineering and architectural firm of over 9000 professionals, Mr. Schneider served as director of the firm’s global strategic consulting practice and as director of professional services. In this capacity, he led HDR’s consulting group in the transportation and infrastructure sector and served as project director or lead technical advisor for a variety of transit, rail, highway, aviation, energy, and maritime engagements.
Prior to his tenure with HDR, Mike co-founded and served as CEO of InfraConsult LLC, a firm specialized in project development, program management and public-private partnerships. Previously, he enjoyed a 30-year tenure with industry leader Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP), where he led the transportation business group, chaired the strategic advisory practice, and served on the Board of Directors. Mike began his career in the public sector with the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Mike is a member of the Board of Directors and past chair of the Committee on Public-Private Partnerships of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). He has been an active participant and leader in numerous professional organizations, including serving two terms on the international board of WTS, focused on advancing women in transportation. Mike is a recognized expert in the development and implementation of public-private partnerships and has directed numerous partnership programs since the 1980s as an owner, developer and advisor. He was recently recognized for his leadership and innovation in furthering the utilization of public-private partnerships in transportation by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).
Among Mike’s recent engagements, he directed the evaluation of project delivery methods for the $8.5+ billion East Side Access Project in New York City; managed high speed rail integration programs for the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California region; served as advisor to teams developing business plans for both the Northeast Corridor and California High Speed Rail programs; evaluated alternative delivery methods for the $1.8 billion Mid-Coast Corridor LRT Project in San Diego; managed the assessment of prospective new toll crossings of the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois; and served as senior advisor to the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise and the Arizona Department of Transportation for the states’ P3 Programs.
Mike conceived and directed the development of the first privately funded/financed tollroad in the Western United States, SR 125/South Bay Expressway in San Diego and advised the privately-financed E-470 Highway program in Colorado. He provided early guidance to the Dulles Greenway P3 project in Virginia and led the team responsible for development of a comprehensive public-private partnership approach for development of the multi-billion dollar toll highway program in Orange County, California, for the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA). In Utah, Mike was program manager the nation’s first highway-transit program led by a joint Federal Highway Administration/Federal Transit Administration joint review team, leading to the first rail transit line in Salt Lake and improvements to Interstate 15 through the Salt Lake Valley.
In addition to his work on private financing of public works, Mr. Schneider has directed public transport development programs in Israel, India, and Mexico. He has worked in more than 20 countries and has authored over 100 papers and juried publications in the fields of infrastructure finance, project delivery and management practices.
Earlier in his career, Mike led numerous projects for states, regions and the federal government on improving access and public transportation options to and within the National Park System. Among his endeavors, Mike led master planning efforts for Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks and developed innovative transportation plans for ski areas including Aspen, Vail, Mammoth and Park City, and provided advisory services for the Lake Placid (1980) and Salt Lake City (2002) Winter Olympics.
Mr. Schneider is a frequent speaker at industry meetings and international conferences and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford, UCLA, Yale, USC, the University of Texas, and at George Mason University, where he serves on the Board of Industry Advisors for the Graduate Transportation Program. He has provided background papers for policy development to various Congressional Committees and for the White House. In 2009, Mike received lifetime achievement recognition from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association for his contributions to furthering the practice and utilization of public-private partnerships in delivery of transportation infrastructure.