July-August 2022 - 22

Lynn Feng is a planning manager at AECOM.
Born and raised in Urumqi, China, Feng came
to the U.S. to pursue her master's degree
in planning at the University of Southern
California (USC). Feng has dedicated her entire
career to the transportation industry, starting
as an intern for L.A. Metro seven years ago.
Lynn Feng
Transportation
Planning Manager
AECOM
She strives to leverage innovation in infrastructure
and planning to connect people to
opportunities and advance equity. She combines
her experience in the public, private
and nonprofit sectors to serve clients with
a focus on urban and transportation planning.
She has worked on numerous projects
across several modes in a variety of contexts.
Feng has worked with AECOM's teams for
a range of clients from L.A. Metro and L.A.
2028 Olympics Committee to Southeast
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
(SEPTA) and Chicago Metropolitan Agency
for Planning (CMAP), as well as internationally
for NEOM and Al Soudah.
Feng is an active member of WTS. She
received a WTS scholarship while attending
USC and has been the liaison for USC students
to participate in WTS events. She is currently
serving as the Awards Dinner Committee
co-chair. Additionally, she has been participating
in mentorship programs organized
by USC Sol Price School and by METRANS
Xavier Harmony
Senior Program
Manager
Transit Resource
Center, Northern
Virginia Transportation
Commission
Xavier Harmony's journey to the North
American transit sector started half a world
away in his native country Australia before an
internship brought him to the U.S.
Harmony is credited with breaking down
jargon and is talented at communicating
important concepts without coming across
as condescending. He works to engage and
empower those beginning their careers.
For example, he has invited others to learn
and participate alongside him including in
proposals for the Transportation Research
Board (TRB) to better understand the
submission and research processes.
Harmony has intentionality with his engagements
of colleagues and strives to uplift people
who are traditionally underrepresented in
the transportation industry. This is demonstrative
of his belief and practice that involving
people from nontraditional backgrounds
from the beginning will enable more robust
and stronger transportation planning results.
Harmony juggles parenthood, being a fulltime
professional, as well as a Ph.D. student,
yet makes time to review resumes and paper
submissions, offer career advice and guidance
to young professionals, mentor colleagues
who enter the field later in life and ensure
there is representation of nontraditional
22 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2022
The exposure I have been
able to get on projects of
vastly different scales and
scopes really broadened my
horizon and reinforced my
passion and devotion to the
transportation industry.
Transportation Centers for the past three years
as a mentor to graduate students and emerging
professionals in the transportation industry.
As part of AECOM's response to the pandemic,
Feng led the development of a
global best practices report for transit
agency response for SEPTA, as well as a
transformational policy direction report for
CMAP. Feng is also a key player in AECOM's
Transportation Electrification (TE) strategic
initiative, recently authoring a white paper for
service fleet electrification that has caught
the interest of several potential clients.
Fast Fact: Feng volunteered with the WTS-LA
for three years before serving as the chair for
the Mentorship and Professional Development
Committee between 2018 and 2020, where her
work and leadership was highly regarded by the
board and program participants.
MassTransitmag.com/21276469
Taking the time to understand
local and regional politics,
learning how to navigate the
politics and building strong
relationships can go a long way
to helping achieve transportation
policy and project goals.
transportation industry professionals.
Harmony is proud of how he has been
able to advance transportation equity discourse
and share it with a larger audience
through an essay for Eno Center for
Transportation, as well as his research on
bikeshare equity that he presented at TRB.
Outside of work, Harmony's efforts support
transit and transportation focused
entities. He has served in numerous
roles for Young Professionals in
Transportation and his transportation
research includes work with the Transit
Cooperative Research Program and TRB.
Fast Fact: Harmony's essay, " A New Bus Priority, "
was awarded first place in The Martin
Wachs Memorial Centennial Essay Contest
through Eno Center for Transportation.
MassTransitmag.com/21276169
http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21276469 http://www.MassTransitmag.com/21276169 http://www.MassTransitmag.com
July-August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July-August 2022
