Alumni play key roles in better connecting the D.C. area

Two engineering alumni are leading the transformation of connectivity and sustainability in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area. 

The Purple Line, a transformative 16-mile light-rail project, will extend from Bethesda to New Carrollton, Maryland, ushering in a new era of transportation for the region. This transit link will provide 21 stops with direct connections to the D.C. metro area's current routes.

Running parallel to the Capital Beltway in Maryland, the Purple Line will seamlessly integrate with Maryland Area Rail Commuter, Amtrak, and local bus services, enhancing the region's transportation network through the use of light-rail vehicles. The use of electric light-rail vehicles further enhances the project's eco-friendly credentials, providing a modern, efficient, and sustainable mode of transportation for the region's residents and visitors.

Two civil and environmental engineering alumni Martha Gross '10, '11, executive director of Maryland Transit Authority Development and Delivery, and Doran Bosso '06, '08, chief executive officer of Purple Line Transit Partners LLC., credit their Virginia Tech education in preparing them for a project of this magnitude.

Pioneering sustainable transportation

The Purple Line project will feature 28 state-of-the-art light-rail vehicles that are 142 feet long – one of the longest in the country – and will be articulated with flexible joints to accommodate the curves and turns along the project corridor.

Light-rail transit is an electric railway system that typically operates at ground level, though the Purple Line also has a short tunnel and a brief lengths of elevated track. Light-rail vehicles (LRVs) can operate in mixed traffic, sharing the roadway with regular vehicles, or on separate tracks — the Purple Line will operate mostly in dedicated tracks. Unlike heavy-rail systems such as the D.C. Metro, light-rail is powered by overhead catenary wires rather than an electrified third rail.

The project includes a new 200,000-square-foot operations and maintenance facility aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, underscoring the commitment to environmentally responsible building practices. 

“Shifting travel to electric LRVs not only reduces traffic congestion but also contributes to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, promoting a cleaner, more sustainable environment,” Gross said. 

Gross joined the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) as executive director of transit development and delivery in May. In this role, she is responsible for the agency’s major-projects portfolio, including the Purple Line project, which is integral to MTA’s larger plan to offer top-tier transit solutions throughout Maryland.

Since completing her mid-career graduate studies at Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus in 2011 with an MBA and a Ph.D in civil engineering, Gross has played key roles in delivering more than $10 billion worth of transportation projects across the U.S.

In Maryland, Gross and Bosso will be collaborating to work through any challenges during construction and testing as well as preparing to serve customers as the light-rail line becomes operational. Gross is involved at the executive level for the MTA among her other statewide responsibilities, while Bosso is directly responsible for management of the project day to day. 

The project is currently more than two-thirds complete and on track to begin carrying passengers at the end of 2027. The Purple Line Transit Partners will operate the transit line for 30 years. With Purple Line Transit Partners as Maryland’s contractual partner, Gross and Bosso are jointly working to bring together the various parties in a collaborative manner to keep the project on schedule and on budget. 

From classroom to career

Bosso and Gross are seasoned practitioners in public-private partnerships, which is an innovative project-delivery model that exemplifies how public and private sectors can collaborate to achieve major infrastructure goals. In fact, they both studied the theory and application of this delivery model as graduate students under Mike Garvin, professor of civil and environmental engineering and principal faculty member in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction.

“Public-private partnerships offer a number of benefits and often lead to innovative outcomes,” said Garvin. “However, these are complex arrangements that require careful planning and consideration of many factors such as well-designed procurement processes and proper risk allocation and management.”

This is why Garvin feels it is beneficial to include content about public-private partnerships in his courses and why he has done research on public-private partnerships throughout his career. Bosso and Gross contributed to these research projects as students at Virginia Tech.

Bosso and Gross first crossed paths in in spring 2007, when Gross was considering Virginia Tech among other options for graduate school after several years working in the construction industry. Since that time, they’ve kept in touch and both have also remained close with Garvin through support of his research with industry perspectives and by serving as guest lecturers in his Facility Delivery and Financing Strategies course.

Led by Bosso as CEO since 2021, Purple Line Transit Partners is a private consortium responsible for designing, building, financing, operating, and maintaining the Purple Line. Following the mid-project departure of the original design-build contractor, the project underwent financial restructuring and welcomed a new design-build partner in 2022.

“The departure of the original design-build partner and the financial restructuring were challenging, but we were able to work through these issues to keep this important infrastructure project moving forward,” said Bosso. “This project exemplified how the private and public sectors can be aligned, even through difficulties, and rely on the expertise that each party brings to achieve the desired outcome.”