MICHAEL SCHABAS 

URBAN TRANSPORT

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FURTHER ARTICLES 

The Stansted Solution Financial Times, London, 22 June 2007

Paying for Crossrail  Institute for Economic Affairs Journal, March 2005.  

New Railways for London, Planning in London, April 2001.  

Charging for Roads: A Better Way to Ease Congestion, Centre for Policy Studies, London, 1995.  

Burnt Offering: Jubilee Line The Inside Story New Civil Engineer, March 1994.  

Vancouver Advanced LRT: Breakthrough in the Real Estate - Transit Connection, Canadian Institute of Planners, Ottawa, 1982.  

Planning Suburbs for Public Transportation, Masters Thesis, John F. Kennedy School, Harvard University, 1981.

Michael Schabas has played leading roles developing urban transport systems in Britain, Canada and the USA. 

London Crossrail  In 1994, Michael Schabas was retained by the UK Department of Transport to review the Crossrail project. Since 2003, he has led Superlink, a group of senior railway managers proposing "A Better Crossrail" for London.  

Channel Tunnel Rail Link  On behalf of the London Borough of Newham, he conceived and developed a plan to use St Pancras terminal. He was subsequently retained as an advisor to Union Railways, which adopted the proposal. The new St Pancras International Terminal opened in 2007.  

London Docklands Light Railway  On behalf of the Canary Wharf developers, Michael Schabas identified requirements and solutions for upgrading the new railway. He then formed the Brown & Root/Booz Allen Joint Venture which won a £100m contract to re-engineer it for higher capacity and reliability. 

Jubilee Line Extension  As Vice President, Transport Planning 1988-1991 for the Canary Wharf developers, Michael Schabas conceived and promoted the Jubilee Line Extension. He subsequently advised the European Investment Bank which funded the initial £100m private sector contribution.

Vancouver Skytrain Project  Design Coordinator 1981-1983 and responsible for final route definition for a 22km elevated automated mini-metro system. The project was completed within a demanding four year schedule. Michael Schabas returned to Vancouver in 2003 to advise a consortium bidding for the Richmond-Airport line. 

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS

● Expert witness to the House of Commons Committee on the CrossRail Bill, 2006.

● UK Commission for Integrated Transport: Study of bus and rail costs, 2006.

● Transport for London (TfL): Advice on expansion of the Oyster Smartcard system, 2004.

● Edinburgh Airport Rail Link: Peer Review panel, 2004.

● Sage Realty: Supported changes to the interface with Grand Central Terminal expansion, New York City, 2003-2006.

● Bristol City Council: Reviewing light rail scheme and funding options, 1996.

● Expert Witness to the Public Enquiry on the East London Line Extension, 1996.

● London Airports Surface Access Study for UK Department of Transport, 1995-1996.

● Member, Technology Foresight Panel, Cabinet Office (UK), November 1995-current.

● CrossRail: Review  for UK Department of Transport, 1994.

● East London Line: Advisor to a consortium of property developer Grand Metropolitan Plc and five London boroughs which successfully promoted extensions to the East London Line, now being built, 1991-1994.

● London Underground Limited: Development of options for the Northern Line, 1992.

● BAA Plc: Reviewing revenue forecasts for the Heathrow Express Railway, 1992.  

● Midland Metro: Bid Manager for AEG/Norwest Holst consortium for the Design-Build-Operate concession for Birmingham-Wolverhampton light rail, 1991-1993.

● Witness to the House of Lords Committee on the King's Cross Railways Bill, 1992.

● Juror, Docklands "Decade of Achievement" Awards, July 1991.

● Evidence to House of Commons Select Committee on Light Rail Transport, 1990.  

● Chief of Rapid Transit Planning for the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, responsible for planning a 40km system, 1986-1988.

● Manager, Strategic Marketing for the Urban Transportation Development Corp (UTDC). Promoted the Skytrain technology in Bangkok, Taipei, and Ankara, 1983-1986.

● Guest Lecturer: Transport Economists Group, London 2002; West Midlands CIT Conference, 1990; University of Hawaii, Department of Urban Studies, 1988; York University (Canada), Faculty of Business Administration, 1986; University of Waterloo, School of Architecture, 1985.

● Citizen Appointee and Chairman, Cycling Committee, Toronto City Council, 1975-1977. 

PUBLICATIONS

● The Stansted Solution, Opinion in the Financial Times, 22 June 2007.

● Paying for CrossRail, Institute for Economic Affairs Journal, March 2005.  

● New Railways for London, Planning in London, April 2001.

● Charging for Roads: A Better Way to Ease Congestion, Centre for Policy Studies, London, 1995. Abridged version published in Going Green, the magazine of the Environmental Transport Association.

● Burnt Offering: Jubilee Line - The Inside Story, New Civil Engineer, March 1994.

● "Automated Transit Systems," The Urban Transport Industries Report 1993, Tony Ridley, editor.

● King's Cross Project: Review of BR's "Strategic Assessment of Options," Recommended a Channel Rail Link to a new terminal at St Pancras. Presented to the House of Lords Committee on the King's Cross Railways Bill, July 1992.

● Involving Property Developers, Planning Passenger Railways, Transport Publishing, London, 1991.

● Light Rail Transit to Stimulate Development: The Developer's Perspective, Light Transit Systems, Thomas Telford Books, Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 1990.

● "High Speed Underground Links for London Docklands," Electrifying Urban Public Transportation, Liverpool Polytechnic, 1989.

● Quantitative Analysis of Rapid Transit Alignment Alternatives, Transportation Quarterly, Eno Foundation, Westport, USA, July 1988.

● Smart Transit Systems: How the Software Changes the Hardware, paper presented at American Public Transit Association conference, June 1987.

● "Modern Transit for Modern Cities" paper presented at China Road Federation Conference, Taipei, Taiwan and Istanbul Technical University Symposium on new rail systems, both 1985.

● Vancouver Advanced LRT: Breakthrough in the Real Estate-Transit Connection, Proceedings of the 1982 National Conference of the  Canadian Institute of Planners, Ottawa 1982. Co-authored with Jean Porteus.

● "Creative Traffic Control," City Magazine, Toronto, 1979.  

● Planning Suburbs for Public Transportation, Masters Thesis, John F. Kennedy School, Harvard University, 1981.

INVITED SPEAKER

● Forum 1520, "Human Resources in the New Railway Industry," Sochi, Russia, May 2008.

● BAG-SPNV Annual Conference, "Rail Ticketing in the UK," Berlin, May 2008.

● Inspire East: Planning Sustainable Suburbs, Cambridge University, March 2008.

● CrossRail: The Challenge and Opportunity, London, June 2005.

● Stagecoach Integrated Transport Conference, Winchester, May 2005.

● Planning New Transport Systems for the Growth Areas, London, April 2005.

● London Rail Conference, March 2001.

● London's Transport Future, May 1998.

● AIC Conference “London’s Transport Infrastructure,” March 1996.

● CIT Conference "The National Transport Debate," November 1995.

● Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors London Chapter, 1995.

● Cities '94 Conference on Urban Regeneration, London, 1994.

● Bow Group Conference, “Burnt Offering: The Jubilee Line Extension,” London, 1994.

● British Council of Offices Annual Conference, London, 1993. 

Updated June 2008

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Proposed use of St Pancras Station for the new London Terminal. Opened 2007.

London Jubilee Line Extension

Conceived and promoted the Jubilee Line Extension to Canary Wharf. Opened 1999.

Vancouver Skytrain

Design Coordinator and managed integration of the system with urban development. Opened on time 1996.

London Docklands Light Railway

Defined and promoted upgrading to train control, vehicles and system infrastructure. Assembled implementation team.