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A Great Transportation Light Has Gone Out

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thomas Jenkins embodied Emerson’s words perfectly through his life, his work, and the profound influence he left on transportation throughout Southern California and the nation. 

Thomas Jenkins was an inspiration. A national transit and rail consultant vice president for HNTB at the time of his death, Jenkins, known as Tom, spent more than 60 years developing transportation infrastructure projects for public agencies throughout the country. Specializing in multimodal and multidisciplinary transportation projects and corridor studies in complex urban and urbanizing areas, he delivered more than 22 records of decisions for major transit projects valued at more than $55 billion, most recently leading the planning and environmental work for LA Metro’s Sepulveda Transit Corridor. That’s impressive for those who do not know about the transportation industry. But for those in the know, that’s beyond astounding. 

In addition to that signature project, a few of the Southern California projects where Jenkins made a considerable difference include SANDAG’s Mid-Coast Rail Project, LA Metro’s Purple Line (Westside) Subway Extension, Regional Connector Project, Crenshaw/LAX Project, Eastside LRT Phase I, Foothill LRT Extension, Foothill Transit formation, Metro Red Line, Metro Blue Line, Metro Green Line, US 101 Corridor Study, and the I-15 Managed Lane Corridor. That’s not just a career; that’s several careers for most exceptional transportation professionals. But to Jenkins, excelling at bringing complex projects to fruition helped feed his unyielding sense of duty and commitment to the greater good of society through transportation. And his influence extends far beyond just the naming of notable projects. 

Prior to joining HNTB, he led projects at HDR, Infraconsult LLC, and Parsons Brinckerhoff. Before that, he served as the first executive director of the Orange County Transportation Commission (now Orange County Transportation Authority) and the staff director of planning and engineering for the then newly formed Orange County Transit District. But Jenkins never limited his brilliance or altruism to the office. 

A longtime member of the American Public Transportation Association, Jenkins served as chair of the Policy and Planning Committee as well as a member of multiple committees including Innovative Funding, Finance and P3 Committee, Capital Projects Subcommittee, Transit-Oriented Communities Subcommittee, Major Capital Investment Planning Subcommittee, and the Metropolitan & Municipality Planning Subcommittee. A lifetime member of both the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers (Los Angeles and Orange County), as well as a longtime member of the American Planning Association and WTS, Jenkins was also a member of the Chi Epsilon Honor Society, a collegiate civil engineering honor society he joined after earning his bachelor’s and master’s civil engineering degrees from the University of Kansas. 

Honored with the Southern California Transportation Commission’s Mobility 21 Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, the commission recognized Jenkins for contributing momentously to mobility in Southern California. Speaking at the awards ceremony, HNTB West Division President Wayne Feuerborn said, “Tom has advanced mobility for millions through his work. If anyone exemplifies the spirit of this award, it is Tom.” 

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Useful. Honorable. Compassionate. Making a difference. All words that describe the extraordinary life and career of Tom Jenkins. He lived well and contributed selflessly to society profoundly through transportation. Thomas L. Jenkins passed away on January 1, 2025. To honor him and his work, his family requests that donations be made in his name to the WTS-LA Scholarship Fund: https://www.calfund.org/funds/wts/. WTS LA will be honoring Mr. Jenkins at our 2025 Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala in November by naming a scholarship in his memory.