[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 130 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1806-E1807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO TAKIS SALPEAS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 25, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. P. Takis 
Salpeas, an extremely talented and capable manager with the San 
Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) who recently resigned 
his position in Millbrae, California, to take a position with the 
Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority (WMATA) in Washington, 
DC.
  Mr Salpeas has served BART with distinction since 1991, first as 
project manager for the BART Colma Station Extension, then as Executive 
Manager of West Bay Extensions, and was in charge of the extension of 
BART to the San Francisco International Airport, which lies in my 
Congressional district.
  Under Mr. Salpeas' leadership, the BART rapid rail system cleared 
numerous political and financial hurdles in order to begin construction 
of the important 8.7 mile BART Extension to the San Francisco 
International Airport. The BART Extension to the airport will connect 
the existing 95-mile multi-county BART system with a new international 
terminal at the airport.
  Mr. Salpeas has more than 25 years experience in rail transit 
planning, engineering and construction, and he has been an invaluable 
leader at BART. Mr. Salpeas has been selected for the position of 
Assistant General Manger of Transit System Development at WMATA.
  Prior to coming to BART in 1991, Mr. Salpeas worked for the 
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), which serves the 
Philadelphia metropolitan area. AT SEPTA, he was project manger for 
reconstruction of elevated rail guideways and stations, and later 
directed its engineering development program.
  Mr. Salpeas is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; 
the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council, the 
American Public Transit Association (APTA) and the APTA Construction 
Committee; and the Federal Transit Administration's Construction 
Roundtable. A graduate of Athens University and the University of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Salpeas holds two masters's degrees in systems 
engineering and civil engineering. He is the author of more than 30 
professional papers on rail transit topics, and has taught civil and 
transportation engineering at Widener University in Chester, 
Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate having the opportunity to recognize Mr. 
Takis Salpeas and in wishing him well in his new position at WMATA. Mr. 
Salpeas has served our community well and made a difference in the 
lives of Pennsylvania residents. Takis will be missed by those who 
worked with him, he will be missed by his friends in the Bay Area, and 
he will be missed by countless others in our community who do not know 
him, but who have benefitted from Takis' work and dedication in 
bringing BART to the airport.
  I would like to place a copy of an article which appeared in the San 
Francisco Chronicle last year, which I believe captured the essence of 
Mr. Salpeas' character and accomplishments at BART.

           [From the San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 1, 1997]

  He's Helping Drive BART's Train to SFO Engineer Aims To Get It Done 
                          Fast, Inexpensively

                         (By Benjamin Pimentel)

       While politicians take credit for BART's grand plan to go 
     to San Francisco International Airport, many say an engineer 
     named Takis Salpeas--known to few outside BART and local 
     political circles--is the project's real driving force.
       Part commander and part cheerleader, the 47-year-old Greek 
     immigrant has spent the past five years working out details 
     for BART's eight-mile march to SFO and Millbrae, one of the 
     biggest transit projects in Bay Area history.
       In many ways, Salpeas is just the person to lead BART's 
     bulldozers when construction begins next month: a dedicated 
     railroad-builder full of brashness and bravado who hasn't 
     lost his optimism in the face of dozens of obstacles.
       ``BART is one of the best systems in the world. There will 
     be no margin of error,'' Salpeas said. ``Everything will be 
     efficient. We have to go for it.''
       The airport project is the biggest in Salpeas' career--and 
     the most controversial. It has been the target of lawsuits, 
     opposition from local groups and the airlines and political 
     battles in Congress.
       At a time when few believe the line will open by the early 
     21st century, Salpeas says he's sure he can complete the job 
     on schedule in 50 months.
       And even though critics predict that the extension will 
     cost more than its projected $1.2 billion price tag, the 
     feisty engineer claims he can do the job efficiently enough 
     to save up to $240 million.
       Salpeas' gung-ho attitude has rubbed some people the wrong 
     way.
       Although local leaders are excited about the economic 
     benefits of the BART extension, many complain that BART 
     planned the extension without adequately consulting them--and 
     that Salpeas has tried to steamroll them. But few are willing 
     to publicly criticize a man they will have to negotiate with 
     in the coming years.
       ``You're either on his side or (you're) the enemy,'' one 
     government official said. ``We have this love-hate 
     relationship with the man.''
       Others, like San Bruno Mayor Ed Simon, say they appreciate 
     Salpeas' directness.
       ``He's a straight shooter,'' he said. ``Some people think 
     he's abrasive because he doesn't try to sugar-coat things.''
       Salpeas acknowledges that he has been blunt in dealing with 
     cities.
       ``Whatever I tell them is the truth, the honest, 
     professional truth,'' he said. ``I never promise anything I 
     can't deliver.''
       Born and raised in Athens, Salpeas is the son and grandson 
     of railroad engineers. His family sent him to study civil 
     engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 
     '70s, hoping he would return to become director of Greece's 
     national railroad system.
       Salpeas decided to build his career in the United States 
     instead. After a stint with Philadelphia's rail transit 
     agency, Salpeas moved to the Bay Area in 1991 to build BART's 
     Colma station.
       He was later tapped to head BART's SFO extension team.
       Until recently, when BART finally got a federal funding 
     commitment, it was unclear if the project would ever get 
     started.
       The weekend before the Federal Transit Administration 
     signed the agreement, Salpeas said he was nervously 
     scribbling plans for radically cheaper alternatives.
       Because the line will pass through several cities, Salpeas 
     has had to calm fears about how construction will affect 
     communities. Along the way, he's had to contend with cities' 
     demands, such as extending a sidewalk or building tracks 
     underground--demands that usually get turned down.
       ``Everybody wants something out of this project--and yet I 
     have fixed resources,'' he said.
       BART board member Dan Richard, who negotiated with cities 
     for the agency, said there were times when he wished Salpeas 
     would take a softer approach.
       ``There's a reason why there are few engineers in public 
     office,'' he said. ``They sometimes use the direct approach, 
     which is what you need to build things--but isn't always the 
     most politic way. Every once in a while, we have to guide the 
     missile in a different direction.''
       Simon recalled how Salpeas would fidget with his tie 
     whenever discussions seemed to be reaching a stalemate.
       ``It's like he wants to take his tie off and put on another 
     shirt to start working,'' Simon said. ``He just wants to 
     build the darn train.''
       And Salpeas wants to build it fast and cheap.
       To do this, BART is changing the way it issues contracts. 
     In the past, BART dealt with dozens of contractors whose job 
     was to build whatever BART had designed. BART's recently 
     completed East Bay extensions, roughly the length of the 
     airport project, involved 51 contractors.
       By contrast, the SFO extension will involve four 
     contractors in charge of both designing and building the 
     line. Fewer contractors will likely mean fewer delays and 
     shorten construction by more than a year, Salpeas said.
       The process, called design build, is commonly used in 
     private construction projects--but this is the first time it 
     will be used to build a major Bay Area transit project.
       Many things could still derail Salpeas' game plan. BART 
     must lobby Congress every year for its annual appropriation, 
     and some local groups still think the project is too 
     expensive and impractical.
       But he remains optimistic.

[[Page E1807]]

       ``If we are successful, this is how railroads will be built 
     in the 21st century,'' he said.
       And let no one doubt that Salpeas intends to keep building 
     railroads in the new century. Even before the digging for the 
     airport extension begins, he's already thinking of what he 
     hoped would be BART's next big project.
       ``What about crossing the bay one more time?'' Salpeas 
     said, laughing.

     

                          ____________________