About the Executive Director

Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director
Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan leads and manages the $4.2 billion Transbay Transit Center Project— “the Grand Central Station” of the West. The Transbay Project consists of a new multi-modal Transit Center on the site of the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, the extension of rail service from 4th and King Streets to the new Terminal, and a redevelopment area surrounding the new Transit Center. Featuring intercity, regional, and local buses along with commuter and future High-Speed Rail, the Project will ultimately connect 11 different public transit systems. The Project will also create a 40-acre pedestrian friendly community of 2,600 new housing units, one-third of which will be affordable. By providing the public with safe, convenient, and inexpensive public transit options, and by creating a livable community near transit, employment, shopping, and other urban amenities, the Transbay Project is a national model for the integration of land use and transportation planning. The Project is more than a vision; it is the first High-Speed Rail project to break ground in the United States.

Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan is responsible for every aspect of the design, funding, and construction of the Transbay Project. She is responsible for bringing the project from the theoretical and conceptual stage through design, public review and funding through the start of project construction. Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan’s significant achievements leading to the realization of this complex project include:

  • Forming the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) in 2001 to develop the Transbay Project.
  • Selecting and supervising a team of hundreds of engineers, architects and other professionals to design, secure funding for, and build the Project.
  • Managing the environmental review of the Project under federal law (NEPA) and California law (CEQA). In 2005, the Federal Transit Administration cleared the Transbay Project’s environmental review, issuing a Record of Decision for the entire Project. In July of 2010, the Federal Railroad Administration cleared the Project’s environmental review for Phase 1 (the new Transit Center, underground train box, bus ramps and bus storage) and issued a second Record of Decision. In 2005-06, the TJPA successfully defended its environmental review against three legal challenges.
  • Identifying and securing the funding to design and construct Phase 1 of the Project. Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan raised more than $2 billion, including a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) TIFIA loan for $171 million and a DOT grant from federal High-Speed Rail stimulus funds of $400 million. These and other funds raised by Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan have allowed the TJPA to start construction of Phase 1 of the Project.
  • Negotiating the transfer to the TJPA and San Francisco of 19 acres of downtown San Francisco land belonging to the State of California Department of Transportation. The revenues from sale of these properties for private development will be used to fund the Transbay Project.
  • In 2006-2008, conducting a successful design competition to select an architect and developer team to design the Transit Center and design and build a Transit Tower adjacent to the Transit Center, resulting in a highly acclaimed design for the Transit Center by internationally renowned architects Pelli Clark Pelli. Among other innovative elements of the Pelli Clark Pelli design, the Transit Center will feature a 5.4-acre park on the roof that will rival New York City’s High Line in setting the standard for urban open space.
  • Inspiring the creation of original artworks in and around the Transit Center by recognized artists.
  • Acquiring right-of-way for the Project valued at more than $90 million.
  • Completing construction of a Temporary Terminal at a cost of more than $17 million and moving the transit operators from the Transbay Terminal to the Temporary Terminal.
  • In August 2010, beginning construction of the new Transit Center.

Ms. Ayerdi Kaplan, a member of the State Bar of California, has served as the Mayor of San Francisco’s Transportation Policy Advisor and Project Director, the Vice-Chair of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain), Deputy Director on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board, member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Bay Area Governments, and on the Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board. Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan is a member of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and the Conference for Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). She is a Marshall Memorial Fellowship recipient and in 2002 was named San Francisco Tomorrow’s Unsung Hero for her work in transportation. Ms. Ayerdi-Kaplan was named one of the Most Influential Women in the Public Sector by the San Francisco Business Times, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and was named the 2007 Employee of the Year by the Northern California Chapter of the Conference of Minority Officials. She has also been honored as Woman of the Year by the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar and named one of the Most Influential Latinos in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for her work on the Transbay Transit Center project.