Deputy General Manager - Engineering & Project Management: Michael J. Schipper

 Deputy General Manager - Engineering & Project Management: Michael J. Schipper

Michael Schipper, P.E., boarded with GCRTA as Deputy General Manager of Engineering and Project Management in 2001. He is responsible for the funding, planning, design, and construction elements of GCRTA’s $666 million 5-year Capital Improvement Program.  The program includes track, rail stations, bus garages, transit centers, bridges, vehicles, and other facilities.  He was instrumental in progressing the nationally recognized $200 million HealthLine Bus Rapid Transit program from preliminary engineering into final design, construction, and operation.  In 2001 his team completed a multi-year effort to upgrade all "Key" rail stations to be ADA compliant.

PREVIOUS STOPS

Mr. Schipper earned Civil Engineering degrees from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Arlington and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the states of Ohio and Texas.

He began his public service career at the City of Irving, Texas Public Works department, rising from an Engineering Technician to Project Manager.  He transitioned to the private sector joining HNTB Corporation in Houston.  He relocated to Cleveland and was the Associate Vice President responsible for HNTB’s Ohio practice before joining GCRTA.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Mr. Schipper is a Past President of both the Cleveland Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Cleveland Engineering Society.  In 2010 he was recognized as the ASCE Cleveland Section’s Outstanding Civil Engineer of the Year.  He currently serves on ASCE’s Committee on America’s Infrastructure and contributed to the transit and rail sections of the 2017 and 2021 ASCE National Report Cards on America’s Infrastructure, as well as the transit section of the 2021 Ohio Report Card.

He is also a member of the American Public Transit Association’s (APTA) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Standard’s Committee and has presented at national and international conferences on BRT and the success of the HealthLine.