TriMet tabs Marra to oversee maintenance operations

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) yesterday announced Sam Marra is joining the agency as executive director of maintenance operations.

Marra, who will will begin his new duties on July 8, will oversee TriMet's rail and bus maintenance, rail maintenance-of-way operations, and facilities management. He has more than 30 years of expertise in transit maintenance and operations, TriMet officials said in a press release.

Marra will help lead the agency in its ongoing investments in MAX light-rail maintenance and infrastructure to improve safety, reliability and on-time performance, they said. He will oversee upcoming state-of-good-repair and other improvements, including more than $15 million in rail maintenance improvement projects in fiscal-year 2015.

Prior to joining TriMet, Marra was a project manager and fleet maintenance consultant for Jacobs Engineering, where he worked on transit fleet maintenance projects. He also served stints at the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District in Oakland, Calif.; Veolia Transportation in Las Vegas and Phoenix; and Lane Transit in Eugene, Ore.