Award: Transit upgrades
Value: Undisclosed, part of $1 billion program
Location: Seattle metropolitan area
Client: Sound Transit
AECOM secured work on a 19-contract program expected to generate $1 billion in engineering services for the expansion of Seattle’s regional transit network.
Sound Transit, the Seattle public transit agency, selected the Dallas-based firm to deliver construction management services through three multiple-award task order contracts, according to a Feb. 27 news release. The work will cover civil and structural engineering work, including preliminary engineering and full design development. The five-year design contract also includes planning and environmental services, according to AECOM.
“The full scope of our services — spanning design, environmental and project management support — underscores the deep value we offer our clients,” said Matt Crane, chief executive of AECOM’s U.S. West region, in the release.
On the project and construction management services contract, AECOM will lead major capital expansion and ongoing enhancement programs. For environmental services, which covers planning for new infrastructure and renewal projects, the firm will work as a subconsultant. That includes systemwide planning, assessments, investigations and environmental clearance activities, according to the release.
AECOM did not disclose the contracts’ amount. Specific dollar amounts for multiple-award task order contracts are typically allocated only as individual task orders are issued during the course of work.
Sound Transit has issued 19 multiple-award task order contracts for the network’s upgrades. The projects aim to implement new facilities, upgrades and state-of-good repair work, and should generate roughly $1 billion in engineering services across the Seattle region, according to the release.
In late December 2025, for example, Sound Transit awarded Chantilly, Virginia-based Parsons a position on the $1 billion ceiling multiple-award task order contracts. The projects support Sound Transit’s Sound Transit 3 capital program, one of the largest transportation infrastructure initiatives in North America, according to a Parsons news release.
However, ST3, a voter approved expansion plan of the transit network, is facing significant budget deficits. The program total has reportedly ballooned up to $185 billion due to cost overruns, according to the Seattle Times.
The multiple-award task order structure should reduce ST3 total project costs by about 5%, according to a September 2025 Sound Transit slide deck.
Adding to the infrastructure portfolio
The award marks an important win for AECOM's infrastructure portfolio.
AECOM recently highlighted transportation and program management work as areas of opportunity this year, according to executives’ comments on the firm's most recent earnings call. For example, Gaurav Kapoor, AECOM’s chief financial officer, said to expect demand for these types of program management services to grow.
He also added state and municipal construction budgets appeared much healthier than anticipated, a strong indicator for local level investment as well.
