Transit

Transit sites move people, vehicles, and cargo — often all at once. DLZ designs sites for state DOT roadside facilities, transit centers, transit authority operations, administration and fleet maintenance facilities, inland port facilities, and offices. Because we routinely take these projects from concept through construction, we’re able to balance creativity, functionality, client vision, and constructability in every transit project — and it shows: DLZ’s Detroit Department of Transportation Jason Hargrove Transit Center was selected ENR’s 2024 Best Airport/Transit Project.

Our site civil engineers are cross-trained across site design, drainage, subsurface utilities, and transportation systems, letting them respond holistically to the interrelated demands of transit authority projects — and for inland ports, to coordinate shoreline stabilization and marine structures with yard layout, stormwater systems, and secure inspection operations. We focus on thoroughly understanding the operational and security needs of each site, so the solution we deliver gets access, traffic flow, security, circulation, and exterior amenities right, with the multidisciplinary depth to keep projects cost-effective, functional, and aesthetically pleasing.

Featured Capabilities

Safety

Transit environments are inherently mixed-mode: pedestrians, taxis and rideshare, large moving vehicles, bicyclists, and cars all sharing the same site. DLZ embeds safety into site civil design from the start, addressing sightlines, crash-rated elements, and clear zones, and proactively designing around high-risk conditions. We draw on our engineers’ cross-disciplinary transportation experience to anticipate conflict points between vehicles, pedestrians, and transit vehicles before they become real-world safety issues.

Design & Construction Documents

We provide site design for transit facility improvements from concept through bid-ready construction documents, including site layout plans, wayfinding signage, grading and drainage plans, site utilities, and landscape planting plans. Because transit facilities often stay in continuous operation during construction, we sequence design and phasing to minimize disruption to daily service.

Beautification

DLZ designs roadway plantings, gateways, and other branding and aesthetic features that refresh and transform existing transit facilities, restoring vitality to well-worn assets. These upgrades are often paired with functional site improvements, giving agencies an opportunity to modernize an aging facility’s image at the same time they address operational needs.

Site Access & Security

We help property owners protect their assets with perimeter fencing and gates, restricted vehicle pathways, rejection lanes, parking, and security cameras, along with site evaluation to mitigate vehicle ramming, blast, and ballistic risks. For port facilities, we align wharf design, dredging, site/civil grading, utilities, and inspection facilities into a single cohesive system, ensuring seamless cargo flow from vessel to terminal to outbound logistics. Security planning is tailored to each facility type, since the risk profile and required protective measures for a transit center differ substantially from those of an inland port.

Vehicular & Pedestrian Circulation

Transit vehicles don’t handle sharp curves and hills the way cars do, and we design around those constraints — accounting for multi-modal transportation, service and delivery access, specialty apparatus, public and airside parking, and pedestrian routes. Our engineers model bus and specialty vehicle turning movements directly into the site layout, so circulation works in practice, not just on a drawing.

Service & Yard Areas

DLZ designs fleet parking, material storage, maintenance garages, and similar amenities that keep transit operations running smoothly behind the scenes. These areas are planned around each agency’s fleet size and maintenance schedule, giving operations staff room to work efficiently without disrupting public-facing areas.

Related Work

Jeff

Hirsch, PLA, LEED AP

Department Manager

Indiana

James

Toto, PE

Director of Water and Site Civil Practice

Ohio

Get in touch with some of our transit experts.