Page 9 - 40th Anniversary Book 10.5x13.5 FINAL

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adventure. Safety standards from the rail industry had
to be adapted and applied to assure passenger safety.
Lea+Elliott was instrumental in developing the design
standards for automated transit systems, standards
still in use today. As in any emerging industry, the first
systems installed ran into challenges for which solutions
had to be discovered and developed. Lea+Elliott staff
were there to sort out problems as they arose and
were able to take lessons learned and apply them to
subsequent projects.An ingenious and enterprising spirit was, and
remains, the cornerstone of the company. In the early,
formative atmosphere was born the determination to
always find the best solution for the client. In order for
our work to be both credible and accepted, solutions
had to work for all parties involved: owners, suppliers
and the public. Thus was born our long-standing
company policy of declining to work for any supplier.
By remaining entirely independent and unbiased, we
are able to provide our clients the most trustworthy,
objective advice. The days of scrambling to get work
taught our founders that the way to a client’s heart was
simply to do top quality work, keep promises, and see
that their needs were met.Lea+Elliott is now a mature, thriving company,
widely recognized as a world leader in transit
automation. Although transit automation was an
emerging technology, starting before the advent
of computers, it has since become ubiquitous; and
Lea+Elliott has seen it through every step of the way.
Other companies that began in the industry have since
turned to other activities, but with innovation, open-
mindedness and flexibility, Lea+Elliott has grown with it
and helped mold it into what it is today.After years of toil and uncertainty, having invested,
in some cases, every cent they had, seven people formed
a relationship that has influenced the world.
“In 1978 ,” Harley recalls, “DFW
gave Dennis Elliott what was then a
huge contract to manage the Airtrans
expansion. In October, I went to see him
and he said, ‘I’d like you to join me.’ It
still gives me goose bumps to think about
that. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Thirty-five years later, Harley is the
last founder still working at Lea+Elliott.
He is kept invigorated by the work and by
his Lea+Elliott colleagues. “It’s a lot of fun
and I get to travel,” he quips, “including
to all 14 APM conferences and many
interesting project sites.”
In recent years, he has welcomed
the challenge of working with many
different clients, particularly those
international clients who have a very
different approach to business and doing
work. “The basic work we do, we know
well,” he says. “Making that work in
those different business climates is pretty
exciting stuff.”
Founder, Senior Principal
Harley Moore
“We stayed on through the rough patch
because it was exciting! We knew what
needed to be done.”
Don Ochsner| Founder