People Spotlight: Meet Carey Barr

Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting a consulting manager from our Transportation business in the U.S. East and Latin America region and providing an insight into her inspiration and work.

Carey Barr uses her background in civil engineering and transportation planning to consult in economic and financial analysis and transportation project development. Her work focuses on the application of quantitative information to support transportation investment decisions. Her grants work has helped clients secure over $650 million and counting, as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has expanded funding options. Recently, she has worked on financial planning efforts with transit agencies and public works departments to develop transition plans to achieve zero emission vehicle fleets. Before joining AECOM, Carey worked at the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin, conducting research for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry.

Growing up, I played a city-building simulation game in which you design and build your own city, manage resources and troubleshoot problems. It showed me how crucial transportation, energy and water/sewer infrastructure are to creating a successful town or city and this inspired my career path. Initially, I wanted to be an architect, but since I’m not the most artistically inclined person, I chose to pursue STEM and engineering, and then eventually chose transportation engineering.

What is your favorite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?

For the past 12 years, I’ve worked on a lot of grant applications that help unlock the funding needed for communities to complete transportation infrastructure and resiliency projects. I love hearing the news that projects have won grants — this never gets old. Local and county agencies depend on these grant funds to move their community initiatives forward and improve social outcomes, and this makes my work extremely rewarding.

A recent example is one of our municipal clients. They submitted a couple of grant applications on their own but didn’t have the time or in-house resources to complete the extra technical analyses needed with the more complex grant applications. With our help, they were able to win three grants in one cycle, including funding for projects to alleviate flooding in low-lying areas. These are also low-income communities, and historically the homeowners have been coping with expensive and frequent flooding in these areas so this grant funding for resiliency will be very impactful for them.

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.

We helped the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) craft a grant application for a corridor improvement project in a rural part of North Carolina. Lacking the resources needed to develop a competitive grant application, rural areas are often overlooked for discretionary funding. In this case, we worked alongside NCDOT and local representatives from Rutherfordton and Spindale to shape the grant application around goals for transforming the 2.5-mile corridor into a “complete street” — a more safe, connected and equitable street network. NCDOT was awarded a $20.4 million federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) discretionary grant for the project in 2022.

Improving safety for all residents, constructing a new roundabout and a multi-use path, providing non-motorized transportation choices to help reduce emissions, and increasing access to jobs and affordable housing are some of the goals of the project. Helping connect these goals with funding was a fun part of the puzzle and I’m looking forward to seeing the complete street when it’s constructed.

Share a piece of career advice.

Take advantage of each opportunity offered to you. If it’s a new kind of project or product and no one’s done it before, it can seem a little intimidating, but sometimes these opportunities wind up being the most rewarding. Taking that risk or pursuing that extra degree or professional license might feel like a lot of work, but you’ll be glad you did it. Even when you feel reluctant, push yourself to go the extra mile or take on that new project that’s outside of your comfort zone — it’ll be worth it.