North County Transit District, AECOM agree to settle claims

The North County Transit District reached an agreement with AECOM (formerly DMJM+Harris) to settle all claims arising from the design services performed by DMJM+Harris for the SPRINTER light rail project in the San Diego area. The settlement allows each party to avoid future litigation regarding disputed claims. With this agreement, NCTD should complete the SPRINTER project well within its federally approved budget of $484.2 million.

"This settlement
agreement will allow NCTD’s board, management and staff to focus on providing
the best possible transportation services to its North County customers rather
than spend considerable resources on potentially lengthy and expensive
litigation," said Board Chairman Bob Campbell.

Beginning in 1995 NCTD
entered into its first agreement with Frederic R. Harris, Inc., to provide
preliminary engineering, environmental assessment and final design of the
Oceanside-Escondido rail project. Frederic R. Harris, Inc. later merged to form
DMJM+Harris. Additional agreements with NCTD on the SPRINTER followed,
including work to design the complete SPRINTER light rail system including
right-of-way improvements and environmental mitigation efforts. AECOM acquired
DMJM+Harris in 2008.

The SPRINTER opened for
passenger service in March 2008. Later in 2008 a dispute arose between NCTD and
AECOM concerning compensation for services rendered on the large, complex
multi-year infrastructure project.

As part of the terms of
the agreement, NCTD will pay AECOM $2,000,000 for previously provided design
services and AECOM shall pay NCTD $4,700,000 as a settlement for the District’s
claims regarding design issues impacting the SPRINTER.

NCTD serves more than 12
million passengers annually by providing public transportation within North San
Diego County and via the COASTER to downtown San Diego.