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TCA FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST VERMONT ENGINEERING FIRM
Smart Mobility, Inc. prepared engineering report on 241 project
IRVINE, Calif. (January 23, 2008) – The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency today filed a complaint against Smart Mobility, Inc. with the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Opponents of the 241 completion project have relied on reports prepared by Smart Mobility; however, the company's engineers are unlicensed in California and are violating California law by practicing civil and traffic engineering without legal authorization.
After two decades of engineering studies and environmental analysis, the Agency in 2006 approved the alignment for the completion of the 241 Toll Road. The design of the alignment reflects the recommendations of Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Agency is required to follow Caltrans design and safety standards.
In 2005 and 2007, Smart Mobility prepared engineering reports on the 241 completion project for the California State Parks Foundation. The reports contain studies of traffic, project costs, property impacts, designs, plans and specifications of the improvement of Interstate-5. The reports were submitted to the California Coastal Commission. The California Department of Transportation evaluated the 2007 report. "The alternative presented in the SMI report does not meet Department standards, and in our view does not meet applicable engineering standards of care," the Caltrans analysis states. “Therefore, the Department cannot support the proposed design refinements or conclusions.”
Smart Mobility is based in Vermont and no officers or directors of the company are licensed in California. The Professional Engineers Act, which regulates the profession, states that an out-of-state business may only practice engineering in California "if it has a branch office in California, has a part owner or officer in charge of the engineering work in California, who is registered in California and is physically present in California." (Business and Professions Code section 6738(a)(3))
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