Connetics Transportation Group

CTG Joins Forces with Nelson\Nygaard!

As of November 3, 2021, we’re pleased to announce that Connetics Transportation Group (CTG) has joined Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. This partnership creates the largest transit planning practice in the United States, with industry leaders in transit planning and multimodal design services, as well as travel demand modeling and big data analytics.

Nelson\Nygaard is an internationally recognized firm committed to developing transportation systems that promote vibrant, sustainable, and accessible communities. Founded by two women in 1987, Nelson\Nygaard has grown from its roots in transit planning to a full-service transportation firm—now with over 150 employees.

We’re excited to offer you expanded locations nationwide since our offices in Atlanta, GA, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Raleigh, NC, Chicago, IL, Washington, DC, and Southern California will be added to or combined with Nelson\Nygaard’s locations in Austin, TX, Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Oakland, CA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Washington, DC.

Beyond our common history as women-founded firms and our shared areas of practice, both Nelson\Nygaard and CTG are guided by core values of equity, sustainability, and livability. Those of you who know both our firms will recognize our shared commitment to developing solutions that are practical, implementable, and shaped by the people we serve.

We’re eager to offer the combined services of both firms to our clients and communities throughout the country. Beyond sharing considerable expertise in transit planning and mobility services, as well as CTG’s expertise in travel demand modeling and big data analytics, Nelson\Nygaard offers services related to multimodal and active transportation, parking and demand management, and engineering design and development.

Please be assured that you can continue to depend on the high quality of service that you are used to receiving. While we are now part of Nelson\Nygaard, we will continue to lead our current projects and deliver the innovative results for which CTG is known.

It has been our deepest pleasure to work with you since 2005 when we first formed CTG, and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last 17 years. We look forward to continuing our work with both existing and future clients as we join the Nelson\Nygaard family.

To learn more about Nelson\Nygaard, please visit https://nelsonnygaard.com/.

In Memoriam:
Manuel Padron
1939-2016


Dear friends and colleagues,

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of Manuel Padron on November 8, 2016.

After earning his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Syracuse University, Manuel returned to Caracas, Venezuela to begin his transit career. He returned to the United States to work for the Twin Cities' Metropolitan Transit Commission, followed by Parsons-Brinckerhoff-Tudor-Bechtel in Atlanta, GA. In 1972, Manuel became one of MARTA's first employees, serving as the agency's Director of Planning and Marketing, where he helped plan and develop Atlanta's heavy rail system.

Manuel founded Manuel Padron & Associates (MPA) in 1982, creating a small firm recognized for its expertise in transit operations planning. His firm worked on transit projects across the country for cities such as San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, where MPA played an instrumental role in Los Angeles' first subway and light rail lines. He was a dynamic and active president, running the firm until his retirement in 2005. His retirement led to the birth of Connetics Transportation Group, founded in 2005 with the same seasoned professionals who worked for MPA.

Manuel was well known in the transit world not only for his technical expertise, but also for his unique and outgoing personality, spicing up many a transit industry gathering. More than one colleague has referred to Manuel as the embodiment of "The Most Interesting Man in the World," referencing a popular commercial. Those who had the fortune to attend one of his many parties know the highlight was always when he took the microphone to sing "Girl from Ipanema" in Portuguese. Manuel was an avid jazz enthusiast, piano player, photographer and salsa dancer. A person with an indescribable combination of character, talent, tenacity, intellect and dead-pan wit, he most certainly was one of a kind, and he will be missed dearly.

We are proud to continue the practice that he started, and consider our firm to be one of his legacies.