Frank J. Murphy P.E.’s current job title is “Senior Advisor”, but this does not begin to describe his role with the City of Baltimore. For seven Mayoral administrations, 40 years, a variety of positions and counting, Frank Murphy has consistently been Baltimore City’s “Go- To” person for transportation related issues. He has been a leader with both engineering and working with people to improve the safety and effectiveness of Baltimore’s transportation network to serve all users for the 21st century and beyond. Frank always speaks with authority and reason and shows his professional commitment by a deep knowledge and caring for our City. He is a true professional who makes work fun in what can be a stressful environment. In addition to his vast expertise and on the spot analysis, Frank is a good listener and knows what insightful questions to ask.

Baltimore is Maryland’s largest and most complex City, and transportation operating here even in a perfect world would be a challenge. However, there are many constraints and special concerns. These include a built environment of streets laid out well before the advent of the automobile and when the population was much smaller. These same streets often include a multitude of utilities and often overlap with the movement of goods, freight, and services of related transportation systems such as Maryland DOT (SHA, MDTA, MTA), railways, the port, and surrounding counties.

Baltimore is perpetually evolving and always in transition. Changes are constant and include ever increasing environmental and regulatory burdens, societal expectations, technological disruptions, political programs, and needs of the users. Succeeding and thriving in this environment for over four decades is not for someone who is stationary and of limited viewpoints. Fortunately Frank is able to stay on top of these challenges and deliver outstanding performance to Baltimore City. For many years now, very little at DOT moves forward without Frank’s input. This includes all facets of the organization from planning to engineering to construction, to operations, and even administration.

In addition to looking after the interest of Baltimore City, Frank is also involved with various ‘extracurricular’ activities such as, TRB, MdQI, ASCE, ITE, and ASHE. He also is a skilled musician of various genres, a coin collecting aficionado, and enjoys travelling. Besides knowledge and competence, Frank is always personable and pleasant and frequently adds ‘color commentary’ of related and interesting facts and history to any situation.