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“A TRIBUTE TO SHIVA K. PANT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2-E3 on Jan. 6, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
A TRIBUTE TO SHIVA K. PANT
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HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 6, 1999
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Shiva K. Pant for his more than two decades of service to Fairfax County, Virginia commuters. Mr. Pant has faithfully served in the Fairfax County Government for the past twenty-five years and will be retiring in January of 1999. Even though the citizens of Fairfax County will be losing Mr. Pant's services with the Department of Transportation, he will still be working to clear our congested roads as the Government Relations Officer for Virginia with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
The Washington Metropolitan Area has excessive traffic needs to say the least, and Shiva Pant has been preparing to tackle them since he began his education. While still in India, Shiva Pant earned a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India in 1968. After relocating to the United States he immediately began work, and ultimately completed in 1969, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE) with specialization in Transportation, at West Virginia University.
After mastering the academic theories of transportation and traffic control, Shiva Pant began his career with the State of Virginia as a Transportation Planner for the Virginia Department of Highways, the precursor to VDOT, starting in 1970. During his tenure in Richmond Mr. Pant established himself as a leader in the field of transportation through his service as project manager for the first Congressionally mandated statewide transit needs study.
In 1974, Shiva Pant relocated to Fairfax County to become Transportation Planning Branch Chief for the Fairfax County Office of Comprehensive Planning. After recognizing the enormous scope of Fairfax County's future transportation needs, Mr. Pant lead the successful drive to establish an autonomous office of transportation for Fairfax County. Three years after transferring to Fairfax County, Shiva Pant, in 1977, became the first Director of the Fairfax County, Office of Transportation. A post he has faithfully held to this day.
As Director of the Office of Transportation, which now employs 60 staff full-time, Mr. Pant is head of the agency responsible for conducting and coordinating all aspects of highway and transit planning, implementation, operations and financing for all projects. Over the preceding two decades Mr. Pant was personally responsible for a number of key projects including the 35-mile Fairfax County Parkway, the Route 28 Transportation Tax District, he also designed a number of bond initiatives and lead the start-up of the County's own bus system which now operates over 120 buses.
Through out his career Shiva K. Pant has been an innovator and leader in the field of transportation for the State of Virginia and the County of Fairfax. After 28 years of service to the State and County, we will truly miss Mr. Pant's council and leadership. As much as we hate to lose his years of experience and personal expertise, I know he will be enormous value to both Virginia and WMATA in his new capacity as Government Relations Officer for Virginia.
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