Renaissance Principal Ysela Llort was honored at the the annual CUTR Transportation Achievement Awards event on Thursday, November 7, 2019. Llort has been selected as the 2019 Florida Transportation Hall of Fame™ Inductee and the first woman to be inducted into the Transportation Hall of Fame.
Llort leads Renaissance’s Miami office where she directs business development activities and serves as Principal in Charge on several Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and local government contracts. For the last few years, her project work has focused on providing technical assistance in compliance, grant management and implementation support to agencies receiving Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding.
Prior to joining Renaissance, Llort was responsible for the Miami Metrorail extension to Miami International Airport from 2011-2015 as the Miami-Dade Transit Director. The metro’s Orange Line connected to Miami International Airport and restored the community’s relationship with transit. In 2015, Llort was honored with the “Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation” award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Llort was also recognized by Cien Latinos/Hispano’s de Miami-Dade for her tireless efforts in the state of Florida.
Llort also acted as the Florida Department of Transportation’s Assistant Secretary for Intermodal Systems Development. Llort established direction for planning and program development. She worked alongside community members and collaborated with elected officials to find equitable and innovative solutions for transportation and planning issues.
Prior to her work in Miami, Llort was responsible for the transportation system in the Virginia area of Washington, D.C. She was instrumental in the development of the first sub-area transportation plan for the four-county region. Llort directed all planning and operation programs including traffic engineering, traffic management systems (ITS), a land development review, access management permitting, and transportation planning.
"Have a desire to change the world? Ysela Llort has not only the desire, but the drive as well…. And she is being recognized for it!” said Commission Sarnoff. “Ysela is being honored as Florida Transportation Hall of Fame inductee for her impact on transportation in Florida. She will be the first woman to be inducted into the Florida Transportation Hall of Fame and it’s about time!"
“Ysela is not only knowledgeable of transportation issues, but she is also genuinely concerned about the communities she affects in her decision-making,” said Dr. Robert L. Bertini, director of CUTR and the National Institute for Congestion Research. “Ysela is an asset to the state of Florida, and we are thrilled to honor her with this distinction.”
“It is a great honor to become the first woman inducted into the Transportation Hall of Fame,” said Llort. “It has been a greater honor to serve the wonderful communities in Florida, especially the Miami-Dade region.”
Llort is most proud of her work in developing the state’s Strategic Intermodal System (SIS), Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) process, the Port of Miami tunnel, the north terminal at Miami International Airport, the Orange Line extension of the Metrorail, developing effective working groups within organizations, and engaging communities towards finding and implementing sound solutions. “Nothing achieved in my long and interesting career has been done by me— it has all been a product of the hard work and dedication of wonderful and committed teams of professionals. I have been privileged to work with these great folks,” said Llort.
Llort served on the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board; she is also the Chair of the CUTR Advisory Board, a member of the executive committee at the Transportation Research Board, and a member of the National Academy of Science, Medicine, and Engineering.
The Florida Transportation Hall of Fame™ distinction is awarded annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to transportation. Some recent inductees into the Florida Transportation Hall of Fame™ have been Maurice Ferré, Commissioner for The City of Miami; Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando; Bill Johnson, Florida Secretary of Commerce, and Jim Sebesta, Florida Transportation Commissioner and Florida Senator (2014).