Husein Cumber | |
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Born | Coral Gables, Florida, United States | June 12, 1975
Nationality | Pakistani American |
Alma mater | Duke University |
Occupation | Chief Strategy Officer Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) |
Spouse | LeAnna Cumber née Gutierrez |
Children | Two |
Husein Aftab Cumber (born June 12, 1975) is the chief strategy officer for Florida East Coast Industries, LLC. (FECI). FECI is one of Florida's largest commercial real estate, transportation and infrastructure companies. [1]
Prior to joining Florida East Coast Industries, LLC. Cumber served as deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) as part of the Bush administration from 2007 to 2008 under Secretary Mary Peters. [2]
Cumber was born in Coral Gables, Florida to Aftab and Gul Cumber. He was raised in Coral Springs, Florida, and graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 1993. [3] Cumber earned a B.A. in U.S. National Security from Duke University in 1997. [4]
After college, Cumber began his career with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where he worked in the Florida real estate office. In 1997, Cumber joined the Jeb Bush gubernatorial campaign working on both the finance and political operations in Broward and Palm Beach counties. He later served on the 1999 Inaugural Committee. Beginning in 1999, Cumber joined a government relations and business development firm as an associate, where he led the efforts to create the Network Access Point of the Americas. [5] From 2000 to 2002 he joined Orlando-based EPIK Communications, where he managed Public Affairs and Business Development strategy. [6] In January 2002, Cumber was named Vice President of Public Affairs at Florida East Coast Industries, then a publicly traded company on the NYSE (Ticker: FLA). Cumber was responsible for coordinating initiatives to introduce passenger rail service along the Florida East Coast Railway corridor. Florida East Coast Railway was acquired by Fortress Investment Group L.L.C in May 2007. [7]
From September 2005 to January 2009, he served as an assistant to the secretary of policy and as a deputy chief of staff at the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). During his tenure as deputy chief of staff, Cumber was part of the leadership team that oversaw daily operations of the USDOT's 60,000 employees and $67 billion budget. Additionally Cumber co-managed over 105 political appointees, coordinated a review of a $2.3 billion railroad loan application, and implemented the U.S.-Mexico NAFTA trucking program on behalf of Secretary Mary Peters. [8] Cumber was instrumental in the USDOT disaster response to the I-35W Mississippi River bridge. [9]
Cumber's tenure at USDOT also included work on the creation of a new discretionary grant program to address traffic congestion throughout the U.S.- a program very similar to today's TIGER discretionary grant program; [10] the near bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund; [11] several major aviation safety issues that included the grounding of part of Southwest Airlines and American Airlines' fleets for failure to comply with aviation directives; [12] [13] a major pipeline spill by British Petroleum on the North Slope of Alaska; [14] the expansion of the WMATA metro system to connect downtown Washington, D.C. to Dulles International Airport; [15] and a major passenger-freight rail collision in southern California that was the result of a Metrolink conductor texting while operating the train. [16] The Metrolink accident resulted in the U.S. Congress passing a law that mandated the installation of Positive Train Control. President George W. Bush nominated Cumber to the United States Surface Transportation Board in 2008.
Following the second term of the Bush administration, Cumber founded H.A. Cumber & Company, focusing on rail, transit and highway related issues. Major clients of H.A. Cumber & Company included: GE Transportation, T.Y. Lin International, RailAmerica, R. J. Corman Railroad Group, Scheidt and Bachmann, and FedSys, Inc. [17] He rejoined Florida East Coast Industries in 2012.
From 2011 to 2012, Cumber was executive vice president for corporate development at the Florida East Coast Railway, L.L.C. (FEC), an affiliate company of FECI. Cumber had responsibility for financially structuring and managing several capital projects, including reconnecting the FEC Railway to the Port of Miami, the construction of a new intermodal container transfer facility at Port Everglades, and working with public agencies to further the planning process for a new commuter rail service in the FEC corridor. [18]
Cumber currently serves as chief strategy officer at FECI. Cumber is directly responsible for guiding major capital projects from initial concept through development, including Brightline Florida, the first privately owned and operated intercity rail system in the U.S. Cumber led the initial due diligence process for Brightline while at FEC Railway and then transferred to FECI with the project in 2012. [18] Cumber has also overseen the development of Brightline West, which will connect Las Vegas to California, which broke ground on April 22, 2024. [19] He was instrumental in developing the strategy, leading the advocacy efforts, and securing the public financing components for Brightline West, which led to a $3 billion grant award [20] and a $3.5 billion private activity bond allocation.
In 2004, Cumber was recognized as being President Bush's youngest Ranger (individuals who raised $200,000 or more). Cumber has been involved in fundraising efforts for several candidates and has personally donated heavily to Republican Party candidates. [21]
In 2024, Mr. Cumber was appointed as an Inaugural Member to the Surface Transportation Board's Passenger Rail Advisory Committee. Cumber is a current board member of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Take Stock in Children. Cumber previously served as a board member of JEA, the eighth largest community-owned electric utility company in the United States and the largest in Florida; he was also on the board of directors of the Florida State College Foundation. [22] He is the past president of the Florida Railroad Association and past board member of the Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors. Cumber has previously served on the boards of the North Broward YMCA, the Florida Telecommunications Industry Association and the Strategic Intermodal Transportation Advisory Committee. Cumber was a founding member of the Florida Intermodal Transportation Association and is a graduate of Leadership Florida.
In 2007, Cumber donated $291,000 to his alma mater, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School located in Parkland, Florida, to construct a football stadium on the campus in his parents' name. Stoneman Douglas opened its doors in 1990 without a football stadium. Until the completion of Cumber Stadium in the fall of 2007, the football team, the Eagles, played all "home" games at nearby Coral Springs High School. [3]
Cumber and his wife LeAnna have two children and reside in Jacksonville, Florida. [23]
Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population was 47,297.
Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The Tri prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Tri-Rail is managed by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) along CSX Transportation's former Miami Subdivision; the line is now wholly owned by the Florida DOT. The 80.0-mile-long (128.7 km) system has 19 stations along the Southeast Florida coast, and connects directly to Amtrak at numerous stations, to Metrorail at the Metrorail Transfer station, Miami Airport station, and MiamiCentral, and to Brightline at MiamiCentral.
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States.
Government Center station is an intermodal transit hub in the Government Center district of Downtown Miami, Florida. It is operated by Miami-Dade Transit and serves as a transfer station for the Metrorail and Metromover rapid transit systems and as a bus station for Metrobus, Paratransit, and Broward County Transit buses. MiamiCentral is directly connected via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street. The station is located near the intersection of Northwest First Street and First Avenue, a part of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center Building. It opened to service May 20, 1984, next to the site of a former FEC railway station which is now MiamiCentral.
RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada.
The Treasure Coast is a region in the southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and comprises Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. The region, whose name refers to the Spanish Treasure Fleet that was lost in a 1715 hurricane, evidently emerged from residents' desire to distinguish themselves from the Gold Coast to the south.
Rail transportation in the United States consists primarily of freight shipments along a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads that also extend into Canada and Mexico. The United States has the largest rail transport network of any country in the world, about 160,000 miles (260,000 km).
The Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla(JRTC) is an intermodal transit station in Jacksonville, Florida. It serves the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) bus system, the First Coast Flyer bus rapid transit (BRT) system, and the Jacksonville Skyway monorail, as well as home to JTA's administrative offices.
Fortress Investment Group is an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by Wes Edens, Rob Kauffman, and Randal Nardone.
Brightline West is a privately run high-speed rail route, currently under construction, to link the Las Vegas Valley and Rancho Cucamonga in the Greater Los Angeles area through the California high desert. The line will connect with existing rail at Rancho Cucamonga station of Metrolink's San Bernardino Line, a commuter rail line in Southern California. The project is intended to provide an alternative to air and automobile travel between Southern California and Las Vegas, a popular leisure destination. In December 2023, the United States Department of Transportation awarded Brightline West a $3 billion grant as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Construction, initially expected to begin shortly after the grant was announced in 2023, began on April 22, 2024. Revenue service is planned to start in 2028.
Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is Florida's oldest and largest commercial real estate, transportation, and infrastructure holding company. Based in Coral Gables, FECI is the direct lineal descendant of the various companies founded by pioneering American businessman Henry M. Flagler. FECI today is the parent company of three distinct businesses:
Brightline is an intercity rail route in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway.
MiamiCentral is a train station in Miami, Florida. Located in Downtown Miami, the station provides access to the Brightline inter-city rail service and the Tri-Rail commuter rail service. The station is part of a 9-acre (3.6 ha) mixed-use complex, which includes 3 million square feet (280,000 m2) of residential, office, commercial, and retail development.
The Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal, also known as the Brightline Orlando Station and South Airport Intermodal Terminal, is an intermodal passenger transport hub located at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida. The complex, which was partially funded by the Florida Department of Transportation, is the current terminus of Brightline, an inter-city rail service which provides service to Miami via the Florida East Coast Railway.
Las Vegas station was a passenger railroad station in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was connected to the rear of the Plaza Hotel & Casino and was in service from 1971 until the demise of the Desert Wind in 1997.
LeAnna Maria Gutierrez Cumber is an American politician, lawyer and former teacher who served as a member of the Jacksonville City Council in Florida. Cumber previously served as a legislative counselor for the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Transportation during the Presidency of George W. Bush.
The Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit Project is a planned commuter rail service in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The line is planned to extend from MiamiCentral to the Aventura station along the existing Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) tracks. It will have seven stations for the service in Miami-Dade, with both of the terminal stations having access to Brightline. Service could begin as soon as 2028. Tri-Rail is a potential operator of the service. A future extension into Broward and Palm Beach County is under study.