Who We Are
MINAGAR & ASSOCIATES, INC. is a multidisciplinary traffic engineering, transportation planning, civil/electrical engineering, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and CEM consulting firm based in Irvine, CA. The company has a proven reputation for preparing high-quality designs and reports for a wide variety of public, private and international clients, with unsurpassed project management expertise available on an on-call basis regardless of project location.
Each project is implemented and completed to the highest standard by Minagar & Associates staff and consultants, resulting in a quality unrivaled by that of competing firms.
By the Numbers
Since its inception, the firm has completed over 480 traffic engineering and transportation planning projects, and over 100 ITS projects for public and private clients in 87 cities in California alone and in 16 states. Public clientele have included the US DOT, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), US Army Corps of Engineers, Caltrans, LACMTA/Metro, OCTA, MWD, and numerous counties including Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara & Stanislaus. Private clients have included Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, Chase, Walmart, Starbucks, Target, Home Depot, KB Home and 60 others, along with the Governments of South Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China.
Technology & Expertise
Minagar & Associates prides itself in utilizing state-of-the-art computer hardware and software, including Synchro 8, AutoCAD, MicroStation-V8, EMME/2, HCS 2010 and PetraPro. The firm's expertise in technology is reflected not only in projects the staff has implemented, but also in over 120 training programs and workshops delivered for agencies such as FHWA, Caltrans, LACMTA/Metro, ITE National, and the Governments of South Korea and the People's Republic of China.
Awards & Recognition
Minagar & Associates, Inc. and Fred Minagar have received numerous local, regional, state, national and international awards, including:
- 2012 — Cal-EPA/California Air Resources Board's Cool California Climate Leader Award
- 2011 — LACMTA (Metro) Award of Excellence in Service
- 2010 — LACMTA (Metro) Award of Excellence in Service
- 2009 — ASCE Outstanding Private Sector Civil Engineering Project, Metropolitan Los Angeles
- 2009 — Caltrans Excellence in Transportation Award, State of California
- 2007 — ASCE Outstanding Public/Private Sector Civil Engineering Project, Metropolitan Los Angeles
- 2005 — APWA Best Traffic Congestion Mitigation Project of the Year, Southern California
- 2003 — Public Technologies Institute (PTI) Best Transportation Technology Solutions Award, United States
- 2002 — California Alliance for Advanced Transportation Systems (CAATS) Award of Excellence for Best Return on Investment
- 2000 — LACMTA (Metro) Award of Excellence in Service
Leadership
Fred Minagar, MS, RCE, PE, FITE — President
Fred Minagar, a Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government alumnus, is a registered engineer in California and New Jersey and a recognized national authority in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), traffic/civil/electrical engineering and transportation planning. In 1993, he started the firm with a fundamental idea: to offer the highest caliber of personalized consulting services using the latest available technology for both public and private clients.
Mr. Minagar has over 31 years of real-world practice and teaching experience, having engineered, managed and administered over 100 ITS and 500 traffic engineering & transportation planning projects across 16 states between New York and Hawaii. He has conducted over 120 ITS, systems engineering, traffic engineering and homeland security workshops for FHWA, ITE National, Caltrans, LACMTA, various DOTs, cities, and the Governments of China and South Korea. He has served as City Traffic Engineer for five cities in Southern California and on numerous ITE technical committees at the local, regional and national levels.
He has served as an Expert Witness on over a dozen legal cases in California and Massachusetts, and has been a frequent guest speaker at George Washington University, UC Irvine, UC Davis, CSU-LA and the Caltrans Field Academy. Mr. Minagar was Orange County Business Journal's 2014 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards Nominee, the City of Laguna Niguel's 2012 Citizen of the Year Award Nominee, and a recipient of the 2002 National Leadership Award and the United States Congressional Order of Merit in 2003 and 2006.
His Traffic Signal Synchronization Project for 121 city, county and Caltrans locations won PTI's 2003 Award for Best Transportation Technology Solutions in the United States, as well as CAATS' 2002 Award of Excellence for Best California Return on Investment Project. In 1995, he was invited by the Australian Road Research Board to present "Intelligent Transportation Systems Applications in the United States" at the ITS International Conference in Australia. He previously served as technical editor of the ITE District Six "WesternITE" newsletter (1989–1994) and editor of the ITE Metropolitan Section of New York & New Jersey's award-winning newsletter (1987–1989). He was also selected as an Outstanding Young Man of America for 1982.
Mr. Minagar is an 18-year veteran Chairman and Commissioner of the Planning and Traffic & Transportation Commissions for the City of Laguna Niguel, California. In recognition of his 18 years of public service, dedication and commitment, he was elected to the Laguna Niguel City Council in 2014.