Saturday, August 15, 2020
Letter from Dave Schmitt:
It is with a very, very sad heart that I tell you that Jeffrey Bruggeman passed away earlier this morning. Jeffrey was a highly respected travel forecaster in the industry, with over 40 years in the industry. He developed forecasts for major transit systems around the world and helped shape many of the procedures and tools that continue to be used today. Those of us lucky to work directly with Jeffrey will always remember his direct style, quick wit and hearty laugh. Everyone who knew him well can instantly recall at least one favorite “Jeffy story”. Jeffrey’s mentorship of junior staff is well-known: there are several of today’s forecasters who had Jeffrey as their first manager (including me!).
Jeffrey spent most of his career working for the company that would become KPMG Peat Marwick. He stayed with the closely-knit modeling group when it was purchased by AECOM, and retired from AECOM in July 2010 after 40 years. He moved from his longtime home in Springfield, Virginia to Cincinnati, Ohio after retiring to spend more time with his family.
His devotion to his work and clients was extraordinary. I know of multiple instances where major modeling problems discovered on Friday afternoons were (magically) solved Monday morning because Jeffrey worked over the weekend to fix them. During work trips, he made it a point to “know the corridor”. He made it a habit to stay and dine in locations that would be directly impacted by the transit project he was working on, and to experience their rush-hour traffic each morning.
He will be missed!
Stay safe and well,
Dave Schmitt
P.S. The attached photos are from Jeffrey’s retirement lunch in July 2020.
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