Steve Granson

COMTO Houston President, Council of Presidents Representative

Steve Granson’s career in the transportation industry has traversed both public and private sector. He joined HNTB in 2018, but his passion for public transit sector began much earlier. Holding a bachelors in business administration, accounting and finance, and a masters in transportation planning, the transit industry sparked a 20-year career.

His combination of degrees provides a valuable specialization that helps clients visualize transit possibilities and how to deliver the capital resources to make them real. Because of this he’s held leadership roles on major transit projects in cities like Boston, Seattle, Chicago and more. Living in Houston, Texas, Granson helped lead the $823 million Purple Line Light Rail project for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County.

Granson is known as an expert in the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts capital funding program at HNTB. With his financial background he has developed an understanding of the program’s rules, mechanisms and policies, helping transit agencies advance projects.

Granson is also a leader within HNTB on delivering complex transit projects by bringing an array of technical and project management expertise to assist clients nationwide. Through these mega projects, Mr. Granson is able to work with small businesses, helping them gain experience and grow their capabilities.

He currently serves as President of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Houston chapter and was elected in July 2024 to COMTO’S Council of Presidents, where he works to ensure opportunities and maximum participation in the transportation industry for minority individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and certified MWDBE businesses. He’s also a 2021 graduate of the American Public Transportation Association's Executive Leadership program.

He has served as a volunteer board member for the City of Manvel Economic Development Corporation after being appointed by the city council. In this role he advocated for development and transportation infrastructure investments.

“My career in transit started with me wanting to fix our traffic issues where a live in Houston, Texas. I felt that our mass transit system needed to be expanded to reach diverse riders and customers. I decided to pursue higher education work in the public transportation industry to help make a difference where I live.”

“Key advice that I usually give is that building relationships and trust with clients, project staff, professional peers are equally as important as having the technical expertise. There are certain qualities that successful projects have, and one is having staff come together with different technical expertise and work as a connected team to deliver not only a project but something that impacts the lives of many people.”

“This may sound idealistic but when I transitioned to a career in the public transit industry, I wanted to do work that would have an impact on communities in my city, state and across the U.S. Every day I get to work on projects that will impact people directly and/or indirectly. I can wake up every morning and be happy about that reality.”