CS's 50th anniversary logo - Honoring the Past > Shaping the future

A message from Brad Wright, President and CEO of Cambridge Systematics (CS), in celebration of our 50th anniversary

The state of transportation planning looked very different in 1972.

In the 70s, the body of research around transportation planning was growing, and transportation consulting was still a nascent practice. In response to a serious need for rigorous analytical thinking applied to transportation, four MIT professors and a friend put their heads together to advance the state of the practice, working in partnership with transportation agencies across the U.S. Cambridge Systematics was born.


To learn more about our storied history, I invite you to take a look at our newly launched timeline.


Over the years, Cambridge Systematics has changed in many ways. We’ve grown from one employee to nearly 250, expanded from one office to 12, and evolved our product and services multiple times to better serve our clients. We survived recessions, changing political landscapes and a global pandemic.

In five decades, one thing that has remained the same is that we’ve never abandoned our creativity –  our drive to think differently and challenge the status quo.

This mindset is what brought together our founders and it’s why our partners and clients continue to choose us. As we celebrate this milestone, I’m grateful to all the tenaciously creative and intelligent people who have shaped this company and the innovative solutions we offer our clients.

I’d like to thank our clients, partners, and employees for helping us bring together the best technical minds with one purpose: improving transportation for generations to come.  You have my commitment that we will continue to bring a creative and diverse group of individuals together to solve today’s and anticipate tomorrow’s transportation challenges.  We will approach this as we have for the last fifty years:  as innovators challenging the status quo, working in partnership with our clients, with an unrelenting focus on quality and exceptional customer service.       

Thank you all for being a part of our story.

Brad Wright

President and CEO