Toole Design Group

What Toole Design Group does

Toole Design Group, LLC is a privately held, women-owned and American-owned planning, engineering, and landscape architecture firm specializing in active transportation infrastructure. Founded in 2003 by Jennifer Toole, the firm operates from a Silver Spring, Maryland headquarters and 20+ offices across North America with a staff of 350+ transportation experts. Its client base is concentrated in state departments of transportation, city and municipal transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, transit agencies, and parks and recreation departments. The firm operates under a stated values-driven model, explicitly declining work aimed at "moving more cars faster," and authoritatively shaped U.S. active-transportation standards by leading the development of the 5th Edition AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities.

The firm delivers services across three integrated disciplines: Engineering (conceptual through final design, drainage, traffic operations, ADA, construction administration), Landscape Architecture and Urban Design (complete streets, green infrastructure, trails and greenways, wayfinding, plazas), and Planning (active transportation, Vision Zero and safety, transit, TDM, Safe Routes to School, data science and GIS, new mobility). Notable technical assets include a Safety Action Plan methodology built across 100+ community engagements and 14 GIS-based planning tools for network-gap and crossing-prioritization analysis. The founder's "New E's of Transportation" framework (Ethics, Equity, Empathy) is published and used as recruiting and positioning content.

The business model is fee-for-service professional services delivered through public procurement processes (RFPs, RFQs, direct contracts) with government clients. Revenue is project-based with no disclosed pricing transparency; contracts typically span conceptual design through construction administration. Customer concentration is diversified across hundreds of municipalities and state agencies — including VDOT, City of Seattle, City of Austin, City of Cambridge, City of Albuquerque, and AASHTO — but entirely dependent on public-sector capital and federal transportation funding cycles. Recent strategic emphasis on employee ownership (eight additional owners welcomed, formal Associates Class pipeline) and adding practice leads in New Mobility, TDM, Data Science, and Environmental Graphic Design signals organizational scaling without external capital.

Name

Toole Design Group

Legal name

Toole Design Group, LLC

Website

https://tooledesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Toole Design Group is a women-owned, privately held planning, engineering, and landscape architecture firm serving government clients across 20+ North American offices, specializing in active transportation, Vision Zero safety planning, complete streets, and trail and greenway design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transportation Planning & Engineering Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Architectural Services (54131)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Transportation & Infrastructure Planning (BPAHAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC), Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

Keywords

• Active transportation planning
• Multimodal engineering design
• Complete streets consulting
• Trails and greenways planning
• Vision zero safety planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices22 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Planning and Design: Revenue generated through fee-for-service project engagements with government clients including municipalities, state departments of transportation, and transit agencies. Projects range from conceptual design to construction administration.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Toole Design Group is a professional services firm providing planning, engineering, and landscape architecture services focused on active transportation infrastructure for government clients. The firm delivers projects across the full lifecycle—from conceptual design through construction administration—covering complete streets, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, trails and greenways, transit planning, Vision Zero safety plans, and urban design, primarily serving municipalities, state departments of transportation, and transit agencies.

Product overview

Toole Design Group is a professional services firm specializing in planning, engineering, and landscape architecture for active transportation infrastructure. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services organized into three primary disciplines: Engineering, Landscape Architecture & Urban Design, and Planning. Their expertise spans the full project lifecycle from conceptual design through final construction documentation, covering areas such as complete streets design, trails and greenways planning, vision zero and safety planning, transit planning, and accessibility compliance. The firm does not offer a software product but rather provides consultative services to government agencies, municipalities, and organizations seeking to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and multimodal transportation infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Engineering Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 safety action plans written for communities across North America
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sports BackerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRichmond-based nonprofit serving as regional trail champion for the Fall Line Trail project. Partnered with VDOT, secured early funding, and hired Toole Design to develop Vision Plan that brings jurisdictions together and ensures placemaking and community experience considered from project start.
• Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState transportation agency that has engaged Toole Design for multiple trail projects including Virginia Capital Trail enhancement plan, Fall Line Trail planning, Three Notched Trail evaluation, and development of statewide Multiuse Trails Plan framework.
• Waco MPOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMetropolitan Planning Organization engaged Toole Design for Six to Fix project implementing low-cost temporary safety improvements at six high-impact locations to demonstrate proven safety strategies.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with extensive U.S. transportation planning and engineering capabilities. Competes with Toole for large multimodal and active-transportation programs, particularly where integrated design-build delivery is used.
• WSP: Global engineering and professional services firm with a U.S. transportation practice covering complete streets, transit, and active transportation. Competes on large program-management and corridor procurements where scale matters.
• Stantec: Global engineering, architecture, and environmental services firm with a sizable community development and transportation practice. Provides bundled planning, design, and landscape architecture services that overlap with Toole's full-lifecycle model.
• Kimley-Horn: Large national engineering and planning firm with a substantial multimodal and active-transportation practice. Frequently appears on the same RFP shortlists as Toole and competes for corridor, trail, and safety projects at greater scale.

Direct peers

• Sam Schwartz Engineering: Transportation planning and engineering consultancy with strong practice in complete streets, Vision Zero, and pedestrian/bicycle safety. Direct competitor on city-level safety action plans and corridor redesign work.
• Nelson\Nygaard: Transportation planning firm specializing in transit, multimodal, and active-transportation planning for transit agencies, cities, and MPOs. Directly comparable in mission-driven planning work and public-sector customer profile.
• Kittelson & Associates: Transportation engineering and planning consultancy with deep multimodal, complete-streets, and safety expertise serving public agencies across the U.S. Competes with Toole on corridor studies, safety action plans, and design guidance work.
• Alta Planning + Design: Specialist active-transportation planning and design firm serving cities, DOTs, and MPOs on bicycle, pedestrian, and trail infrastructure. Closest direct competitor to Toole Design in mission focus, values-driven branding, and government client base.
• Fehr & Peers: Transportation engineering and planning firm known for multimodal traffic analysis, complete streets, and Vision Zero work. Competes with Toole on safety and corridor studies for public agencies across the West and nationally.

Emerging players

• Sasaki: Planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm with active work in campus plans, trails, and waterfronts. Comparable to Toole on the landscape architecture and urban design side of the practice, with overlap on parks, plazas, and public space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tooledesign
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@tooledesigngroup4609
• Facebookfacebook.com/tooledesigngroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/toole-design-group-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Toole Design Group