Our dear friend, the late Astrid Glynn dedicated most of her professional career as a public servant focused on transportation. We are proud to remember Astrid and honor her legacy with the 2021 WTS-Boston Woman of the Year Award.

Astrid served as Rail and Transit Administrator for MassDOT from 2015 to 2021.  Rail and Transit Administrator was one of many important positions Astrid held at MassDOT. During Astrid’s first stint at MassDOT (1993-2005), she served in several roles, including Deputy Secretary for Capital Planning and as the first head of the Office of Transportation Planning.  Between her initial and current recent stays at MassDOT, Astrid served in the Office of Commonwealth Development, a Massachusetts innovation that presaged many subsequent projects to better integrate transportation, the environment and housing (2005-2007).

She also served as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (2007-2009). Her time at NYSDOT gave her a helpful perspective on some of the challenges facing Massachusetts as well as an opportunity to try new ideas. She then spent several years as a Principal in a small consulting firm (the Transportation Planning and Resource Group) that gave her a first-hand understanding of how the right consultant can sometimes be the answer for an overworked and under-resourced client.  

In her role at MassDOT Astrid paid particular attention to intercity passenger rail, which she viewed as an important connection to Mid-Atlantic economies and to other regions. She also encouraged projects that offer new types of local transit – particularly microtransit and pilots aimed at transportation for workers not well served by traditional transit.  

Throughout her career, Astrid enjoyed supporting and advancing the careers of other women. She was very proud of all the women she helped excel, particularly those individuals now in leadership positions at MassDOT and elsewhere. Astrid firmly believed that women make government better and encouraged women interested in transportation to commit their energy to public service.

Astrid is dearly missed by the WTS-Boston community and we honor Astrid’s legacy with the WTS-Boston Woman of the Year award.