ARLINGTON, VA — Henrika Buchanan joins HNTB Corporation as National Transit Practice Consultant and Vice President, focusing on advancing the growth of the firm’s profile in the transit industry while providing strategic advice to HNTB’s transit team and clients. She is a senior policy and expert technical resource for the firm, located in Arlington.

“I am pleased to welcome Henrika to HNTB,” said Ronnie Hakim, HNTB National Transit/Rail Market Sector Leader and Senior Vice President. “She is widely known throughout the industry as a proven leader, innovator, strategist, and trusted advisor.”

Buchanan has more than 20 years of experience with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Prior to joining HNTB, she served in the FTA as Associate Administrator for Transit Safety and Oversight and Chief Safety Officer. She led a national transit safety program and monitored program compliance.

Buchanan was chosen to lead the FTA’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, which included developing real-time guidance, grant requirements, and training to the transit industry, implementing the federal mask requirement for public transportation, and extending the compliance deadline for the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan regulation. She was responsible for the programmatic oversight of $70 billion in supplemental funding allocated to the transit industry for COVID-19 response and recovery.

Additionally, Buchanan previously served as the FTA Associate Administrator, Office of Program Management, and the Director, Office of Transit Programs. In that capacity, she was responsible for implementing the FTA’s project management oversight program used to monitor a portfolio of $117 billion in Capital Investment Grant Program grant agreements with transit agencies across the nation.

Buchanan received a bachelor’s degree in political science and her master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Alabama A&M University. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.