Gov. Tim Walz has appointed Robin Hutcheson, an engineer and transportation specialist, as the new chair of the Metropolitan Council, the 17-member board overseeing regional planning, public transit and wastewater treatment.

Hutcheson’s term will begin Dec. 1 and expire Jan. 4, 2027. She’ll fill the seat vacated in September by Charlie Zelle, who retired, and currently occupied by interim chair Deb Barber.

Hutcheson is the former director of Minneapolis Public Works and served for three years in the U.S. Department of Transportation under President Joe Biden, where she rose to become the Senate-confirmed administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, overseeing regulations related to trucking, interstate bus travel and other commercial motor vehicles. In that role, she worked closely on a bipartisan infrastructure bill while reporting directly to Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Walz, in a written statement, called Hutcheson “a proven leader who has dedicated her career to enhancing roadway safety, improving quality of life, and strengthening connections between people.”

She is a senior fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies and runs the consultancy Hutcheson Advisory. She was previously the Director of Transportation for Salt Lake City, and the president of the board of directors of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).

She spent a year as a transit planner for TTK, GmbH, an international transit planning consultancy headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. A native of Connecticut, she holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s degree from the University of Utah.

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