Former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority leader brings extensive experience in project development for large scale transit projects
BOSTON (Aug. 10, 2022) – Andrew Brennan joins HNTB Corporation as national transit and rail practice consultant and vice president, focusing on advancing the growth of HNTB’s profile in the transit industry while providing strategic advice to the firm’s transit team and clients. He is based in Boston and serves as an expert technical resource for the firm’s clients nationwide.
“I am pleased to welcome Andrew to HNTB,” said Ronnie Hakim, HNTB national transit/rail market sector leader and senior vice president. “We will leverage his environmental expertise to deliver innovative transit and rail solutions to meet the growing needs of our clients.”
Brennan served nearly three decades with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, serving in several environmental leadership roles. Prior to joining HNTB, he served as MBTA’s senior director of energy & environment where he was responsible for the implementation, management and coordination of the Authority’s environmental policies, programs and procedures.
While at MBTA, Brennan successfully managed and completed the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant/New Starts process for the Green Line Extension project which resulted in a nearly $1 billion grant for half of the project’s capital costs.
Brennan also established MBTA’s first energy management program and led the procurement that resulted in sourcing 100% of the Authority’s electricity from renewable sources, making it the largest transit agency in the U.S. to do so.
Earlier in his career, Brennan was chief of staff for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. In that role, he was responsible for the effective operation of the executive office through strategic planning and coordination of policy developments and management initiatives. He was directly responsible for the developing, coordinating and implementing an ongoing secretariat-wide communications strategy.
Brennan has presented numerous conference papers and presentations, including FTA/APTA Climate Action Plan Webinar, “Future-proofing Transit” presented at APTA/Rail 2019, and “Energy Efficiency as a Cost Savings Initiative” presented at APTA/Sustainability Conference 2018.
Additionally, he has served in leadership roles in key industry associations, including chair of the American Public Transportation Association Planning, Policy and Programs Development Committee and chair of the Transit Cooperative Research Program committee “Assessing and Comparing Environmental Performance of Major Transit Investments.”
He also is active in the Boston community, volunteering for groups including Little Brothers, Friends of Elderly, Boston Partners in Education and Pine Street Inn homeless shelter.