Marlene has 30 years of experience in transportation management and planning. She blends private and public sector experience with an intense personal commitment to improving transportation policy. She was previously the chief executive officer of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority in Springfield, MA where she directed numerous changes in service delivery, consolidated the fixed route and paratransit services programs, and implemented a systematic financial improvement process that improved efficiency while enhancing mobility. Following her time at PVTA, Marlene was a Director of Planning at CDM Smith and at Urbitran Associates. In 2015, Marlene launched her own consulting business (Marlene Connor Associates, LLC) which works primarily with public sector clients to improve public transportation and mobility.
Her experience includes a wide range of public transportation planning projects in modes from ADA paratransit to Bus Rapid Transit as well as studies that include operations, policy development, management and organization, IT, and financial analysis and review. Marlene is Past Chair of the American Public Transportation Association’s Mobility Management Committee and also Chair’s the Legislative Committee’s Intergovernmental Issues Subcommittee, and the Access Committee Subcommittee on Emerging Technology committees. Marlene is also a member of the TRB Study Committee on the Role of Transit and Mobility Management.