AASHTO Journal - New Chair, Vice Chair for AASHTO Design Committee

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has appointed Shanté Hastings (above right) from the Delaware Department of Transportation to a two-year term as chair of the Committee on Design. The organization also named Marshall Elizer (above left) from the Washington State Department of Transportation to a two-year term as the committee’s vice chair.

[Above photos by Delaware DOT and WSDOT]

Hastings currently serves as the deputy secretary and chief engineer for the Delaware DOT, where she has worked since graduating from the University of Delaware in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. As chief engineer, she is responsible for managing the agency’s more than $600 million annual Capital Transportation Program. She is also involved with personnel management, legislation and national transportation policy in her role as deputy secretary.

In 2013, Hastings received the “Young Engineer of the Year” award from the Delaware Engineering Society in recognition of her work in the field of engineering and community service. She currently serves as the chair of AASHTO Innovation Management (formerly AASHTO Innovation Initiative) and co-vice chair of the AASHTO Committee on Transportation System Operations. Hastings also serves on the boards for the Delaware State Fair, the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, and Sussex Academy Charter School.

Meanwhile, newly-appointed Vice Chair Elizer serves as assistant secretary of multimodal development and delivery for WSDOT; leading a team of 900 professionals in 11 headquarters divisions that work daily to drive sustainable, integrated, multimodal transportation solutions across Washington.

His broad transportation experience encompasses transportation policy and planning, multimodal systems management and operations, community planning, transit planning and operations, integrated design for roadway, pedestrian, bicycle, transit and freight facilities, access management and traffic safety analysis.

Elizer’s professional activities have included stints on the AASHTO Technical Committee on Geometric Design and Council on Active Transportation; work for the National Complete Streets Coalition, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Intelligent Transportation Society of America; member/chair of many Transportation Research Board/NCHRP projects; and the American Public Works Association.

Elizer earned both a bachelors and masters in Civil/Transportation Engineering from the University of Tennessee, and is certified as a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer.