VDOT Leadership
Mary Lynn Tischer
Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Multimodal, Interstate and Federal Activities
Mary.Tischer@VDOT.Virginia.gov
Mary Lynn Tischer is director of the commonwealth’s Multimodal Transportation Planning Office. The new office was created to facilitate implementation of VTrans2025, Virginia’s statewide multimodal transportationplan. The plan, adopted by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Virginia Aviation Board and Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners, is designed as a blueprint for shaping the commonwealth’s future transportation decisions.
Tischer also serves as the Federal Intergovernmental Transportation Liaison for VDOT. She leads the development of initiatives at the federal level regarding the Commonwealth's transportation system. Tischer also currently serves as a Special Assistant to the Governor and Secretary for Transportation Reauthorization, and will continue in that role during the congressional effort to reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century(TEA-21).
She has extensive experience in the field of transportation policy and organization. From 2002 until 2005, Tischer was a Special Assistant to the Governor and the Secretary of Transportation, working with the Virginia legislative delegation and others to pass federal legislation favorable to the Commonwealth. She also has held administrative posts in the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Arizona Department of Transportation, and Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. Tischer served VDOT earlier, from 1989-1997, as Director of the department’s Office of Policy Analysis, Evaluation and Intergovernmental Relations.
Education
She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from American University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Rosemont College.
