IRTBA Planning & Design Annual Conference

Shailen Bhatt,
Administrator at Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

On January 13, 2023, Shailen Bhatt was sworn in by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as the 21st Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Bhatt was confirmed unanimously by voice vote in the U.S. Senate on December 8, 2022. He is the first person of Indian descent to lead FHWA. In this role he oversees over 2,700 FHWA employees in all 50 States, U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia, and provides executive leadership on strategic initiatives and policy, including administering more than $350 billion as part of President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and its formula and competitive grant programs that are available to State departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, Tribes, territories, federal land management agencies, and other organizations. As Administrator, Bhatt brings a record of successful project and program delivery needed in this once-in-a-generation level of infrastructure investment in which the impacts of FHWA policy and funding choices will last for generations, and will make people safer, reduce the emissions in our air while implementing resilient transportation systems for our changing climate, create a fairer transportation system, and strengthen our economy. Bhatt brings to this role a passion for improving safety and protecting all road users on America's roads, bridges, highways, and other surface transportation infrastructure, including people using them for walking and biking. He is also committed to transforming our nation's infrastructure systems to address transportation's impacts on our global climate, while making them more equitable and fair for all. His distinguished career includes serving in leadership positions in the public and private sectors, including the Kentucky, Delaware, and Colorado Departments of Transportation, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, AECOM, and as FHWA's Associate Administrator for Highway Policy and External Affairs in the Obama Administration. Bhatt graduated summa cum laude from Western Kentucky University with a degree in Economics. He considers being a good father and husband to be the most important priority in the world, and he and his wife Neelam are the proud parents of two daughters, Saanvi and Nandini. While Bhatt is focused on his day job, he keeps his skates sharpened, his stick freshly taped, and stands ready to answer the call for any NHL team ready to take a chance on him.