Biography 

Appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in January 2014, Commissioner Polly Trottenberg leads the nation’s largest municipal transportation agency -- with over 5,000 employees and a $17 billion 10-year capital plan. 

As Commissioner, Trottenberg directs the agency’s mission --focusing on mobility, safety, equity, sustainability and economic growth in DOT’s oversight of roads, bridges, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and the Staten Island Ferry. 

Under her leadership, DOT has expanded street resurfacing and reconstruction, increased bridge rehabilitation and construction, improved bus performance, and expanded the bike network to over 1,190 miles.

She has led Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate roadway fatalities. New York City has redesigned hundreds of city streets and achieved legislative victories in lowering the City’s speed limit to 25 MPH. Under Vision Zero, the City has seen its fewest-ever traffic fatalities. 

Commissioner Trottenberg serves on the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and chairs TRANSCOM.

With more than 25 years of career public service, Commissioner Trottenberg most recently served as USDOT’s Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy, under the Obama Administration. She also worked under U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Barbara Boxer. Trottenberg graduated from Barnard College and received her Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.