Fast fact about yourself: Every year around the holidays, I bake over 250 cookies and prepare cookie boxes for my friends and family. It’s a tradition my mother held and I continue it today in her memory.
Sandy Brennan, vice president and senior project manager, Foursquare ITP, leads transit projects that keep her knowledge and skills sharp while bringing critical information to others in the field. She has led impactful research that benefits transit workers and agencies.
After working at a small, suburban transit agency in Maryland for a few years, she began her time at Foursquare ITP as a transportation planner in 2014 and has progressed to her current role as vice president and senior project manager. She plays a crucial role in shaping the company’s vision and strategy and leads staff development, ensuring team members have the knowledge and skills to thrive by developing and conducting training on hard and soft skills for all levels in the organization. Her project work includes managing high-profile transit planning projects, including those related to transit service planning and operations, bus rapid transit and transit technology.
Brennan is a national expert in transit workforce issues and zero-emission bus fleet transition planning. She played a lead role in the service planning and implementation of BaltimoreLink, a comprehensive redesign of Baltimore’s transit system. Nearly a decade later, she remains involved in the system's ongoing success, supporting planning, scheduling and performance analysis efforts.
In 2024, she was the principal investigator for TCRP Research Report 245: Mental Health, Wellness, and Resilience for Transit System Workers, leading interviews and focus groups with frontline staff, unions and agencies to identify strategies for workforce retention and well-being. This report became the fourth most-viewed Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) publication that year, and she continues to share the findings at national conferences. Additionally, she has led or contributed to research for the American Public Transportation Association on the transit workforce shortage, the impacts of the Federal Transit Administration’s spare ratio requirements on transit agencies and a TCRP report on improving access and management of transit ITS data, which resulted in the new TIDES data specification. Brennan has also led several training courses with N-CATT to share planning knowledge and training in technical skills with representatives from small-urban, rural and tribal transit agencies.
Brennan has fostered growth across all levels of staff by creating opportunities to attend conferences and leadership programs, developing tailored training initiatives and overseeing the company’s personal work plan program. Her efforts have cultivated a culture of continuous learning and growth, strengthening the organization. She also serves as the executive leadership team’s liaison for the company’s Council on Belonging and other staff-led initiatives, promoting inclusivity and collaboration internally.
Her ongoing work with the Baltimore transit system has increased accessibility and reliability of that system to the entire Baltimore community, especially vulnerable populations. As part of that work, she helped develop an equity index that allowed the agency to prioritize routes based on their positive impact on these populations and their ridership.
She also helped lead the development of Foursquare ITP’s Transform tool that allows agencies to plan for fleet transitions to electric buses, improving air quality impacts in their community, helping the transit operator and mechanic workforce community, opening dialogue and sharing best practices to make the transit workforce stronger.
Brennan contributes to advancing the transportation industry through her work in developing coursework and teaching at the University of Maryland’s School of Planning, where she has worked collaboratively with professors to develop lessons and exercises on transit planning for students in the Masters of Community Planning Program.
Outside of transportation, Brennan has been an active member of the Citizens of Pigtown, a neighborhood association representing residents and businesses to build community. She served for many years on the executive board and has played a key role in the vibrancy of the community just west of downtown Baltimore.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
My amazing coworkers and clients. Transit is a special industry that attracts people from all disciplines. I am so lucky to work with amazing, smart and innovative people every day. Their passion motivates me to keep going even in challenging times. Working in the transit industry requires a lot of resilience and support from your team, and I am very lucky to find that in my colleagues and my clients.
What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of and why?
I’m most proud of my work in my hometown of Baltimore. I love working as a consultant because you get to experience so many transit systems of different sizes and various contexts, but I’m especially privileged to bring that experience back to serve my community. As many professionals know, transit is often thankless, but when you can see the impact outside your door, it adds a bit more meaning to the job.
What is your best advice/tip/best practice you can share from your area of expertise?
Never stop learning. It’s a trite answer, but I truly believe in constant growth and development. We can learn from our managers, our peers and our riders. They don’t need to be in the industry or have special expertise; everyone brings a different viewpoint and a different lived experience. Being able to understand that viewpoint is true wisdom.
About the Author
Brandon Lewis
Associate Editor
Brandon Lewis is a recent graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Lewis is a former freelance editorial assistant at Vehicle Service Pros in Endeavor Business Media’s Vehicle Repair Group. Lewis brings his knowledge of web managing, copyediting and SEO practices to Mass Transit Magazine as an associate editor. He is also a co-host of the Infrastructure Technology Podcast.