Trish L. Chastanet has spent more than 13 years of her career gaining experience in state government and global corporate environments, where she’s described as a disciplined project leader, clear operator and strategic doer. Chastanet serves as a transportation supervising planner at the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), functioning as the project portfolio manager for the Bureau of Public Transportation’s Support Services unit. In this role, she manages a portfolio of multimillion dollar capital and operational projects that shape the reliability and modernization of Connecticut’s transit systems. 

Chastanet developed and leads a team of planners and procurement professionals working to align people, processes and priorities with CTDOT’s mission. She’s created a comprehensive key performance indicator (KPI) framework and modern dashboards that integrate KPIs to measure project and program performance, working to improve real-time visibility while enabling data-driven decision-making. In addition, Chastanet oversees several statewide initiatives, including the rural transit assistance program, the drug and alcohol testing program, the statewide insurance consortium and the public transportation agency safety program, working to ensure compliance, operational continuity and safety across the state. She redesigned expenditures review process, streamlining what once was a complex, yearslong process. She reduced the review timeline by 99%, from months to an average of six days. This change substantially accelerated project delivery and improved oversight and CTDOT’s ability to support transit providers statewide. 

Chastanet also led a nationwide procurement and transition for the management services contract, overseeing CTtransit’s Hartford, New Haven and Stamford, Conn., divisions. This multi-million-dollar contract supports 18 million annual trips, representing 90% of statewide ridership—and was executed ahead of schedule with no disruption to critical transit services. She worked to ensure continuity for riders, stability for operations and a stronger foundation for future system modernization. Further, Chastanet also managed procurement strategy for Connecticut’s electric bus integration, supporting the state’s phased transition from diesel to battery-electric buses and advancing CTDOT’s clean energy and sustainability goals. Under her leadership for the procurement component of CTDOT’s Bus Stop Enhancement Program, she guided a multi-phase initiative focused on modernizing bus stop infrastructure to improve customer experience, accessibility and ADA compliance.     

Chastanet is cited as someone who brings a forward-thinking approach to innovation within Connecticut’s transit systems, leading CTDOT’s mobile fare payment pilot in partnership with Token Transit, expanding digital payment options and making fare purchase more seamless for riders. The result is a platform that saw rapid growth in 2025, laying the groundwork for future fare modernization. As the Bureau of Public Transportation liaison to CTDOT’s Information Technology governance team, Chastanet communicates bureau priorities, identifies technology needs and coordinates support for new business projects, working to ensure that technology decisions align with operational goals and agency wide modernization efforts.     

In addition to her role with CTDOT, Chastanet works to advance the transit industry locally and nationally. She is a graduate of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA)Emerging Leaders Program and the 2024 WTS International Signature Leadership Program. She serves as an APTA national mentor and alumni advisor for the emerging leadersprogram and mentors college students through APTA’s Student Member Mentor Program. She further contributes her expertise to the Technology Procurement Working Group within the APTA Procurement and Supply Chain Committee, working to help modernize procurement practices and strengthen industry standards. 

Further, Chastanet also serves as the vice president and program committee chair for Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Connecticut Chapter, identifying a statewide need for a structured leadership development program and designing and launching Leading with Purpose, the chapter’s first ever mentoring program. The resulting program graduated 18 transportation professionals in its inaugural cohort and connects guest speakers and mentors from across the U.S. and Canada for panel discussions and live working sessions. She has presented on leadership development at the APTA TRANSform Conference, the WTS International Conference in Toronto and the WTS Connecticut Transportation Miniseries. In 2026, Chastanet’s efforts advancing diversity, inclusion and multicultural awareness in transportation received the WTS Connecticut Rosa Parks Diversity LeadershipAward. Furthermore, she was nominated for the 2026 national COMTO Gerald Anderson Member of the Year Industry Award. 

Chastanet obtained her PMP certification in 2025 and served as Project Management Institute’s Southern New England Chapter assistant vice president of programs, working to expand professional development opportunities for project managers across the region. Additionally, Chastanet was appointed to the WTS Connecticut Advisory Council, collaborating with leaders from CTDOT, the Federal Highway Administration and major consulting firms to strengthen partnerships, inform programming and promote professional growth and equity across the industry.

Is there a specific experience that led you to where you are today? 

There was not one specific experience that led me to where I am today. It was the steady awareness that I was capable of more and that I could create meaningful impact. I have always carried a sense of purpose and a belief that I could add value in any room I entered. That mindset pushed me to grow, stretch beyond what was familiar and look for ways to make a difference. It continues to guide how I lead and how I show up in the transit industry. 

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

One of the things I enjoy most about my work is bringing the right people together to deliver meaningful initiatives. I value collaborating with internal and external stakeholders who share a commitment to improving transit. There is real purpose in aligning people around a shared mission and seeing that alignment turn into better experiences for riders. Knowing that our work supports convenient and reliable service for the community is what makes this meaningful to me. 

What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of and why? 

I am most proud of collaborating with my leadership team to set the foundation for digital fare payment in Connecticut. Leading the procurement allowed me to bring a more strategic and innovation-focused approach shaped by my private sector experience. We launched the program on April 1, 2023, offering riders mobile fare payment through the Token Transit platform. Showing up at outreach events and hearing how much riders value the convenience reinforces how procurement directly shapes the rider experience. I appreciate having led this from concept to implementation and seeing it make a real difference every day. 

What is an accomplishment you would like to work towards in your career? 

The future is bright in transportation, and in my new role as vice president of COMTO Connecticut, I am focused on expanding my impact. As the founder of the Leading with Purpose Mentoring Program, a key accomplishment I want to pursue is growing the program by increasing participation by 20% and engaging more transit professionals from both the private and public sectors. My goal is to build strategic partnerships that open doors and support a diverse pipeline of future leaders. Creating more opportunities for others is the legacy I want to continue shaping.  

What is your best advice you can share from your area of expertise? 

The best advice I can share is to surround yourself with people and organizations that align with your purpose and to invest in strategic partnerships because we are not meant to do this journey alone. Celebrate the small and big wins as they both build momentum. On the good days and on the character-building days, remember that each moment is shaping your development and strengthening the leader you are becoming. Keep showing up with intention.