FTA Region 2 Administrator
Henrika Buchanan is the Acting Regional Administrator for FTA’s Region 2 office in New York. In that position, Ms. Buchanan has oversight responsibility for a portfolio of FTA-funded programs and projects in excess of $12 billion, with an average annual commitment of $2.5 billion. This portfolio includes the $8.1 billion East Side Access project, which brings the Long Island Rail Road trains into a new concourse at Grand Central Terminal, and the $4.7 billion Second Avenue Subway project that addresses capacity issues for the Lexington Avenue line. In addition Marilyn provides leadership to the Lower Manhattan Recovery Office with oversight responsibility for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the Fulton Center.
Prior to her appointment as Acting Regional Administrator, Ms. Buchanan served as Associate Administrator for Program Management for FTA. In that capacity, she was responsible for administering over $10 billion in funding for fixed guideway capital investments, bus and bus facilities, state of good repair, transit asset management, public transportation emergency relief, enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities and urban and rural formula assistance. In addition, she was responsible for providing project management oversight to FTA’s major capital investment projects and developing procedures for managing and allocating $10.9 billion in Hurricane Sandy Relief funding.
Ms. Buchanan also served as the director of the Office of Transit Programs, where she was responsible for developing FTA’s implementation strategy and procedures for distributing more than $8.4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program funds and more than $1.5 billion in annual discretionary program funds. Prior to this, she managed the Job Access and Reverse Commute and New Freedom programs and served as a community planner in FTA’s Region IV office
Ms. Buchanan began her career in transportation in FTA’s Office of Communications and Congressional Affairs as a Presidential Management Fellow. A native of Hillsboro, Alabama, Ms. Buchanan received a Bachelor's of Arts in Political Science and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Alabama A&M University. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Maryland Bar.