New AASHTO President to Focus on “Centering Safety” and IIJA Reauthorization

PHILADELPHIA - The Board of Directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) today elected Garrett Eucalitto, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), as its 2024-2025 president. The board also selected Russell McMurry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, as its 2024-2025 vice president.

"It is an honor to serve as AASHTO president at a time when all state departments of transportation are working together to shape the future for generations to come," said Commissioner Eucalitto. "Our focus on ensuring transportation safety for everyone-particularly for the workforces of state DOTs and their contractors-along with the critical task of reauthorizing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), will be central to our efforts over the next year. I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues and industry partners to tackle those challenges in the upcoming year."

Eucalitto previously served as AASHTO vice president after his election by AASHTO's board in November 2023. In September 2024, AASHTO President and Wisconsin DOT Secretary Craig Thompson left his role for an opportunity outside transportation. Eucalitto assumed the last two months of his presidency, making him AASHTO's first openly gay president. Nominated by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and unanimously confirmed by the state's legislature as CTDOT commissioner in January 2023, Eucalitto previously served as the agency's deputy commission for three years. Prior to joining CTDOT, he served as the transportation program director for the National Governors Association, as well as undersecretary for the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management and as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate. Eucalitto holds a bachelor's degree from the College of the Holy Cross and a master's degree from Boston University.

Under Eucalitto's direction, AASHTO will focus on "Centering Safety" on every state DOT action, harnessing a "whole of AASHTO" approach to address the safety crisis plaguing roadways in communities across the country. This approach will specifically emphasize:

• Safer Communities: Understanding community values, engaging residents, and determining which safety improvements work in specific situations in each community. Centering Safety for communities means implementing Complete Streets policies and deploying proven safety countermeasures that will help create safer communities.
  
• Safer Users: States continue to invest in efforts to combat and address unsafe driver behavior, yet the nation has seen an increase in speeding, impairment, distractions, and other reckless behaviors since 2020. Centering Safety means using infrastructure treatments, speed management, advanced technology, enhanced enforcement, better data collection and analysis, and more effective education to improve safety.
  
• Safer Workers: State DOT employees, transportation workers, and emergency responders, are facing increased risks and disregard for "Slow Down, Move Over" laws due to speed, recklessness, impairment, and distraction. Centering Safety for our nation's transportation workers means providing more and better safety equipment, increased efforts to train response teams in traffic incident management, and more widely available mental health resources.

Eucalitto will also focus his presidential year on the reauthorization of a federal surface transportation bill to succeed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. To do this, states will be encouraged to tell the stories of transportation projects that are improving quality of life in communities across the country. These stories will highlight the need for continued investment.

McMurry originally joined Georgia DOT as an engineering intern in 1990. He served in a variety of roles, including chief engineer, before being appointed the department's planning director by Governor Nathan Deal (R). He was subsequently appointed Georgia DOT's commissioner by unanimous vote of the State Transportation Board in 2015. McMurry has also served as AASHTO's treasurer, as well as chair of the Council on Highways and Streets and a member of the Strategic Management Committee.

McMurry graduated cum laude from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering technology and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Georgia.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve alongside Garrett in our shared mission to enhance our transportation system for everyone," McMurry said. "Together, we are committed to creating a safer environment for all users of our transportation infrastructure while also working through AASHTO to develop policy and funding principles for the future of transportation."

AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon hailed the election of Eucalitto and McMurry and lauded both for their longstanding commitment to AASHTO, as well as for their complimentary vision for the future of transportation.

"We are excited to welcome incoming AASHTO President Eucalitto and Vice President McMurry as they take on these vital leadership roles within our organization," said Tymon. "These accomplished transportation leaders bring a wealth of knowledge that will benefit state DOTs nationwide and assist AASHTO in enhancing safety for all while working on the reauthorization of the IIJA."

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The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials represents State Departments of Transportation in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. AASHTO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association catalyzing excellence in transportation.

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