Boston Transportation Commissioner and lifelong East Boston resident Gina Fiandaca announced last week that she was picked by Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk to serve as one of two Assistant City Managers as part of an ongoing process to align Cronk’s executive team with Austin’s Strategic Direction.
Fiandaca said at a neighborhood event last week that she has been to Austin, Texas twice in her life. An avid marathon runner, Fiandaca joked that on her second visit she got a good look at the city via the 26-mile Austin Marathon route.
In Austin, Fiandaca will serve alongside Rey Arellano as the two Assistant City Managers. Arellano will oversee departments and projects focused on safety while Fiandaca will manage efforts on mobility.
“Gina and Rey are going to be instrumental in helping us meet our goals in the areas of safety and mobility, which have been identified as key strategic priorities for the City,” said Cronk. “They will be leading multi-talented teams working to tackle some of the top challenges facing Austin.”
As part of Austin’s Strategic Direction 2023 Cronk said Fiandaca will be instrumental in ensuring Austin residents get to, “where they want to go, when they want to get there’ both safely and cost-effectively.
Fiandaca has served as Commissioner of the BTD since 2015. As Commissioner, Fiandaca oversees staff of more than 400 who work together to ensure safe, efficient and equitable access on Boston’s street system for all users through a combination of transportation planning, engineering, management, operations and enforcement efforts.
Under Fiandaca’s leadership, the department released the 15-year, $4.74 billion “Go Boston 2030”, which was Boston’s first major transportation plan in decades that included mobility projects and policies to expand access, improve safety and ensure reliability.
More recently, Fiandaca had been dealing with the frustrating traffic situation in her hometown of Eastie. Since MassDOT removed the tollbooths at the entrance of the Sumner Tunnel as part of the All Electronic Tolling program the neighborhood has found itself in daily gridlock. Fiandaca became an advocate for the community and took on MassDOT officials on several occasions and put pressure on the agency to fix the ongoing problem. She also circumvented MassDOT protocol at the entrance of the tunnel and directed Boston Police to assign detail officers to direct traffic at the mouth of the tunnel.
“Gina Fiandaca has been an incredible steward in ensuring safe, efficient and equitable access on Boston’s street system for all users of our road,” said Walsh in a statement. “She has led the charge in bringing smart technology and innovative solutions to address our transportation challenges, while outlining a new vision for mobility through Go Boston 2030. I wish her the best in her new role and extend my sincerest gratitude to her for all she has been able to help us accomplish on behalf of our residents.”
Fiandaca has worked at BTD in a variety of capacities since 1990. In 1998 she spearheaded the implementation of Boston’s web based parking ticket payment system. From 2006 to 2014, she served as Parking Clerk where she was responsible for all day-to-day operations of the department, including ticket hearing adjudication, parking enforcement oversight, data and revenue analysis, and management of the resident parking program.
Fiandaca has hands on experience in innovative transportation policy, and worked closely with the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics on the newly launched ParkBoston app, a mobile phone application that allows users to pay their meter from a smartphone.
Fiandaca is a member of several national parking groups, including the National Parking Association. She currently serves as the President of the New England Parking Council.
Fiandaca has an MBA from Boston University, and has recently pursued courses in Business and Managerial Economics at Harvard University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Management, and Operations from Suffolk University.