Acting Technical Center Director of Policy, Planning and Environment

Cynthia Maloney is the acting director of the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s Policy, Planning, and Environment Technical Center and director of the U.S. DOT Project Delivery Center of Excellence, formerly the chief of the Systems Safety and Engineering Division in the Infrastructure Systems and Technology Technical Center at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center. In that capacity, Maloney supervised 28 engineers and transportation analysts who provide technical expertise in rail grade-crossing safety, as well as FHWA and FRA project delivery support. She has more than 25 years of experience in managing large and complex sponsored programs and overseeing the work of multidisciplinary teams. Maloney previously served as the deputy chief of the Transportation Planning Division, one of the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s largest divisions.

Maloney serves as the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s Grants Portfolio manager. Previously, she led the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s technical merit review team of 50 staff for TIGER/BUILD/RAISE infrastructure grants from 2018 to 2022. From 2014 to 2020, she served as the Transportation Performance Management technical lead, coordinating support to FHWA and FTA.

Maloney is a skilled facilitator and recently served as implementation advisor for the FHWA Global Benchmarking Program's Building Information Modeling team. She also supports various U.S. DOT Volpe Center internal change management initiatives. Prior to joining the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, she worked at NASA in the Office of Space Science. Maloney has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Skidmore College, has a Master of Science degree in International Affairs from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and is a graduate of the Presidential Management Fellows Program.