Secretary Thomson appointed Drew Morrison to the position of Assistant Secretary for Government Affairs and Outreach in August.
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Assistant Secretary of Government Affairs and Outreach Drew Morrison has been a transportation fan from an early age.
By the time he was in pre-school, he could identify makes and models of cars.He could easily tell a Honda apart from a Hyundai. “I was definitely one of those kids who is interested in transportation,” he said.
From there, his love of transportation continued into a professional career. Morrison worked as a legislative aide to former Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner before joining architecture and engineering firm VHB. While there, he helped on projects related to the future of Washington Union Station, the buildout of Amazon HQ2 and transit-oriented development around Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) stations.
This summer, Morrison was named MDOT’s Assistant Secretary for Government Affairs and Outreach after serving as the Department’s Senior Policy Advisor for Planning and Project Development. He has also served as the interim Washington Area Transit Director and supported the Department’s response to the Key Bridge collapse in March 2024.
Assistant Secretary of Government Affairs and Outreach Drew Morrison
Drew holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Yale University and master’s degrees in city planning and business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
We sat down with Assistant Secretary Morrison to learn more about his passion for transportation and legislative affairs. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Why is transportation important to you?
I grew up mostly in Bethesda, Maryland and as a kid, hopping on the Metro to go to the zoo or go to the museums downtown was a pretty formative experience.
More professionally, what interested me about transportation is the way that it’s about achieving interconnected goals. How do we give people access to jobs and opportunities and how do we connect people in a sustainable way? How do we create economic development more broadly? So, I like the connective tissue that transportation, both very literally and figuratively, provides in terms of other policy goals.
You were recently appointed MDOT Assistant Secretary of Government Affairs and Outreach. What does that mean?
Big picture, we have lots of engagement in the work that we do with a variety of elected officials, whether that’s federal elected officials, state or local. What we want to do is make sure that we’re partnering with them effectively on shared priorities. We’re addressing questions and concerns that they have and ensuring they always feel that we are an accountable and transparent partner. Because ultimately, that’s how we’ll achieve our work together.
How does your team build strong relationships with localities and counties around the state? What’s your secret sauce?
The first is listening and understanding people’s priorities. Ultimately, folks know that we can’t answer every single request for a project or an investment, but if folks feel that they were heard, that we understood what their priorities were and we did make good faith efforts to coordinate in response to them – that’s important.
And I think it’s key to find good opportunities to show the people the work that we do – there is so much that we’re engaged in.
People understand that not everything goes perfectly all the time, and so keeping communication up and being proactive about what we’re doing and when helps us work with them to shape the path forward.
Morrison (right) testifies during a legislative hearing supporting Gov. Wes Moore (left).
You’re spending a lot of time during your first few months in the role traveling around the state to discuss MDOT’s newest Draft Consolidated Transportation Plan, known as the CTP. Can you share why the CTP tour is important and why people should care about it?
The CTP tour is a unique Maryland institution that allows us to hear directly from local jurisdictions about their priorities. One of the interesting things about the tour is that each tour meeting is different, because we are coming on the terms that the local jurisdiction would like. It’s an opportunity for the Secretary and the team to show their interest in the range of different types of communities and needs. We are a state with a strong, rural, urban and suburban presence — and we are really hopeful, working in coordination with Assistant Secretary of Project Planning and Delivery Joe McAndrew’s team, that the tour meeting is one part of a series of enhanced engagement with local jurisdictions.
What are you looking forward to in your new role?
Right now, we’re working on our legislative program for the next session with the support of Governor Moore. We’re focused on, how do we continue to improve safety? How do we try to reduce friction and improve service for our customers? And how do we continue to perform, to do better in the future, to be more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable? So, I’m always excited about our opportunity to work towards those legislative efforts and to build those stories with our partners. And we have a really great team focused on that work.
Anything else you’d like people to know about you?
I live in Bethesda with my wife and I love to visit National Park Service Units.
Units?
There are about 60 big national parks that you think of – and there are 433 units inclusive of those that include things like the C&O Canal, Catoctin Mountain, or Fort Washington Parks in Maryland.
One of my favorite smaller sites for the transportation nerds out there is Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton. It has these great historic steam trains right next to the Steamtown Mall referenced in The Office series – a great day trip for anyone who loves things that move.
Ana Lucia Murillo is a Senior Writer with the Maryland Department of Transportation.
