Allen Biehler


Allen D. Biehler was Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, a position he held between 2003 and 2011. Barry Schoch was designated as his successor by Governor Tom Corbett.

Family and education

Born in Rochester, New York, Biehler and his wife, Diane, were longtime residents of Crafton, Pennsylvania prior to his appointment as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in 2003.
He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and his Certificate in Highway Transportation at Yale University.

Career

From 1996 to 1997, Biehler served as interim CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
After his tenure as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Biehler was appointed as a Distinguished Service Professor of Transportation Systems and Policy at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University and as Executive Director of CMU's University Transportation Center.
He is also an adjunct professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University.

Legacy

As Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department Transportation for eight years, Biehler was an advocate for highway funding, which led to him becoming head of an organization that was in charge of highway systems, and enabled him to administer "one of the nation’s largest grant programs for mass transit, rail freight, and aviation."
He also developed and named a program named "Smart Transportation", which:
  • streamlined and stabilized the Commonwealth's transit program
  • accelerated PennDOT's highway project delivery processes
  • ensured that highway projects became assets for the surrounding community.

Awards