WTS-DC Coffee Chat with Katie Choe
By: Shelley Wynne, WTS-DC Chapter President
On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, WTS-DC held a coffee chat with Katie Choe, Virginia Railway Express (VRE) CEO at the VRE Headquarters Office in Alexandria. Katie Choe has a 25+ year career in public transportation infrastructure, with extensive experience in asset management, State of Good Repair planning and execution, program management, resiliency, accessibility, and infrastructure policy. VRE, a joint project of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission provides safe, cost effective, accessible, reliable, convenient, and comfortable commuter-oriented rail passenger service. VRE provides commuter rail service from the Northern Virginia suburbs to Alexandria, Crystal City and downtown Washington, D.C., along the I-66 and I-95 corridors. Services began in 1992, operating 16 trains from 16 stations and carried, on average, 5,800 passengers daily. Now, VRE operates 30 trains from 19 stations and carry, on average, 20,000 passengers daily.
The event began with opening remarks from Shelley Wynne, WTS-DC Chapter President, where she welcomed attendees and gave a brief overview of WTS-DC. The conversation started with Katie Choe sharing her career journey, previously serving as Chief of Staff to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority prior to joining VRE. She held senior roles as chief engineer for the City of Boston Public Works and as a program manager at Massport, the Massachusetts Port Authority. Across these positions, Choe led the delivery of major infrastructure projects with a strong emphasis on safety, quality, and operational excellence. In 2022, she was recognized as WTS-Boston’s Woman of the Year.
Katie shared information about the current projects at VRE with both construction and expansion of structures which help to improve the reliability of VRE's service. She also discussed the funding landscape for commuter rail service in Virginia and VRE’s exceptional safety record.
The event concluded with a memorable Q&A session from the audience about mentorship and leadership experiences.
The WTS-DC Chapter would like to thank VRE for hosting us! A special thank you to Katie Choe for her time in speaking with the WTS-DC Chapter and Lindsey Martin (VRE Public Affairs Administrator) for event planning and day-of logistics.
