WTS Philadelphia is celebrating National Public Lands Day by spotlighting Alexandra McNally, the Northeast Regional Multimodal Transportation Program Manager for the National Park Service (NPS).Held annually on the fourth Saturday of September, the National Public Lands Day is recognized to foster the care and celebration of our public lands, from national to local public spaces. The 2025 theme is “Our Home Outdoors”, celebrating how we use these spaces as our extended backyards to gather with friends and family, natural playgrounds, and spaces to support our health and well-being. 

Spotlight: 

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Alexandra McNally, National Park Service 

Alexandra McNally thrives on the challenge of weaving together the many pieces of a multimodal transportation system. She serves as the Northeast Region Multimodal Transportation Program Manager for the National Park Service (NPS), based in Philadelphia. Guided by a “people first” mindset, Alexandra focuses on one core question: How can we create the best possible experience for the people visiting and working in our parks?

In her role, Alexandra develops multi-year plans for allocating federal funding to trail, transit, and ferry projects across the Northeast. These investments expand access, enhance sustainability, and improve safety for millions of annual park visitors. She also provides tailored support to parks of all sizes—acting as a dedicated transportation expert for smaller sites without planners on staff, and serving as a project coordinator at larger, more complex parks to ensure transportation improvements are well-timed and minimize disruptions to the visitor experience.

Her portfolio of work spans a diverse set of landscapes and communities, from the historic grounds of Valley Forge National Historical Park, to the rugged coasts of Acadia National Park, the whitewater rivers of Gauley River National Recreation Area, and the urban heritage preserved at Lowell National Historical Park. Each project requires balancing the unique character of the park with the practical needs of moving people safely and efficiently through shared public spaces.

Alexandra brings a strong background in user-centered design and transportation planning to her work at NPS. Before joining the agency, she was a user experience designer at the Office of Natural Resources and Revenue (ONRR), where she conducted in-depth user interviews and developed design solutions to make federal digital platforms more intuitive and accessible. Earlier, she spent six years at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center, contributing to a wide range of NPS projects, including the planning and design of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, transportation signage plans, and active transportation guidance materials.

Her academic path reflects this blend of disciplines: she studied geographic information systems at Penn State University, transportation planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and user experience design at Drexel University. This combination of technical expertise, planning skills, and human-centered design informs her holistic approach to transportation challenges.

Alexandra’s work demonstrates how thoughtful transportation planning can shape more than just how people move—it influences how visitors connect with nature, history, and community. By aligning funding, design, and long-term vision, she helps ensure that national parks remain accessible, resilient, and welcoming for generations to come.