Where Delawareans see traffic cones, delays and speed limit enforcement, Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Shanté Hastings sees people: workers’ lives, families getting home safely, and neighbors whose yards and livelihoods border every project.

Thirty-eight people have died on Delaware roadways so far this year as of early May, up nearly 20% from this time last year. Hastings feels every one of these deaths and is notified almost instantaneously every time one happens. 

“That affects me tremendously, and it strikes me to my core,” said Hastings, who lives in Millsboro with her husband, their two daughters and her mother. “I don’t want anyone to not go home to their families.”

Hastings, who was sworn in as secretary in early 2025 after being appointed by Gov. Matt Meyer, began working at DelDOT 26 years ago. She started as a project engineer in May 2000, shortly after graduating from the University of Delaware with a degree in civil engineering, and has since climbed her way through the ranks.

She is the first Black woman to hold the department’s top job.

"I never would have expected this trajectory for myself, and it's really special to me, because I got the opportunity to grow up here," Hastings said.

Her very first DelDOT project, helping to design and construct the sidewalks on School Bell Road in New Castle County, has a special place in her heart, and she still has the set of plans that she got to stamp with her professional engineer stamp for the first time.

"Anytime I get the opportunity to drive by there, there's a sense of pride, because [I] really had a hand in that," she said.

That pride washes over her every time she drives past any of the work she's done throughout Delaware.

"It's a fulfilling job because of that," she said. "Over the course of 26 years, I've touched so many pieces of transportation in the state."

Hastings has always considered herself a good problem solver, and math and science were her best subjects in school. Beyond the classroom, growing up as the oldest of five girls and being raised by a single mother, she said she was usually the one in charge of putting things together, like pieces of furniture that required assembly.

After graduating high school in her home state of New Jersey, where she returned after moving to a few other states during her childhood and teenage years, she decided to attend UD in the footsteps of her great-grandfather, who enrolled at the university in 1949 as its first African American undergraduate student of the 20th century. He graduated with an engineering degree in 1952, shortly after the school's desegregation.

Now, in her current role, Hastings manages the state's more than $600 million Capital Transportation Program and is responsible for 90% of the state's public transportation network. She also represents Delaware in federal transportation policy discussions.

At its core, her job revolves around people.

Every project impacts different communities and individual property owners in some way, and the way the agency approaches a project is important, she said.

"Transportation is everybody's neighbor," she said. "That road is somebody's neighbor, and so how would you want to be treated by your neighbor? How would you want somebody from DelDOT to interact with your grandmother or grandfather? Do you want them to just say, 'Hey, we're coming in and doing this,' or do you want to have them really understand what the issues are and try and make tweaks to help it be a better project?"

As much as Hastings can, she meets with individual property owners, chambers of commerce, contractors, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to get input on issues affecting their own communities and local roads. 

"We don't have all the answers," she said. "We can go and observe a specific place for a period of time, but if you don't live there, you don't fully understand it."

When someone is against a certain project, she tries to figure out what exactly they're against and work with them to come up with a compromise.

"Is it that they hate this thing? Is it that they don't want to lose this piece of property? Is it that this bush is really important to them because of x, y and z?" she said.

Whatever the answer is, she tries to work with them to reach some sort of agreement.

While every situation is different, one thing remains at the forefront of her mind when coming up with solutions – safety.

DelDOT has a goal to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 15% each year. It has done a decent job of that the past few years, Hastings said, but it’s trending in the wrong direction this year.

The dangers are especially high for the agency's own workers.

"The hardest thing about this job is the potential for bad things to happen to our staff," Hastings said. 

In early May, two tractors operated by DelDOT workers were hit by cars in one week.

Around the same time, in the span of just four days, the Maryland DOT lost two employees. Both were killed in work zones.

"That's my greatest fear," Hastings said. "That's the kind of thing that keeps me up at night."

Those kinds of situations, she said, are why DelDOT is focused on implementing speed cameras in work zones and making other safety improvements. The department only implements cameras in work zones where they've conducted an analysis and proven that such a device would make a significant difference in reducing speeds and crashes.

The agency is also using artificial intelligence to bolster safety by analyzing pedestrian crossing patterns, crashes and near-misses, and a range of other similar metrics.

Moving forward, Hastings has a number of goals, such as ensuring equitable and accessible transportation for everyone, and fostering a shift for Delawareans to become more multimodal and less reliant solely on cars. 

She is working to create and improve more accessible, viable transportation alternatives, like the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail, for people to walk or bike instead of drive, or DART Connect, which is an on-demand microtransit service that provides flexible transportation in rural areas for just $2 per trip.

"One thing I'd like people to know about me is that I really care," Hastings said. "I care about what we do as an agency, I care about my team and I care about the people of Delaware. Whether you're a resident or a visitor, I want you to have the transportation you need and to be able to use it in a safe manner."

Outside of work, she sings in the Millsboro Grace United Methodist Church praise band, loves karaoke, has a longtime book club with friends, enjoys puzzles, and attends every one of her daughter's soccer and volleyball games. She is also a proud member and chapter advisor of Sigma Kappa sorority and serves on the board of a number of organizations, including the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, Leadership Delaware and the Delaware State Fair.

She is also the president of the local chapter of Women's Transportation Seminar International, an organization that advocates for women to be in all different sectors of the transportation industry.

"I think part of the creativity that I'm able to bring to the table is because I'm a woman," said Hastings. "I think we think about things differently."

For women – or anyone, really – thinking about working in transportation, Hastings encourages them to try it out. 

"We need more people who care about people in this space," she said.