Rina Cutler, former deputy mayor and transportation expert, has died at 70

Rina Cutler, 70, formerly of Philadelphia, former deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, longtime city and state transportation and parking official, retired Amtrak executive, social worker, and lifelong teacher, died Friday, Dec. 1, of congestive heart failure at a nursing center in West Palm Beach, Fla.

A social worker at heart, public servant by opportunity, and teacher by nature, Ms. Cutler served countless people in Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco as an expert in transportation, infrastructure, people, and the intricacies of government. She was deputy mayor for Mayor Michael Nutter from 2008 to 2015, executive director of the Parking Authority for Mayor Ed Rendell from 1994 to 2000, and deputy secretary of administration for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation under Gov. Rendell from 2003 to 2008.

Earlier, she served as transportation commissioner and deputy commissioner in Boston, and director of parking and traffic in San Francisco. After she left city government in 2015, she worked for several years as senior director for major station planning and development at Amtrak.

“I am passionate about cities,” Ms. Cutler told the Daily News in 2014. “I am passionate about airports. I am passionate about high-speed rail. I care very much about transit and how that impacts families and people in the city.”

Gregarious and smart, ambitious and collaborative, Ms. Cutler represented Philadelphians, and all her constituents, with flair and achievement. She arrived from Boston in 1994, as the Daily News reported, with a managerial reputation as “abrasive,” “brash,” “aggressive,” “abrupt” and “no-nonsense.”

And she never denied it. As parking director in San Francisco in the 1990s, she carried her own ticket book and occasionally wrote up violators she came across. A colleague in Boston told the Daily News: “She pulls no punches, tells you right where she’s coming from.”

In Philadelphia, Ms. Cutler reformed the Parking Authority in the 1990s, danced at a news conference in 2010 to celebrate big improvements at the airport, and structured unprecedented agreements between SEPTA and city officials. She encouraged what she called the region’s “advocacy community,” and told WHYY in 2014: “I think there is huge strength in numbers.”

As Nutter’s deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, she oversaw the Streets and Water Departments, the city’s infrastructure, and Philadelphia International Airport. She was involved with big projects such as the construction of the South Street Bridge, the addition of five airlines at the airport, and wide-ranging investments in urban green infrastructure.

She also paid attention to everyday chores such as monitoring snow removal and trash pickup, and pushing for pedestrian safety improvements. “We loved her humor,” Nutter said. “We learned from her experiences. But most of all, she showed us all that the most important people are our citizens.”

Ms. Cutler was named 2011 Public Works Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine, and won the 2012 Local Government Award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. She was a member of the National Association of City Transportation Officials and board member for SEPTA, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, and WTS, formerly the Women’s Transportation Seminar.

“Rina was a pioneering woman in transportation who always stood with courage and never lost touch with the lives of the residents she served,” said longtime colleague Andrew Stober. Nutter said: “We’re all better people because we knew her.”

Rina Nadine Cutler was born Dec. 21, 1952, in Lynn, Mass. A lifelong leader, she was popular with her friends as a child, and many of them called her their “favorite teacher” because she read and knew so much.

She was prom queen in high school, earned a bachelor’s degree in social work at Boston University in 1974, and worked for more than a decade around Boston as a leader and developer of rehabilitation programs and after-school initiatives. She got her start in city government when she joined Raymond Flynn’s 1993 mayoral campaign in Boston and went on to serve as his deputy transportation commissioner and later commissioner.

She grew up with her brother, Alan, and sisters Myra and Lori, and doted on her three nieces and two nephews. Her sister Lori died earlier.

Ms. Cutler liked sports and played poker. She followed the Boston Red Sox and Phillies, and told the Daily News: “My dream would be a Phillies-Red Sox World Series, where I could root for both sides.” She retired to West Palm Beach from Center City a few years ago.

“She was very competent, very intelligent, and she had perseverance,” her brother said. “She was a great sister.” Her sister Myra said: “As a sister, I couldn’t have asked for more. She was fearless and courageous. Everyone’s life she touched became better.”

In addition to her siblings, nieces and nephews, Ms. Cutler is survived by other relatives.

A celebration of her life is to be held later.

Donations in her name may be made to Mural Arts Philadelphia, Attn: Nick Hunsicker, 1727-29 Mount Vernon St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130; and the WTS Foundation, 1501 M St. NW, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20005.