Abby Thorne-Lyman is a Planner in the Strategic Planning Division at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). She specializes in systemside policy and strategy, in particular focusing on placemaking on or near BART property. Her current work includes developing a new Art in Transit Policy, evaluating the use of a new infrastructure finance authority, and studying the long-term potential for peak fares at downtown San Francisco stations.

Previously she was Director of the Center for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) at Reconnecting America, where she led research and technical assistance efforts in to inform national policy and develop innovative regional and corridor scale TOD strategies across the country. Her work there included regional TOD policy development and cultivating new cross-sector partnerships in regions including Portland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Pittsburgh.

Thorne-Lyman was also a Principal at Strategic Economics, a Bay Area-based economic and real estate consulting firm and a partner in the Center for TOD. Much of her work focused on how job growth trends in different industries should inform land use regulations. She has a Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College.