DALLAS, Texas — The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors has selected Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. to lead the agency as its next President & Chief Executive Officer.
From train operator to CEO, Ford’s transit career includes working at Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York, and previous CEO roles at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in California, and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in Georgia. Since 2012, Ford has served as the CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA).
“Mr. Ford brings decades of executive leadership in public transportation, a proven record of organizational transformation, and a deep understanding that transit is about much more than buses and trains,” said DART Board Chair Randall Bryant. “Today, we are turning the page. The board has made its decision and now it’s time to get back to what matters most, serving the people of North Texas.”
Celebrated as an innovator in the industry, Ford has been recognized with numerous awards, honors, appointments, and distinctions including:
Chair - Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Chair – American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
Policy Board National Ambassador (USA) – Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP)
2020 – Outstanding Public Transportation Manager from APTA
2016 – White House Champion of Change in Transportation by the U.S. Department of Transportation
2016 – JTA named as “Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award” recipient by APTA
Ford has an MBA from Jacksonville University’s Davis School of Business, a bachelor's degree in applied science in organizational leadership from Mercer University and is a certified Master Executive Coach. He graduated from the Executive Development Consortium program at Emory University and has completed executive training at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
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