\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.firstcoastnews.com\/assets\/shared-images\/icons\/arrow-circle-down.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\nThe first JTA CEO Selection Committee meeting will be held on Aug. 4 as the agency looks to find CEO Nat Ford’s successor after 13 years.<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The process of finding the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s next CEO is underway.<\/p>\n
All seven members of the JTA Board of Directors will play a part in the selection process on the CEO Selection Committee, now scheduled to meet for the first time on Aug. 4.<\/p>\n
The committee is expected to spend the meeting outlining its plan for the hiring and selection process.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n This story continues below.
<\/p>\n
In a meeting on July 29, the JTA Board of Directors discussed a tentative timeline for a decision to be made in December 2026, with applications being accepted into October.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis process needs to be deliberate, intentional and transparent to deliver the most qualified candidate to lead the JTA,\u201d Chairman Aundra Wallace said.<\/p>\n
CEO Nat Ford recently accepted a position as the CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART),<\/a> with a start date of Oct. 26. That will likely leave the JTA without a permanent CEO<\/a> for a short time. The agency has not announced an interim leader.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. 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,\u201d said DART Board Chair Randall Bryant in a statement.<\/p>\n Ford has led JTA for more than 13 years, first joining in 2012. Prior to his stint in Jacksonville, Ford worked as CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in California and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in Georgia.<\/p>\n During public comment at a DART meeting, six residents warned against hiring Ford, according to our news partners at the Florida Times-Union. Several said they do not want Ford to bring autonomous transit vehicles to Dallas as he has in Jacksonville, where the Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation (NAVI)\u00a0<\/a>shuttles have suffered from low ridership and high costs since they went into service downtown a year ago.<\/p>\n