Nadine S. Lee, Dallas Area Rapid Transit President and CEO, speaks to media during a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Dallas.
Christine Vo/Staff Photographer
Wanted: A transit CEO who can hold together a regional system under political strain.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit is looking for a new CEO and president, a job managing a coalition of differing member cities, navigating pressure to shrink the system, carrying out high-stakes reforms and proving its value in a region divided over its future.
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The next leader won’t just run buses and trains. They’ll be expected to steady an agency tested by threats of withdrawal and competing visions for transit in North Texas.
“DART is in a new chapter,” said board member Enrique MacGregor of Cockrell Hill and Dallas, shaped by months when several cities weighed leaving the system. That demanding stretch, he said, will help guide who is chosen.
Up next are May 2 elections in Addison, Highland Park and University Park on leaving DART; the FIFA World Cup, with DART moving fans across the region; and the 2027 Legislature that will take up proposed transit changes, including DART’s governance.
After CEO and President Nadine Lee announced last week she’s stepping down, the next leader will inherit the deals that led Plano, Irving and Farmers Branch to call off withdrawal elections earlier this year, while confronting the three remaining May exit votes.
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“We’re definitely at an inflection point,” said Patric Morgan, a transit advocate in Dallas. Either “we’re a region that supports and recognizes the importance of transit or we’re going to see DART … wither and die on the vine.”
‘Political acumen’
With DART’s search already underway, managing the competing interests of member cities has risen to the top of the wish list among advocates, city leaders and board members.
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“I would like to see someone who has political acumen, and frankly, someone that can bring disagreeing parties to the table together and hammer out compromises,” MacGregor said.
DART’s recent deals with member cities include plans to pursue legislative changes to its governance and create a regional rail authority, efforts that will require coordination with lawmakers.
The agency also approved returning some of the one-cent DART sales tax to cities for local transportation projects, a move that persuaded Plano to cancel its withdrawal election. The city had long argued its contributions outweighed the level of service it received.
Plano City Council member Steve Lavine said in doing so, his city extended “a hand of partnership to DART.”
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DART needs a “diplomat, not just an administrator,” Lavine said, who sees cities as clients and partners, not a tax base.
“We traded a divorce for a prenuptial agreement, something that now protects our interests,” he said. “We need a CEO who will honor that agreement.”
Morgan, of the advocacy group Dallas Area Transit Alliance, said he wants “a more politically adept” leader who continues Lee’s focus on reliability, safety and service but not one who gives more sales tax back to cities at the expense of improvements.
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Skilled communicator
Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer said communication will be key for the new leader.
“That’s a tough thing to do,” he said. “You’ve got 13 cities and 13 councils, 13 city managers and 15 board members. It’s a pretty big undertaking.”
City leaders who had considered leaving the agency cited a disconnect between DART’s service and local needs.
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“There’s got to be more interaction between the city leaders and DART on the routes and the equipment,” Stopfer said.
Morgan said the next CEO will need to be more adept at navigating tensions between DART and the suburbs in its system.
“Repairing that relationship is going to be very challenging over the next several years,” he said.
Next steps
The timeline for the DART’s board appointment is unclear.
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MacGregor said he hopes the new leader is installed soon.
“At the same time, it has to be the right person,” he said. “This is not something that you want to rush through.”
DART has not announced Lee’s last day, but her contract expires Sept. 30. Lee said she “read the tea leaves” and determined it made sense for the agency to get a new leader as DART transitions from bargaining with cities to fulfilling its end of the resulting deals.
“If I’m going to make a move, now is the time,” she said.
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DART’s board of directors are scheduled Friday to approve her separation agreement and discuss plans for an interim president. A committee discussed in a closed session on Tuesday the title’s job description and qualifications.
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In a draft job description, the board summarized its responsibilities to establish the policy, goals and mission of DART and direct the agency’s operations.
Board Chair Randall Bryant said in a March 25 statement the agency aims to provide safe, reliable service and support the region’s economic vitality and connectivity.
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“Those commitments will demand our board to seek and hire the best talent available,” he said. “That level of responsibility will also require a united front.”