Stephanie Wiggins appointed LA Metro CEO

Stephanie Wiggins announced several measures to get Metro back on track Credit: LA Metro

Stephanie Wiggins has been announced as the new CEO of LA Metro, after the board of directors voted to appoint her this week. Wiggins, currently the CEO of Metrolink (a transportation authority in Southern California), will be the first woman, and the first Black woman, to serve in this role at Metro. She will succeed retiring CEO Phil Washington.

“Metro is in the midst of a generational transformation that will mean more jobs for local workers, more growth for our economy, and more ways for Angelenos to move around our region — and nobody is better prepared to carry the torch of progress than Stephanie Wiggins,” said Metro Board Chair and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“Stephanie’s career makes her ideally suited to lead this agency at this moment: she’s experienced, determined, committed to equity, and steeped in LA’s transportation history, and she is the perfect candidate to carry Metro into its next chapter.”

As Metro’s CEO, Wiggins will manage a budget of nearly $7 billion, oversee up to $20 billion in capital construction projects, and oversee an agency with 11,000 employees that transports more than a half-million boarding passengers daily on a fleet of 2,200 buses and six rail lines.

Wiggins started her tenure as CEO of Metrolink in December 2018, directing an agency that operates a regional passenger rail network that connects riders across a six-county, 538 route-mile system. Prior to taking on that post, Wiggins served as Deputy CEO of Metro, where she assisted the CEO in advancing the agency’s primary objectives, including the implementation of projects made possible by Measure M.

“I am honoured by the opportunity to return to LA Metro as its CEO and am grateful to Mayor Garcetti and the LA Metro Board for the faith they have placed in me for this important role. I am thankful to my team at Metrolink for all of our successes together – and those that are still to come throughout this transition and as we work together in the future,” said Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Executive Officer of Metrolink and incoming LA Metro CEO.

“LA County has great mobility needs that we must develop with goals of achieving better health, opportunity and equity for all of the region’s residents, and I look forward to bringing transformative leadership and collaboration with the region’s transportation authorities to make this vision a reality.”

Wiggins replaces outgoing Metro CEO Phil Washington, who served the agency for six years. She is expected to assume the role in May.

“Phil Washington has been a visionary leader, a force for trailblazing growth and lasting progress across our transit network,” added Mayor Garcetti. “Phil leaves this agency better off than he found it — a legacy of an expanding public transportation system that gets Angelenos where they need to go and remains a force for sustainability, equity, jobs, workforce development, and shared prosperity across the LA area.”

“I have worked closely with Stephanie for many years and she has earned my trust and respect with her leadership, intellect, and dedication to mobility and to the people of Los Angeles County and Southern California,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “I am thrilled with the Metro Board’s selection, and I know Stephanie is the right person to lead the agency into the future.”