Who Rules Transit: A conversation about representation on transit agency boards

Click here to watch a video recording of the webinar

TransitCenter’s “Who Rules Transit?” report chronicles that white people hold a majority of leadership positions on transit agency boards, despite making up less than half of transit riders. Furthermore, men in general and white men in particular are overrepresented on transit agency boards relative to riders. This disconnect between “who decides” and “who rides” means that the voices and experiences of those who actually ride transit are often not heard and debated in those agencies’ deliberations and decisions.

Join us for a candid conversation with former Board members about their thoughts on the impact of gender, race, and rider representation on transit agency outcomes. Monica Tibbits-Nutt and Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins oversaw big changes during their tenure on the MBTA and WMATA boards, respectively. In recent years, MBTA has initiated organizational change and a system-wide rethinking of their bus network. WMATA has also undergone a Bus Transformation Project and has been grappling with rail safety and maintenance issues. Monica and Stephanie will share how they brought a rider focus to their agencies throughout times of expansion as well as during crisis and recovery.

Panelists:

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins, North Star Strategies & Former First Vice-Chair and Principal Director of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority

Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Executive Director, 128 Business Council & MassDOT Board Director (2015-2021)

Moderator:

Tabitha Decker, Deputy Executive Director, TransitCenter