ALBANY (TIP): Governor Andrew M. Cuomo nominated , April 12, Thomas F. Prendergast to serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Mr. Prendergast has served more than three years as president of MTA New York City Transit, which runs the subway and bus system in New York City, and has served as the MTA Interim Executive Director since January 1, 2013.

He replaces Joseph Lhota. “Tom Prendergast is a consummate public transit leader who is the ideal candidate to oversee the nation’s largest transportation system,” said Governor Cuomo. “The MTA plays a vital role in New York’s economy and the daily lives of the millions of commuters who use its services.

Tom has vast experience in infrastructure and transportation and has spent years managing commuter railroads as well as New York City’s subways and buses. From the track bed to the budget to modernizing our system for the 21st Century, I can’t imagine anyone having a better understanding of how the region’s vast system operates and the challenges that it faces.” “It is an incredible honor to be nominated to lead the largest transportation network in North America, and to work with Governor Cuomo and his administration on the many challenges facing the MTA,” Prendergast said. “The MTA will improve the customer experience, operate more efficiently and build for the future. And we will aggressively rebuild smarter and better in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Governor Cuomo has demonstrated his strong support of the MTA in fully funding our capital plan, in allocating additional funding to the MTA in his latest budget, and of course in his leadership during and after Sandy struck. I look forward to working with the governor, his management team, the MTA Board and the 66,000 dedicated employees of the MTA family.” In 2011, the Governor’s MTA Search Advisory Committee conducted a national search to find and recommend the most talented candidates to lead the MTA. Mr. Prendergast was highly recommended by the Committee, and Committee members were consulted in his nomination that was announced today.

The advisory committee was composed of leading public transportation experts and management professionals in the public and private sectors. The Governor’s appointment of an MTA chairman and CEO is subject to Senate confirmation. Mr. Prendergast is a career public transit officer and former MTA executive who was appointed President of MTA New York City Transit in November 2009. Prendergast, then the CEO at TransLink in Vancouver, B.C., returned to New York and took office December 1, 2009. A native of Chicago, with a systems engineering degree from the University of Illinois, Mr. Prendergast began his career at the Chicago Transit Authority in 1975. From there, he joined the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, DC, then moved to the New York City Transit Authority in 1982 as Assistant Director of System Safety. In 1984, he was named Chief of the TA’s System Safety Department. In 1987 he became Staten Island General Manager, and in 1989, the agency’s Chief Electrical Officer. Then in 1991, he was named Senior Vice President of the Department of Subways.

In 1994, Prendergast left Subways’ SVP office at Jay Street in Brooklyn to become President of the Long Island Rail Road. In 2000, he left the public sector to work as a consultant in transportation. Over the next eight years, he worked on numerous project and program management assignments in the UK, North America and Asia. He returned to the public sector in 2008 with his move to TransLink, Vancouver’s public transportation system.

Fernando Ferrer, Acting Chairman of the MTA, said, “As a longtime public servant with broad expertise in transportation issues, Tom Pendergast will be a first rate leader for the M.T.A. He has served the M.T.A. well in his current and former positions, including playing an integral role in guiding the agency’s successful preparations and response to Hurricane Sandy. Governor Cuomo could not have chosen a stronger or more qualified individual to lead the M.T.A.” “Tom Prendergast has the hands on skill and long commitment to transit to make a great head of the M.T.A. The Straphangers’ Campaign has found Tom to be accessible, knowledgeable, smart and fair,” said Gene Russianoff, Staff Attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers’ Campaign. “Tom is a great choice to provide continuity of strong professional leadership of the MTA in the face of daunting fiscal challenges and with a major capital program underway. He will have the full confidence and support of the business community,” said Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City.