By Rob Gannon, Metro Transit General Manager

I was deeply honored last week to be named the Metro Transit general manager by King County Executive Dow Constantine and Department of Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi, and look forward to confirmation by the King County Council.

This is an exciting time to lead Metro. We’re poised to begin implementing Metro Connects, our long-range plan for providing more and better transit service over the next 25 years. Not only does Metro Connects call for a 70 percent expansion of our transit system, it also envisions frequent service all day across the county, numerous safety and customer service enhancements, corridor investments to keep buses moving, and many more innovations and improvements.

We collaborated with community members, cities, and other transit agencies as we crafted this bold plan. As we move forward, strong relationships with communities and agencies will be critical to making our shared vision a reality.

Those partnerships will be one of my top priorities, along with customer and employee safety and strengthening Metro as a great place to work—the best way to ensure outstanding customer service.

While new to the general manager position, I’ve been at Metro for several years, serving as the interim general manager since March and as a deputy general manager from 2013-2016. In my time here I have interacted with employees throughout our agency—bus drivers and mechanics, customer service and facilities maintenance employees, planners and managers. They all share a devotion to providing the best possible service to the public, and I’m thrilled to be leading this great team.

I’ll keep you informed as we strive to deliver outstanding service every day while working toward our vision of a world-class transit system for King County.