Metro Magazine

SEP-OCT 2014

Magazine serving the bus and rail transit & motorcoach operations since 1904

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78 < m ETRO m AGAZINE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 metro-magazine.com Prior experience working with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay Area prepared her well for tackling transportation and transit issues on the national stage. BY JANNA STARCIC, Executive Editor Q&A;: FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan liver it to the American people. You also have to work hard to build foun- dations that can be built upon after you are gone. Tat requires establishing re- lationships and credibility with a range of key actors — local elected officials, congressional representatives, transit providers and most importantly, the public. There is never enough time or money to do what needs to be done. Balancing unwavering advocac y for more resources, while responsi- At the start of the year, Terese McMillan was named acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). She joined FTA as deputy administra- tor in July 2009. As deputy, McMillan as- sisted the administrator in leading a staf of more than 500 in the Washington D.C. headquarters ofce and 10 regional ofc- es throughout the U.S., and implement- ing an annual budget approximating $10 billion. We spoke with Acting Adminis- trator McMillan to discuss her new role and how she is working to forward the agency's agenda. METRO: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB AS FTA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR? Mc Mi l l a n : In t h e s h o r t t e r m, t h e most challenging aspect of my job is getting things done in the incredibly short window of an Administration. You have four years — at b est eight years — to develop an agenda and de- McMillan talks with Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority CEO Joe Calabrese during a tour of the new Cedar-University Rapid Station.

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