Janette Sadik-Khan, Chair: New York City Commissioner
Janette Sadik-Khan was appointed commissioner for the New York City Department of Transportation in 2007. A former senior vice president of Parsons Brinckerhoff, she is a nationally recognized expert in innovative finance, public policy development and transportation – knowledge gained from extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, where she has worked at the federal, state and local levels. At PB she was founding president of Company 39, a communications consulting company. She serves on the Transportation Research Board, and on the boards of the Regional Plan Association, Women in Transportation Seminar, and the Center for Transportation Excellence, and she serves on several committees of the American Public Transit Association. Prior to joining PB she was deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Jeffrey Boothe, Vice Chair: Partner, Holland & Knight LLP
Jeffrey Boothe is a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Holland & Knight LLP and an experienced advocate for transit authorities and cities who has worked extensively on federal transportation policy and legislative and regulatory affairs. He chairs the New Starts Working Group, a coalition of transit properties, cities and private sector companies that actively supports funding for mass transit, and that helps develop federal transportation policy that responds to concerns about congestion, air quality, economic development and quality of life. He is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association’s Legislative Committee and Light Rail Task Force, and is executive director of the Community Streetcar Coalition. He served as a legislative assistant to Senator Mark O. Hatfield and as a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.
David King, Treasurer: Former Deputy Secretary of Transportation, North Carolina Department of Transportation
David King was deputy secretary of transportation for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for the Highway, Rail, Public Transportation, Aviation, Ferry, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Divisions. Under his direction, the Rail Division launched the North Carolina Station Improvement Program, which used ISTEA transportation enhancement funds to rehabilitate passenger stations with historic significance. North Carolina’s DOT has since expanded its station program to improve conditions for rail passengers at new stations. Mr. King served as a North Carolina DOT official beginning in 1973.
Phyllis Bleiweis: Executive Director of the Seaside Institute
Phyllis Bleiweis is executive director of the Seaside Institute in Seaside, Florida, the town that was the first manifestation of what has become known as the New Urbanism and a model that has changed the way builders and planners view development worldwide. The Seaside Institute is a nonprofit organization that promotes the building of community in cities and towns through design, education and the arts. Ms. Bleiweis is a leader in the New Urbanism movement, and at the Institute she has provided educational and cultural programs that focus on community enhancement, the built and natural environment, and on urban planning and architecture. She came to the institute from Miami, where she served as executive director of the Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami.
William Millar: President, American Public Transportation Association
William Millar is the president of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), where he has expanded APTA’s influence and guided the organization to legislative victories that have dramatically increased federal investment in public transportation. He is a strong supporter of transportation research, the founder of the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), and has been a member of the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board for many years. A well-known expert in the field of public transportation and transportation policy, he lectures frequently, is widely published, and often testifies before Congress. Prior to coming to APTA, Mr. Millar was executive director of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Art Lomenick: Managing Director, Trammell Crow Company
Art Lomenick is managing director with Trammell Crow, a global commercial real estate services company, and president of High Street Residential (a wholly owned subsidiary of Trammell Crow). He is an urban development expert sought after by municipalities throughout the U.S. for his experience with neo-traditional planning and architecture, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood design and adaptive re-use. Mr. Lomenick orchestrated the development of Addison Circle and Post Legacy, two master-planned neo-traditional communities in the edge cities of Addison and Plano outside Dallas. Addison Circle has been hailed as one of the best examples of smart growth in the U.S. Mr. Lomenick served 6 years on the board of directors for the Congress for the New Urbanism.
John Robert Smith: Mayor, Meridian, Mississippi
John Robert Smith is the Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, and a long-time activist on behalf of passenger rail. He is co-chairman of the National Forum on the Future of Passenger Rail, is a member of Amtrak’s board, and a member of the transportation committees of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is a veteran of the station-centered community development movement, and led the drive to renovate the City of Meridian’s Union Station, a $7 million historic restoration project that created a new multimodal transportation center, dramatically increased use of the station, raised property values and city tax receipts, and lowered crime in the station's neighborhood.
William Kohn Fleissig: Principal and Director for Development, Urban Villages Inc.
William Fleissig is a co-founder, principal and director for development at Urban Villages LLC, a development company based in Denver and California. He has directed the planning and development of more than a dozen catalytic projects in diverse American cities including Boulder, Denver, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston and Cambridge. Mr. Fleissig is recognized nationally for his ability to negotiate development strategies that translate broad community interests – those of residents, land owners, investors, advocacy groups and elected officials – into profitable and memorable urban places. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, where he has worked to improve the Federal Transit Administration’s land use criteria for its New Starts Transit Program. He is principal author of the “Smart Scorecard for Development Projects,” funded by the Congress for New Urbanism and the federal EPA. He also served in the public sector as the director of community design, planning and development for the City of Boulder.
Ron Sims: King County Executive, State of Washington
Ron Sims is serving his third term as executive of King County, Washington, where he has built his career around the principles of social justice, good government and environmental stewardship. He’s established a strong record of environmental protection, his climate plan has been lauded as one of the nation’s most comprehensive, and he has been recognized nationally for his leadership in the effort to restore Puget Sound and its prized chinook salmon. He’s been a leader on managing growth in the economically booming King County region, is credited with turning around Sound Transit, and has built King County Metro into one of the nation’s greenest transit systems. Sims’ numerous awards include national recognition from the EPA and Sierra Club, and he was Governing Magazine’s 2006 Public Official of the Year.