The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Nuria Fernandez has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Fernandez is also the first Senate-confirmed woman of color to lead FTA, and the first confirmed Administrator in over a decade. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 10, 2021.

Fernandez previously served as General Manager and CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in San Jose, California. Prior to leading VTA, Fernandez served in leadership positions at some of the busiest transit agencies in America, including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Chicago Transit Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, consecutively.

Fernandez was previously appointed in 1997 by President Bill Clinton as Acting Administrator of FTA, where she led the agency’s programs, including annual grant funding to local communities for planning, design, and construction of new and expanding rail and bus systems.

She has also served as Chair of the American Public Transportation Association from 2019-2020 and on the boards of the Mineta Transportation Institute, The Transportation Learning Center and on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Fernandez was born and raised in Panama City, Panama.  She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and an M.B.A. from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

via press release