After a year-long search for a new CEO, the GRTC has announced Julie Timm will now head the regional transit authority.
Timm is a Hampton Roads native and is currently the chief development officer for the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority. Timm is joining GRTC after the successful launch of the Pulse bus rapid transit corridor last year. The Pulse is currently the system’s most popular route and helped GRTC to increase ridership, bucking a national trend of decreased public transportation use.
“Mobility is an indispensable requirement for how we define our communities and how we connect to housing, jobs, education, healthcare, food and recreation,” Timm said in a statement. “This time of growth and transformation for Greater Richmond opens a valuable window for us to clearly define how we will advance those mobility connections for the prosperity of all the residents of our region.”
According to GRTC, Timm brings more than 20 years of experience in transportation planning and management. She’s a graduate of Old Dominion University and received her MBA from Vanderbilt University. She replaces former CEO David Green, who oversaw the launch of the Pulse corridor.
Timm will be the sixth CEO of GRTC and the first female to lead the transit agency.
While GRTC looks to expand its operation in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, it also faces criticism from some transportation activists in Richmond. GRTC is currently the subject of a federal civil rights complaint filed earlier this year, which claimed that its 2018 reroute disproportionately harmed minority and low-income riders.
