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Stephanie Wiggins Becomes First Black Woman To Lead LA Metro

Stephanie Wiggins (Courtesy Metrolink)
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Los Angeles County's public transit agency, LA Metro, has a new leader — Stephanie Wiggins. Wiggins will be the first woman, and the first Black woman, to lead the angency.

Wiggins currently leads Metrolink, the Southern California commuter rail system. She was previously the deputy CEO of LA Metro.

Mayor Eric Garcetti made the announcement after the Metro Board voted to appoint Wiggins yesterday:

"Stephanie Wiggins is prepared to carry us into the next extraordinary chapter of this agency's story, getting more buses on the streets with our Next Gen bus plan, making sure that anyone can hop on the regional connector, and ride from East L.A., all the way to the coast... and realizing our dream of a fareless system."

Wigging spoke after the mayor:
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"My immediate goals and focus will be on restoring transit service and helping Metro lead this county out of the pandemic and into a new dawn, where customers come first and equity is at the center of everything we do."

The current CEO, Phil Washington, told the agency's board of directors in February that he would not seek to renew his contract, which ends in May. He's been on the job for six years.

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