New WRTA Leader: 3 Finalists In Running For Top Worcester Transit Job

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester Regional Transit Authority committee will meet Friday to interview the three finalists vying to lead the transit agency with administrator Dennis Lipka headed to retirement.

The WRTA board's personnel committee began talks early in 2023 about finding a replacement for Lipka, whose contract was set to expire at the end of June. The board has extended Lipka's contract, however, so he can onboard the new leader.

The candidates to lead WRTA include:

• Susan Barrett, the transportation manager in Lexington's Transportation Services Department
• Michael Blondin, the general manager of Brockton Area Transit
• Josh Rickman, an assistant general manager with CTtransit

At a meeting Friday, the three finalists will interview with the WRTA board in public before the members pick a finalist.

This is the first search for a new leader the WRTA board has undertaken since 2018. In August 2018, former administrator Jonathan Church resigned. Lipka took over as an interim leader while the board searched for a new administrator. The board offered the job to Vermont transit official Jim Moulton, but he withdrew from the process. Lipka was then offered a one-year contract in March 2019, and he has stayed on ever since.

The new leader will take over WRTA at a crucial time for the transit agency. The bus system has been free since March 2020 — an experiment that led to WRTA rebounding from pandemic ridership losses better than any other bus system in the state.

The system has also come under criticism by riders and local elected officials who have complained of issues like unreliable service, a lack of shelters and routes that don't serve critical areas.

Friday's meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Zoom and at Worcester City Hall. The WRTA board is composed of members from across the service area, which spans Westborough to West Boylston, the Brookfields and as far south as Webster.