KCATA Announces Permanent CEO

The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) announced Frank White III as the permanent president and CEO.

In August of 2022, White was unanimously named to the interim CEO position by the 10-member KCATA board. With this new appointment, he is the first African-American to lead the organization as CEO, according to KCATA's news release.

In the past six months as the interim CEO, White has worked to add transparency to operations and sought out experts in mobility, land use, transit data, and economic activity to drive innovation across the agency.

At RideKC Development Corporation, White continues to engage the community.

Additional select achievements over the last six months include:

• Hiring and promoting talent from within the organization.
• Hiring over 100 new bus operators, which will help with service delivery.
• Being the first CEO to speak at the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
• Negotiating a new contract with ATU.
• Planning for a major safety initiative that will be implemented in 2023.
• Having partnership conversations with major employers in the region.

“Frank has proven he’s the right leader for the job,” says Melissa Bynum, chair of the KCATA board. “His vision, commitment, and tenacity have fueled new life into the organization, not to mention his qualifications are spot on. The board is aligned with Frank’s leadership approach and we look forward to working with him to achieve KCATA’s mission.”

White was hired at KCATA in 2016 as a senior marketing manager and also served as chief marketing officer, director of strategic planning and development, and VP of RideKC Development Corporation.

“Over the last several months in this leadership position, we’ve made significant progress at a local and national level to start meeting our goals,” White said. “I’ve been and will remain committed to rebuilding relationships, restoring funding, and holding not only myself, but my team, and the organization accountable for our actions. There’s more work to be done, so I’m greatly appreciative for the opportunity.”