Sound Transit taps new deputy CEO

Seattle-based Sound Transit recently selected Celia Kupersmith as the agency's new deputy chief executive officer.

"Celia is a nationally respected transit leader who brings extensive engineering, capital project management and operations experience to Sound Transit," said Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl. "She will play a pivotal role in delivering high quality transit projects and services to the people of our region. We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome her aboard."

"Few transit systems nationally are growing as fast as Sound Transit's, and none offer the professional challenges and opportunities that exist here," Kupersmith said. "Sound Transit's success in the years ahead will come from working with a broad range of partners, including local governments and local transit agencies to deliver projects and services with tremendous focus on efficiency. There is not another agency in the country that could have lured me from the Golden Gate Bridge."

As GM of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District from 1999 through last month, Kupersmith oversaw not only the operations of the iconic bridge but a bus transit system offering more than 58 local and inter-county routes, and the largest ferry system in California. She led a staff of 830 employees under the direction of a 19-member board of directors.

From 1993 through 1999, Kupersmith served as executive director of the Regional Transportation Commission in Reno, Nev., overseeing bus services, road construction, road maintenance and long-range transportation planning for the northern Nevada region. From 1985 through 1993, Kupersmith rose through the ranks at Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, departing as deputy GM.

At Sound Transit Kupersmith is taking over for outgoing deputy CEO Ron Tober, who is returning to Charlotte, N.C.