The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD)’s Board of Directors appointed Paul Ballard as the agency’s interim GM/CEO, bringing to a close a search that began late last year when outgoing leader Dave Genova announced his retirement.

Contract negotiations with Ballard are underway. A start date for the position will be announced soon.

Ballard retired in April 2019 as CEO from Trinity Metro, which serves the city of Fort Worth, Texas, and its suburbs. Prior to that, he was CEO of the Nashville MTA and Regional Transportation Authority of Middle Tennessee. Over more than four and a half decades, Ballard has served as a GM, CEO or president of public- and private-sector transit systems.

The Board was impressed with Ballard’s experience, leadership and ideas, said Chair Angie Rivera-Malpiede. With this selection, the group believes he is well-suited to guide RTD through a period of transition, until a permanent general manager and CEO is named.

“My Board colleagues and I think that Mr. Ballard will skillfully lead us into RTD’s next era while also ensuring that the agency’s employees remain focused on their service to the public,” Rivera-Malpiede said. “On behalf of every Board member, we want to thank the community for its input as part of this process. We look forward to working with him in the months ahead.”

The search for a permanent GM/CEO begins with Board approval tonight to designate up to $200,000 to fund activities associated with an executive search. These activities include the use of an executive search firm, communications outreach associated with the search, and external legal counsel to conduct negotiations for both the interim and permanent general manager and CEO positions. Any funds not spent at the close of the search will be returned to the reserve account from which they came.