He replaces Ray LaHood and will immediately confront safety and funding challenges in a large department that oversees the nation’s highway, transit, aviation and rail networks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate voted 100 to 0 to confirm Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the next U.S. Transportation Secretary, according to several sources including the Charlotte Observer.
Foxx, who replaces Ray LaHood, will immediately confront safety and funding challenges in a large department that oversees the nation’s highway, transit, aviation and rail networks.
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The current chair of the Metropolitan Transit Commission, Foxx successfully led efforts to advance regional transportation initiatives including breaking ground on the streetcar project and a third runway at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and securing $1 billion in funding to extend the LYNX Blue Line to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Foxx received a law degree from New York University’s School of Law as a Root-Tilden Scholar, the University’s prestigious public service scholarship, and earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Davidson College. He is a member of the Mecklenburg County Bar and a graduate of its Leadership Institute.
Prior to joining the DesignLine Corp. as Deputy General Counsel in 2009, Foxx was an attorney at Hunton & Williams law firm. He also served as a law clerk for the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, and staff counsel to the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. For the full story, click here.
The region’s fixed-route system finished out the year with a total of 373.5 million rides. Adding 12.3 million rides over 2024 represents an increase that is equal to the annual transit ridership of Kansas City.
The service is a flexible, reservation-based transit service designed to close the first- and last-mile gaps and connect riders to employment for just $5 per day.
The upgraded system, which went live earlier this month, supports METRO’s METRONow vision to enhance the customer experience, improve service reliability, and strengthen long-term regional mobility.
The agreement provides competitive wages and reflects strong labor-management collaboration, positive working relationships, and a shared commitment to building a world-class transit system for the community, said RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins.
The priorities are outlined in the 2026 Board and CEO Initiatives and Action Plan, which serves as a roadmap to guide the agency’s work throughout the year and ensure continued progress and accountability on voter-approved transportation investments and essential mobility services.