Eight weeks after coming aboard as Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s CEO, Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. announced an extensive overhaul of the transit agency’s organizational structure.

In the JTA’s new organizational chart, a chief of staff and five VPs will report directly to the CEO. The VP positions will include Long-range Planning and System Development, Transit Operations, Finance and Administration, External Affairs, and Compliance and Risk Management.

“Our new structure will allow for quicker decision-making, and has clearer lines of responsibility and accountability,” Ford said. “This flatter and more efficient organization will allow us all to better serve our customers and build the kind of world-class transit agency that Jacksonville and Northeast Florida deserve.”

Ford noted that he spent the past two months meeting with dozens of stakeholders including past and present JTA board members, staff, customers, elected officials, consultants, vendors and many others to better understand JTA’s history and culture.

“Those meetings led me believe that we as an organization needed to focus our efforts on improving and enhancing four primary areas of our business: delivery of service, internal and external communications, accountability and financial management,” Ford said. “This new organizational alignment and an energized culture of leadership will allow us to effectively address these areas.”

As part of the restructuring, the new VP positions will be advertised both locally and nationally. JTA will begin interviewing for the posts in February and the agency-wide restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of April.