The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman/CEO Joseph J. Lhota is submitting a letter of resignation from his positions to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, effective at the end of the day on Dec. 31, 2012.

Gov. Cuomo announced the nomination of Lhota in October 2011. Lhota assumed the position of executive director in November 2011 and was confirmed as chairman/CEO by the New York State Senate in January 2012.

The MTA board voted to name board member Fernando Ferrer as vice chairman, succeeding Andrew Saul. When Lhota’s resignation takes effect, Ferrer will serve as acting chairman of the MTA board until a successor is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. In 2005, Ferrer became the first Latino to win the Democratic Party nomination for New York City Mayor. He will become the first Latino to chair the MTA board.

Thomas Prendergast, the president of MTA New York City Transit, which operates the MTA’s subway and bus systems, will serve as interim executive director of the MTA when Lhota’s resignation takes effect.

Prendergast is a veteran of more than 30 years in the transportation industry, beginning his career at the Chicago Transit Authority. He served at the Federal Transit Administration before joining NYCT in 1982, where he rose through the ranks to run the subway system from 1990 to 1994. He served from 1994 to 2000 as president of the MTA Long Island Rail Road and returned to the MTA and NYCT in 2009.