Stephanie Wiggins appointed as next Metro CEO

Stephanie Wiggins was unanimously approved Thursday to be Metro’s next chief executive officer, making her the first woman to head the agency.

Wiggins, the CEO of Metrolink, will succeed Chief Executive Phil Washington, who announced Feb. 3 that he was stepping down after a six-year tenure that helped build the framework for an ambitious expansion of the local rail network. Wiggins’ position was affirmed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors.

“L.A. County has great mobility needs that we must develop with goals of achieving better health, opportunity and equity for all of the region’s residents, and I look forward to bringing transformative leadership and collaboration with the region’s transportation authorities to make this vision a reality,” Wiggins said in a statement.

Wiggins is expected to assume the new position in May. She will supervise an agency with 11,000 employees, manage a budget of nearly $7 billion and oversee up to $20 billion in capital construction projects, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

At Metrolink, Wiggins manages an annual budget of $793 million and oversees 282 full-time employees, according to the agency’s website.

Before beginning as CEO of Metrolink, one of the country’s largest commuter rail systems that operates across 538 miles of track, in 2018, Wiggins served as deputy chief executive of Metro. In that role, she helped implement projects with resources from Measure M, which raised funds for a hefty transit expansion.

In a statement, Metro Board Chair and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said that Wiggins was the best candidate to lead Metro, which he said was “in the midst of a generational transformation.”

“Stephanie’s career makes her ideally suited to lead this agency at this moment: She’s experienced, determined, committed to equity, and steeped in L.A.’s transportation history,” he said.

City News Service contributed to this report.