Harris starts job as new WRTA executive director

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Western Reserve Transit Authority’s new executive director joins with decades of transportation experience.

Akron-area transplant Dean Harris started the role Wednesday and shook hands with area officials and authority partners during a meet-and-greet Thursday at the authority’s Mahoning Avenue board offices.

Harris said he started his career as an accountant with the Akron Metropolitan Regional Transit Authority in 1989 and later did a 20-year turn as the authority’s treasurer and, at times, acting executive director.

James Ferraro, who served as executive director since 1984 – and has worked with the authority since the 1970s – retired in April. Harris, 53, said he had considered retirement before the WRTA job became available.

Harris said he’ll look to shift the authority’s focus toward the region, using WRTA’s membership in the NEORide regional partnership to make inter-county connections and flex buying power. He said he also would like the authority to develop partnerships with area schools to establish a broader ridership base.

“The idea is if you start with them younger and get them on the bus, it’s easier for them to keep using the bus as they get older. ... That’s the long-term goal,” Harris said.

The authority is also preparing to roll out a mobile app that will allow riders to buy and redeem tickets using their phone. The app is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2019, he said.

“Jim having been on the scene for so long, it’s a fairly big deal that we’ve got someone new who has a great deal of experience,” WRTA spokesperson Mike McKay said Thursday.

“I can’t speak for [Harris] in terms of what he has as a vision for the future ... but we’re glad to have someone with his experience on board here.”