Frank White III, son of Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr., was named permanent chief executive officer of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, a job he had held on an interim basis since August.
Previously, he was a vice president of RideKC Development Corp., a 501(c)(3) organization overseen by the organization. White joined KCATA as chief marketing officer in late 2016. After a year in that role, he became the organization’s director of business development for two years.
In a September interview about his priorities as interim CEO, White said he wants to hire more drivers, which would improve bus service.
“Frankly, I don’t think we took care of them like we should have, with respect and (defense) and value,” he said at the time. “People are going to walk through a brick wall if they think you care, and so we need to make it clear to them that we know that if they don’t eat, we don’t eat.”
According to the release, he has now overseen the hiring of 100 new operators. Since he took over on an interim basis, White has prioritized transparency and a new emphasis on data and analytics, he added in the statement.
Read more in the Kansas City Business Journal.
