The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) is pleased to announce Frank White III, as the new interim President and CEO. White will be transitioning out of his role of Vice President of the RideKC Development Corporation (RKCDC), an organization he helped create to facilitate transportation-oriented development along the region’s transportation corridors. The 10-member KCATA Board of Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of White.
“Frank is the ideal choice,” says Melissa Bynum, Chair of the KCATA Board of Commissioners. “To say he has earned this role is an understatement. He’s led ridership growth, created new partnerships, driven workforce development, advised public policy, developed new transit programs – the list is long. Now he gets to put it all together for the entire agency.”
Frank was hired at KCATA in 2016 as a Senior Marketing Manager and quickly ascended the ranks of the agency, including roles of Chief Marketing Officer, Director of Strategic Planning and Development, and Vice President of RideKC Development Corporation. Across these roles, White led the agency to award winning work in both marketing and diversity. He accelerated expanded service offerings, including micro transit options.
“I’m excited about this opportunity, but this really isn’t about me,” says White. “We serve the public and our role in their lives is critical, they depend on us and we must deliver on our promises. That’s my immediate top priority. Going forward, I’m committed to rebuilding relationships and restoring the funding necessary to serve our 32,000 daily riders.”
Throughout White’s career at KCATA, he has worked to add transparency to operations, as well as a deeper integration of data and analytics. He has sought out and engaged experts in mobility, land use, transit data and economic activity in order to drive innovation across the agency. At RKCDC, White has been instrumental in engaging the community and building relationships to create a transportation-oriented development model that fits the region’s unique needs.
In July, KCATA RideKC was named the top public transit agency in North America for midsize agencies, earning the prestigious 2022 American Public Transportation Association Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award. “In my six years at the KCATA, I’ve had the honor of working with some of the most dedicated and hardest working people in our industry,” said White in response to the award. “This recognition is a testament of our commitment to being customer-focused and connecting people to opportunity. I’ve been blessed and fortunate to play a small part at the Authority. For that, I am grateful.”