Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has named Jesse Oliver as deputy executive director and Carol Wise as executive vice president, chief operating officer. DART Senior Vice Presidents David Leininger and Timothy McKay were promoted to executive vice president.
Oliver, who reports to President/Executive Director Gary Thomas, has a diverse background with experience in labor and employment matters, legislative processes, legal expertise and transit development. A former Texas legislator, Oliver co-sponsored the legislation that created DART. He was later appointed by the city of Dallas to the DART board and served for 10 years as a member and chairman. Oliver received his law degree from The University of Texas at Austin and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in management from Dallas Baptist University.
Wise, most recently with New Jersey Transit Authority, has also worked at transit agencies in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Ohio. She has broad transit experience managing bus operations, revenue equipment systems, vehicle maintenance, engineering, security, mobility services and planning. In her new role at DART, Wise will lead bus, light rail, maintenance, mobility management, DART Police and materials management. She earned her degrees from the University of Pittsburgh including a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Affairs and a Masters of Public Administration.
David Leininger, DART’s chief financial officer, has added responsibility for Procurement, Information Technology, Risk Management and Marketing/Communications. Leininger came to DART in 2008. He previously served the city of Irving as chief financial officer and managing director of Development Services and Economic Initiatives. Early in his career he was budget director and later director of Economic Development for the city of Dallas and finance director for the city of Garland. For over 25 years he was a private sector executive in a variety of firms serving the real estate and hospitality industries, including Economics Research Associates, Club Corp International, Triland International, Touche Ross & Co. and the Las Colinas Association. Leininger received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from St. Benedict’s College, in Kansas, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.
Timothy McKay, previously senior vice president, Rail Program Development, will assume responsibilities of the executive vice president, Growth and Regional Development and will add Service Planning as well as a new unit designed to address Innovative Services. He worked at Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. before coming to DART in 2001 as assistant vice president, Project Management. McKay is a graduate of Michigan Technological University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
DART’s Newby named VP
Tim Newby, previously the agency’s assistant vice president of Bus Operations, is now vice president, Transportation. He has overall responsibility for DART’s bus and light rail operations. He was chief operations officer and assistant general manager of Development at Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin. He joined DART as assistant vice president of Service Planning and Scheduling in 1997 and moved to Bus Operations in 2006.
Newby received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drury College in Springfield, Mo., and a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
