People news from the FTA, Trinity Metro, RTD-Denver and Urban Engineers (Aug. 4)

On Aug. 2, the U.S. Senate confirmed Marcus Molinaro as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). He becomes federal agency's 16th administrator. A lifelong New Yorker, Molinaro most recently served as the U.S. representative for New York’s 19th congressional district. He was a member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. Molinaro previously was the mayor of Tivoli in 1995 — the youngest mayor in nation at the time — and served four terms in the Dutchess County legislature. He also served stints in the New York State Assembly, New York State Association of Counties and New York State County Executives Association. Tariq Bokhari, who had served as the FTA’s acting administrator, now transitions to the role of deputy administrator. 

Last week, Trinity Metro named Reed Lanham chief operating officer. He has held a variety of leadership roles since joining the transit agency in 2015, most recently as vice president of rail. Under Lanham’s leadership, Trinity Metro TEXRail has experienced a 12% to 13% annual growth rate and rebounded most quickly after the pandemic among all commuter-rail systems in the nation, Trinity Metro officials said in a press release. He also played key roles in the start-up of TEXRail, led the implementation of regional positive train control and partnered with Dallas Area Rapid Transit on the development of Trinity Railway Express. 

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) in Denver recently promoted Brett Feddersen to the transit agency’s first-ever chief information and technology officer role. He had been serving as acting senior manager of information technology (IT). Feddersen has over 20 years of experience in IT strategy and operational management and joined RTD in 2015 as manager of shared technical services. He previously served the city of Boulder, Colorado, as assistant director of application services. 

Engineering firm Urban Engineers Inc. recently named James Bilella interim CEO and Christopher Bobrowski interim chief financial officer. Bilella and Bobrowski have served the firm for more than 30 years and six years, respectively. Bilella most recently was vice president and market leader for rail and transit. Bobrowski joined Urban Engineers in 2019 and has helped strengthen the firm’s financial systems and controls.