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Yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Joseph Lhota as chairman and chief executive officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA); Nuria Fernandez as chief operating officer of MTA; and Karen Rae as deputy secretary of transportation in the governor’s office.

Since March 2009, Rae has served as deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), where she has managed the federal high-speed rail initiative, safety programs and regulatory initiatives, and helped develop national freight- and passenger-rail policies. She previously served as deputy commissioner of policy and planning at the New York State Department of Transportation.

Lhota served as the New York City deputy mayor for operations under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, where he oversaw day-to-day management of the city and city agencies. He also served as budget director and commissioner of finance for New York City, and has been an MTA board member.

Fernandez currently is senior vice president of CH2M Hill, where she has been responsible for building the engineering firm’s strategic planning and consulting practice focused on urban environments, and developing sustainable solutions for large-scale, mixed–use urban communities.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Port Authority board unanimously elected Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davey to head the seven-member board, which oversees the port. By statute, the transportation secretary serves as an ex officio member.