SEPTA CEO Richards to step down in late November

Leslie Richards will step down as general manager and CEO of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority on Nov. 29.

She is leaving to expand her role as professor of practice in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design and pursue other opportunities to serve the community, she said in a press release.

During her five-year tenure, Richards has stewarded SEPTA’s continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and its dramatic impact on the agency’s ridership and finances, while also overseeing a redesign of SEPTA’s bus network, introducing the SEPTA Key Advantage system, and working to secure additional public funding for transit amidst the reality of a $240 million projected fiscal-year 2025 operating deficit, SEPTA officials said.

“Leslie has been a dedicated public servant for nearly 20 years, and at SEPTA she has been a true champion for public transit and for our region as a whole,” said SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth Lawrence. “She faced an extraordinary set of challenges over the last five years, and we deeply appreciate her service to the cause of public transit. We wish her well in her future endeavors.”

Lawrence indicated that SEPTA intends to conduct a nationwide search for Richards’ successor. SEPTA Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer will serve as interim general manager until a permanent successor is chosen.