Affirming reports that it had named Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford its president and chief executive, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board made the move official on July 21.
Ford, who resigned from JTA effective Jan. 8, 2027, was one of three candidates considered for the top public transit job in Dallas. The DART board voted 9-6 on July 14 to name one of the three candidates its next CEO, but did not formally name Ford as its choice until July 21.
While Ford initially announced that he would remain with JTA until early 2027, a DART board member said Ford indicated he could begin work with DART as early as October.
Ford’s selection brought some pushback from DART board members and public speakers as DART’s selection, with some citing “red flags” they felt had come up with Ford’s time at JTA.
Those issues included JTA making up for a planned $17.5 million deficit in the 2026-27 fiscal year by eliminating five bus routes, reducing the frequency of four bus routes and making more cuts while increasing some bus fares. Individuals raised concerns that JTA took those steps while continuing to operate its autonomous Ultimate Urban Circulator vehicles Downtown that drew under 100 riders each day in its initial months.
But a majority of board members said they felt their questions about Ford’s past had been answered, as Ford addressed those issues to the board during its July 21 meeting, which was partly held behind closed doors.
“These so-called red flags are not red flags,” board member Enrique MacGregor said. “I want to say that I am satisfied that every single issue has been addressed… none of them deserve to be called red flags.”
DART’s board chair said he spoke to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, along with JTA board members. Chair Randall Bryant said Deegan told him that “I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him.”
Ford beat out Monica Téllez-Fowler, CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority, and Dee Leggett, former executive vice president and chief development officer at DART, according to NBC DFW, the Dallas-Fort Worth television affiliate station of NBC.
Ford, DART’s history
Ford has been JTA’s CEO for 13 years, and JTA’s board is set to take up discussion about its next CEO at its July 29 meeting.
Téllez-Fowler began working for the Columbus, Ohio-area transportation agency in 2023, according to COTA’s website, and formerly worked as deputy CEO of a transportation authority in Vancouver, Washington.
Leggett was named DART’s executive vice president of growth and regional development in 2022. She left DART in February 2026 for a role with Herzog Transit Services, a private rail operations and maintenance provider, where she serves as director of business operations.
According to news reports in Dallas, former DART CEO Nadine Lee left the authority after suburban cities served by DART challenged the authority’s spending and governance.
Six member cities called elections on whether to remain in the organization, with three canceling their balloting after DART and regional leaders made revenue-sharing and governance concessions. Highland Park voters chose to leave the system, while the other two suburbs voted to remain.
The Dallas Express reported that Lee’s departure also came after it published reports on executive compensation, service cuts and funding disparities.
Among other details, the Express reported that DART paid more than $2.4 million in executive bonuses from 2020 through 2024 while its executive ranks grew from 47 to 74, a 57.5% increase. Base salaries for those executives rose from $8.1 million to $14.6 million during the same period.
DART also carried out its largest service reduction in 40 years amid a projected budget shortfall of about $42 million, the Express reported.
“Whoever ultimately takes the job will lead DART with the agency’s finances, service levels and relationships with its member cities under continued public scrutiny,” the Express reported.
Lee announced in March 2026 that she would not seek an extension of her contract beyond September. DART ended her contract in April after the board and Lee failed to agree on transition and separation terms, the Express reported.
In an interview with Fox 4 news of Dallas-Fort Worth, Lee said the regional conflict was a distraction from DART’s transportation mission.
“But at the broader level, we’ve encountered a lot of political hurdles, and that’s one of the things that has distracted us from our mission, distracted us from moving faster at improving the quality of our services and things like that,” Lee told the news station.
Fox 4 reported that some board members requested more time to vet candidates before the July 14 vote, with member Doug Hrbacek saying “red flag after red flag has been uncovered” about one finalist who “bypassed the process and became a finalist on Friday, July 10.” A motion to delay the July 14 vote failed, 10-5.
Ford and the U2C
Ford will leave JTA as the organization works to build-out its Ultimate Urban Circulator system, known as U2C, a planned network of autonomous vehicles around Jacksonville’s Downtown and urban core.
The first phase of that build-out was the debut of the $65 million Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation system Downtown. JTA plans to continue that project with future phases that would include the rehabilitation of Downtown’s Skyway monorail and the expansion of NAVI vehicles into Brooklyn, Riverside, San Marco and Springfield.
The U2C, if fully developed, would cost more than $400 million and has been a controversial issue in City Hall since NAVI debuted in June 2025. It received opposition and support from both political parties, with support coming from Deegan and opposition from such Council members as Jimmy Peluso, a Democrat, and Rory Diamond, a Republican who is the newly appointed Council JTA liaison for the 2026-27 term.