Interim MTA Executive Director Ronnie Hakim has named Darryl C. Irick Acting President of MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) as a nationwide search is underway for a permanent MTA Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer.

During the temporary post, Irick, the current NYCT Senior Vice President Department of Buses and President of MTA Bus Company, will oversee the MTA agency that operates subways, buses, and paratransit services. He will serve as Acting NYCT President while Ms. Hakim, the President of NYCT since 2015, serves as Interim MTA Executive Director.

Current MTA Vice-Chairman Fernando Ferrer will serve as Interim Board Chairman.  MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast retired yesterday after 25 years at the MTA.  A 7-member committee is tasked with finding and recommending candidates for a permanent MTA Chairperson and CEO to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

“I rely daily on Darryl for his judgment, advice and incredible depth of knowledge and I know with Darryl leading Transit, I can focus on the broad mission at hand assuring the entire MTA network provides the service our customers deserve while we search for a permanent Chairperson,” Hakim said.

Irick joined the MTA in 1986 as a bus operator at the Kingsbridge Depot in Manhattan, moving to progressively senior positions in operations and planning.  His father also was a NYCT bus operator and maintainer. Irick was named NYCT Senior Vice President of Buses and President of MTA Bus Company in 2011.

Irick views the delivery of services as a business model and has overseen improvements such as Select Bus Service, security cameras on buses and the rollout of MTA Bus Time and GPS tracking, which provides real-time bus location information.

As part of the MTA’s ongoing commitment to improving safety across all agencies Irick is currently overseeing the installation and testing of pedestrian turn warning and collision avoidance systems and under his leadership, his team devised new approaches to winter storm response with the creation of an Incident Command Center resulting in a much improved, coordinated and efficient delivery of service and customer information during inclement weather.

“It is a great honor to be asked to lead New York City Transit, an agency that has been part of my family and my life for as long as I can remember. I look forward to working with my colleagues at Transit to face the challenges ahead as we work together to provide our customers with safe, reliable service,” Irick said.