The Regional Transportation District (RTD) Board of Directors has named three finalists in a statement late Tuesday, in their search for the district’s new general manager and CEO. 

The three finalists are Stephanie Dawson, Dave Genova and Richard Leary.

RTD provided the below information on each candidate in Tuesday’s statement:

Dawson is the acting chief operating officer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She joined the Port Authority in 1995. Her current responsibilities include overseeing aviation, tunnels, bridges, terminals, port commerce, PATH Rail, operations services and the newly created office of storm mitigation and resilience.

Genova is the current interim general manager and CEO for RTD. He has been with RTD for more than 21 years, serving as the assistant general manager of safety, security and facilities for the past eight years. In that position, his responsibilities included overseeing safety certification for rail line openings and the renovated Denver Union Station.

Leary is the chief service officer for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the third largest urban mass transit system in North America. His responsibilities include the day-to-day revenue operations, customer services and safety at the TTC.  Prior to joining the TTC, he was the chief operating officer for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

“This is a critical time in the history of RTD, so we are pleased to have such strong finalists,” board chairman Charles Sisk said. “We have searched across the world to find the most qualified candidates to ensure RTD continues to be the best transit agency in the nation.”

RTD will host a public open forum with the finalists from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10, at the Embassy Suites Denver Convention Center, 1420 Stout Street.  Attendees will be asked to provide feedback in writing on each finalist following the forum. Comments also may be submitted online at www.rtd-denver.com/gminput.

The RTD Board will interview the finalists on Friday and is expected to appoint a full-time general manager by the end of year.

Phil Washington served as RTD’s General Manager for 6 years. It was announced in March that he had accepted a position with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority – also known as LA Metro.

Exterior view of the RTD Commuter Rail Car at Denver’s Union Station.

Multiple RTD rail lines are expected to open in the near future. The commuter rail line that connects Denver’s Union Station to Denver International Airport has been announced to begin service on April 22, 2016.

The G Line, a commuter rail line that will run between Denver’s Union Station through Arvada to Wheat Ridge is expected to begin service in 2016.

Also slated to begin service in 2016 is the R Line, a 10.5 mile light rail line that will run along I-225 in Aurora.

The N Line, a commuter rail line that will provide service from Denver’s Union Station to the metro area’s northern suburbs began construction in 2015. This phase of construction will take the line as far north as 124th Avenue in Thornton. Future plans for the line have it extending an additional 5.5 miles to the north to North Thornton Highway 7.