Ronnie Hakim, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) interim executive director, has named Darryl C. Irick acting president of MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), responsible for overseeing the MTA agency that operates subways, buses, and paratransit services.
Irick, who joined the MTA in 1986 as a bus operator at the Kingsbridge Depot in Manhattan, has moved to progressively senior positions in operations and planning. Since 2011, he has been serving as NYCT senior vice president department of buses and president of MTA Bus Company. His father also was a NYCT bus operator and maintainer.
“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 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.
He currently oversees the installation and testing of pedestrian turn warning and collision avoidance systems. Under his leadership, his team devised new approaches to winter storm response, creating an Incident Command Center that resulted in a coordinated and efficient delivery of service and customer information during inclement weather.
Irick will serve as acting NYCT president while Hakim, president of NYCT since 2015, serves as interim MTA executive director. A nationwide search is underway for a permanent MTA chairperson and chief executive officer.
“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.
Current MTA Vice-Chairman Fernando Ferrer will serve as acting Board Chairman, following the retirement of MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast. A seven-member committee is tasked with finding and recommending to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo candidates for a permanent MTA chairperson and chief executive officer.