New WRTA Leader: CT Transit Official Hired As Administrator

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester Regional Transit Authority will soon have a new leader as administrator Dennis Lipka prepares to retire this year.

The WRTA board on Friday selected CT Transit official Joshua Rickman to take over for Lipka. Rickman is CT Transit's assistant general manager of planning and marketing, and was previously a planning and operations manager in the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority system in the Springfield area.

Rickman was one of three finalists for the job. Susan Barrett, the transportation manager in Lexington's Transportation Services Department and Michael Blondin, the general manager of Brockton Area Transit, were the other two.

Rickman told the WRTA board during a Friday interview that he'll rely on input from the public and community leaders to guide the region's bus system.

CT Transit is a state-run bus system that provides local bus service in cities like Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury, but also operates regional services like the CTfastrak bus rapid transit route between Waterbury and Hartford and an express shuttle between Stamford and White Plains, N.Y.

Rickman is the first new leader hired by the WRTA board in years. In August 2018, former administrator Jonathan Church resigned. Lipka took over as an interim leader while the board searched for a new administrator. The board offered the job to Vermont transit official Jim Moulton, but he withdrew from the process. Lipka was then offered a one-year contract in March 2019. Lipka's contract ended June 30, but he will stay on for the next several months to work alongside Rickman.