Tom Fox, deputy general manager of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) has accepted the position of director of transit for Blacksburg, Virginia. He began his 25 year career at MATA as manager of planning and worked his way up through the organization in various administrative capacities. His experience includes capital planning, project management, budgeting, and administrative and operations.
Prior to joining MATA, Fox worked in the Memphis headquarters of Harland Bartholomew & Associates, a well-respected national planning and engineering consulting firm. He participated in numerous transportation planning studies for cities throughout the United States and worked on military master plans for installations throughout the world.
Fox began his career in New Orleans, first with the Regional Planning Commission (the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the New Orleans area), and later with N-Y Associates, Inc. a consulting firm in suburban New Orleans.
He holds a Ph.D. in Transportation Policy from Vanderbilt University and has taught Transportation Planning to students of city and regional planning and engineering as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis for over 20 years.
“We’re excited to have Tom Fox join us as the Director of Blacksburg Transit,” said Deputy Town Manager Steve Ross. “Tom brings a wealth of knowledge to the organization as BT enters a great time of anticipated change including planned university growth and the completion of a new Multi-Modal Transit Facility.”
As Director of Blacksburg Transit, Fox will be responsible for managing a public transportation system that provides 3.7 million trips per year to a diverse customer base in the New River Valley through a variety of services. These targeted services include regular fixed route, senior based transportation, commuter shuttles, ADA paratransit, routes that serve low to moderate income citizens and connector services to regional transportation providers.
“I am very excited about leading the team at BT and helping make a great transit system even better,” said Fox. The support for public transportation by the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech, and other partners is quite impressive. My wife and I are also looking forward to enjoying the many amenities that the Blacksburg community offers.”
Fox will begin his work with Blacksburg Transit on Nov. 2.
