LA Metro CEO Names Therese McMillan as Metro's New Planning Chief

McMillan currently manages a staff of over 500 at the U.S. Department of Transportation, including staff in Washington D.C. and ten regional offices. She provides executive direction for all functions within the FTA and oversees an annual budget of more than $10 billion in federal formula and competitive grant funds for nearly 1,000 transit agencies and state DOTs across the country. McMillan joined the FTA staff in 2009 as Deputy Administrator..

“We are looking forward to having Therese join the Metro team and return to her home town where she will provide great value as we position LA County for its transportation renaissance,” said Metro CEO Phillip Washington. “She is a leader in transportation policy, a community and coalition builder, and knows how to translate strategic planning into implementation.”

During her years at FTA, McMillan has led reform in transit safety, capital planning and oversight, civil rights, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs, and efforts related to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Before her career at FTA, McMillan was deputy executive director of policy at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission serving 7.5 million people in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. During that period, she was an instructor in transportation funding and finance at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University.

“I am thrilled to join the LA Metro team and to return home to LA County,” said McMillan. “I look forward to helping the people of Los Angeles County travel and thrive in this dynamic region.” 

Among her professional accomplishments are serving as an Advisory Board Member for the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and serving as president of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) of San Francisco in 1989 and 1990. She was also awarded Member of the Year and Woman of the Year in the WTS San Francisco Chapter, and Woman of the Year for the WTS chapters of Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. McMillan was awarded the UC Berkley College of Environmental Design Distinguished Alumna Award in 2011, and has also served on several committees of the Transportation Research Board.

McMillan holds Master’s degrees in City and Regional Planning, and Civil Engineering Science from the University of California, Berkley, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning at the University of California, Davis. She also attended high school at St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, near the Crenshaw/LAX Line currently under construction.

Metro’s search for a new chief planning officer came after the departure of previous planning chief Martha Welborne.