Stephen K. Ernst Joins Rockford Mass Transit District Board

The Rockford Mass Transit District is pleased to announce that Stephen K. Ernst has been appointed to a four year term on the RMTD Board of Trustees. Ernst will be replacing Michael Wilcop, who has served on the RMTD Board for 23 years. In accordance with the 1971 Illinois Downstate Transportation Act, RMTD Board Trustees are appointed by the Mayor of the community served and approved by the community’s governing body. Ernst was appointed by Mayor Larry Morrissey and approved by the Rockford City Council on March 7, 2016. His term will begin effective March 25, 2016.

Ernst is uniquely qualified for this position as he most recently served as the executive director for RMAP, (the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning), the organization responsible for all of the Federal transit planning for the region. As head of the MPO, Ernst guided his RMAP staff in coordinating the planning and execution of all forms of transportation in the Northern Illinois, including transit, highway, rail, bicycle and pedestrian, insuring that all transportation stakeholders worked together toward the overall cohesive transportation vision. Ernst served as Executive Director for RMAP for 6 years. 

Prior to serving as the RMAP executive director, Ernst had a long and successful career with the City of Rockford. Starting out as transportation planner in 1979 and advancing to assistant traffic engineer in 1984, his most recent position prior to joining RMAP in 2008 was as the City of Rockford Traffic Engineer. These positions within the City of Rockford Public Works Department have given Steve an in-depth knowledge of the City’s financial system including budgets, accounts receivables and basic municipal financial planning. 

Ernst also played a lead role in and is a regional advocate for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). He also had a lead role in NICTI, the Northern Illinois Commuter Transportation Initiative. Currently he is on the Transportation Spoke Team for Transform Rockford where he authored 3 of the 5 strategies submitted by this team. One of the 3 transportation strategies authored by Ernst captures the belief and commitment our community needs to adopt to bring public transportation into the forefront in the Rockford region. “If regions want to grow, they need to create communities that are attractive to young, diverse and educated populations. New opportunities for living and working in the urban core need to be the focus and transportation options need to include a robust transit system.”