PVTA Selects Sandra Sheehan as New Administrator

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) Advisory Board has selected Sandra E. Sheehan of Hampden, Massachusetts to be the agency’s next administrator.

“The Advisory Board was very impressed with Ms. Sheehan and strongly supported offering her the Administrator position,” said Mayor David Narkewicz of Northampton, chair of the PVTA Advisory Board. “We felt that she has the right mix of transit industry experience, leadership skills, and local knowledge to lead the PVTA as it faces new challenges in the coming years.”

At a special meeting on Tuesday May 2 at the Holyoke Transportation Center, the Advisory Board interviewed Sheehan and two other finalists — Patricia O’Leary, PVTA’s chief financial officer; and Dana Roscoe, a principal planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. Following the interviews, the board chose Sheehan in a near unanimous vote to be the next administrator. She will succeed Mary MacInnes, who retired April 28 and was the PVTA administrator for the past 10 years.

Sheehan is currently the director of grants and contract administration for the Greater Hartford Transit District in Connecticut. Prior to that, she was PVTA’s director of transit and procurement from 1994 to 2007, as well as a Transportation Planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission from 1991 to 1994.

During her interview, Sheehan said she would focus on successfully transitioning PVTA’s Springfield hub to Union Station, which starts June 25, as well as managing the construction of PVTA’s new $55 million bus operations and maintenance facility on Cottage Street in Springfield, due to open in late 2018. She said both efforts are critical to providing better service. “Every passenger should experience excellent service when they ride PVTA,” Sheehan said.

PVTA’s Chief Information Officer, Carolyn Hart-Lucien, will continue to serve as acting administrator until Sheehan assumes her new post, which is expected within four to six weeks.