Gold Coast Transit District general manager announces retirement after 43-year career

Steven Brown, the general manager of the Gold Coast Transit District (GCTD), will retire as head of the largest public transit agency in Ventura County, when his contract expires at the end of December 2021. 

Brown joined GCTD in 2006 as the director of planning and marketing and has served as general manager since 2010, where he leads an agency of more than 200 employees with a $31-million annual budget. 

"As an organization, Gold Coast Transit District is heading in the right direction," Brown said. "In the last 10 years, we have transitioned the agency into a special district, completed the construction of the new state-of-the-art operations and maintenance facility, launched innovative services and new routes and have weathered the storm of the pandemic to provide safe and efficient transit services to the communities we serve.” 

Brown departs GCTD after an extensive career in public transit, holding previous roles including deputy public transit director for the city of Phoenix; manager of Bus System Improvement Planning for L.A. Metro; running his own transportation consulting firm; and was the director of planning and marketing for Phoenix Transit.  

"We are grateful for Steve Brown's leadership during the past 15 years," said GCTD Board Chair and Ojai Councilmember Randy Haney. "He has provided us with steady leadership and has set the agency up for a successful future, with a new facility and a dedicated staff who are ready to keep moving the agency forward.” 

Under Brown’s leadership, GCTD earned the “Small Agency of the Year” award in 2014 by the California Transit Association, after transitioning the organization from a Joint Powers Authority into a Special Transit District. This effort enabled the district member jurisdictions to efficiently use their locally generated Transportation Development Act funds to provide a seamless transit system in Western Ventura County dedicated to high quality public transit.  

The district has since launched several new bus routes, along with innovative on-demand services such as Late Night Safe Rides and completed one of the largest transit infrastructure projects in Ventura County’s history, the 15-acre operations and maintenance facility, which opened in 2019. 

Brown will continue to serve through the end of December 2021 when his current contract expires. In the coming weeks, the board will work to initiate a recruitment process. Brown has committed to working with the board on a transition plan to ensure a smooth hand off to the next leader.