NAN Celebrates Living Black History, Honoring Phillip Washington

Every day during Black History Month, we will honor chapter leaders, advocates, and partners who are shaping Black History now.

(February 25th, 2021) — Today we honor Phillip Washington.

President Joe Biden has named L.A. Metro CEO Phillip Washington as the Team Lead for the transition’s Agency Review Team in charge of the Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), and the Federal Maritime Commission.

In 2015, Washington was unanimously selected CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) by the Metro Board of Directors on March 12, 2015. He was recruited to Metro while heading the Denver Regional Transportation District. At Metro he has been a steady hand at the helm of Metro’s growth into a seven billion dollar per year transportation agency serving the most populous county in the United States. Washington initially managed the passage of the agency’s 2016 Measure M sales tax.

He oversees Metro’s ambitious construction portfolio, which includes numerous multi-billion-dollar rail and highway projects. Southern California livability advocates have praised Washington for expanding rail transit, championing generational investment in infrastructure, advancing affordable transit-oriented development, and fostering equity.