iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority will soon have a new board chair who is an Indian American.
Sanjay Ramabhadran, who sat on the board since 2015, was appointed chair by Mayor Sylvester Turner. He will replace Carrin Patman, who oversaw the first installments of the agency’s ambitious $3.5 billion METRONext plan.
Rambhadran, 51, is the first Indian American to lead a public agency. He a registered engineer and a graduate of BITS Pilani and later Texas A&M University has served on the METRO Board since 2015 and currently serves as the Chair of the Capital & Strategic Planning Committee, a member of the Finance & Audit Committee.
Ramabhadran’s vision for Houston and Metro is a dream for those who want a multimodal Bayou City.
“Every person who uses Metro … is one less car on the street or highway,” Ramabhadran said during a press conference Thursday February. 17
“We often talk about education as the escalator for socioeconomic mobility,” he said. “Metro is in the business of multiple modes of mobility, including socioeconomic mobility. I would argue that transportation is a close second to education because you’ve got to be able to get to those education opportunities and job opportunities.”
Sanjay “Ram” Ramabhadran, a public engineer by trade, has been a part of the conversation in Houston for some time.
He is the founding principal at VERSA Infrastructure, a Houston-based consulting, design and construction company that focuses on transportation, aviation and flood protection as well as water and wastewater utilities. He also chaired and presided over the Texas Lyceum, a prestigious leadership association.
On top of the projects included in METRONext, which include expansion of light rail, a new record-breaking bus rapid transit line and several upgrades to routes and bus stops, Ramabhadran has his sights set on another critical service offered by the agency.
“We reimagined our bus network in 2015,” Ramabhadran said at the press conference. “Now, it’s time to reimagine our park and rides and transform them from concrete parking lots to destinations, mixed-use developments where you can have affordable housing, shopping centers right next to transit.”
“This is the future of Houston, where every Houstonian will have the ability to choose to walk, bike, roll, drive or, our preferred choice, be driven by Metro to their destinations,” Ramabhadran said. “That is the future we aspire for.”
Rambhadran, who is also a longtime community leader, past president of Indo-American Chamber of Greater Houston (IACCGH), if elevated, would be the first Indian-American chairman of METRO, and replace Patman, the board’s first female head, who is stepping down following her nomination by the Biden Administration to serve as ambassador to Iceland.
Mayor Turner said he hoped his appointment of both showcased the need for more diversity.
The transit agency, METRO, with an annual budget of USD 1.3 Billion, 4,100 employees, and a 1,300-square-mile service area containing 3.9 million people, has had Black and Latino chairs, along with numerous white men.
Metro has been through a series of firsts when it comes to leadership in recent years. Patman was tabbed as the agency’s first woman leader, and Turner’s appointment of Ramabhadran marks the first Indo-American at the helm.
Turner said this represents the importance of Houston’s diversity.
“There is incredible talent in our city,” the mayor said during a press conference Thursday. “That gives me hope that no matter what challenges we face, we will overcome those challenges if we work together.”
