The chair of the DART Board reaffirmed his support for the hiring of new Dallas Area Rapid Transit CEO Nathaniel Ford Sr., amid questions surrounding spending practices while he headed up a Florida transit agency.
Before introducing Ford, DART Board Chair Randall Bryant spent the opening nine minutes of an introductory press conference detailing the decision to hire Ford in July, after he stepped away from the Jacksonville Transit Authority earlier this year.
“Most stories published about the JTA’s challenges, our board was made fully aware of and discussed with Mr. Ford in great detail, and for hours, prior to his final approval,” Bryant said.
Ford is named in a criminal investigation of the JTA by the Florida attorney general’s office and has been asked to appear by the Jacksonville City Council in a separate review on how the transit agency found itself in a $39 million deficit that resulted in service cuts and layoffs in recent years.
“It was a collision of multiple storms, both on the revenue side and the expense side for our agency,” Ford said.
The attorney general investigation in Florida surrounds spending, tuition reimbursements and consulting contracts, including with a firm that employs Ford’s wife and has consulted with DART on the Silver Line project, which opened in 2025.
“It feels uncomfortable, but in the end, I think it will clearly show that we were good public servants, who made good positive decisions for our community and for our employees,” Ford said.
A divided DART Board approved his hiring on a 9-6 vote in July.
Ford inherits a transit system that recently saw three member cities hold pull out elections, citing dissatisfaction with service and governance.
Highland Park voters elected to leave the transit agency in May, leaving DART with 12 member cities.
At his introductory press conference on Monday, which coincided with his first full day as DART president and CEO, Ford added he looks forward to improving the relationships with the 12-member cities and increasing safety across buses and light rail.
“I think our riders will also eventually know who I am, and when we get it right, we will talk about it, we will advocate for even more support,” Ford said. “And when we get it wrong, we’ll take input from the public on how we can improve our operations.”
