Brad Miller, the first general manager of the nearly five-year-old Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) in Des Moines, IA, is joining the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority in St. Petersburg, FL, as its new chief executive officer, effective July 5.

Miller came to Des Moines in July 2006 just as DART, the state’s first regional transit authority, was created out of the former Metropolitan Transit Agency. He has overseen a staff of more than 250 employees, a fleet of more than 150 buses, and approximately 100 vanpools. PSTA operates 205 buses on 37 routes and provided more than 13.1 million passenger trips in 2010, about three times DART’s annual bus ridership.

Prior to serving in Des Moines, Miller was assistant chief operating officer with the Charlotte Area Transit System in Charlotte, NC, for six years, managing all service operations, development, and planning for the LYNX light rail line.

Miller is a 1999 graduate of Leadership APTA and an at-large director on the APTA Board of Directors. He also serves as secretary of the APTA Bus and Paratransit CEOs Committee and a member of the Bus Operations Committee; Bus Safety Committee; Commuter Rail Committee; Legislative Committee; and Mid-Size Operations Committee.