The  executive director of the Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA) in Lancaster, PA, will oversee the Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA) in Reading, PA, following the Sept. 5 death of BARTA Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Louwerse.

Under this agreement, RRTA Executive Director David W. Kilmer will run both systems for at least six months while the two agencies continue separate operations.

“I knew Dennis Louwerse for over 30 years; we worked on a lot of projects together,” Kilmer said. “In fact, I helped hire a lot of the agency’s current employees, so they know me and I know them. That’s an important reason I agreed to do this.”

Kilmer explained that the arrangement will allow the BARTA Board of Directors a chance to plan for the future after the untimely death of Louwerse. “The board didn’t want to make a hasty decision regarding a new chief executive,” he said. “This will give the system some time to decide what direction it wants to go in.”

Janet Weiss, BARTA manager of programs and marketing, added: “We all know our jobs here. The BARTA staff is fully aware of what we need to do on a day-to-day basis. Dave Kilmer will be more of an advisor if something out of the ordinary comes up.”

Both Kilmer and Weiss noted that PennDOT is watching the joint operation of the two agencies with interest because the state agency has proposed regional consolidation of public transit systems as a means of reducing costs.