Philip R. Hale
TAMPA, FL—Philip R. Hale, chief executive officer of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority since 2011, has announced his plans to step down effective May 2.

Hale joined the agency in 2008 as chief of maintenance and facilities. For APTA, he serves on the Bus and Paratransit CEOs, Bus Operations, Bus Technical Maintenance, Legislative, and Mid-Size Operations committees and the Rail Transit CEOs Subcommittee.

Chin Lai
WASHINGTON, DC—Chin Lai has joined the Washington office of Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) as a senior project controls manager.

Lai has almost 30 years of program management experience with major capital improvement and infrastructure rehabilitation projects. Prior to joining PB, he was a director with responsibility for construction management services at a Maryland consulting firm. Previously, he served as manager of project controls and manager of project finance at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Joel Keller, Thomas Blalock
OAKLAND, CA—Joel Keller has been elected president of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Board of Directors. This is his third term as board president since he was first elected to the board in 1994.

Keller retired as a probation manager for Contra Costa County in 2003 and as a chief deputy probation officer for Solano County in 2008. He eas elected mayor of Antioch, CA, in 1984 and re-elected in 1988 and 1992.

Thomas Blalock, a BART board member since 1994, was elected board vice president. He also served as vice president in 1999 and president in 2000 and 2008-2009.

Takis Salpeas, Steven A. LaRocco
PASADENA, CA—Parsons announced the promotions of Takis Salpeas as global rail & transit systems director and Steven A. LaRocco to Salpeas’ previous position, senior vice president and rail & transit systems division manager.

Salpeas joined the firm in 2006 after working in senior management for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, and Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. He has more than 30 years of infrastructure experience in both the public and private sectors.

LaRocco, a Parsons employee since 1995, has more than 35 years of experience managing major rail transit projects. Before joining the company, he worked for MTA Long Island Rail Road in positions of increasing responsibility over 23 years.

Mike Suarez, Steve Polzin, Eddie Vance
TAMPA, FL—The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) board elected Tampa City Councilman Mike Suarez as its chair for 2014. Steve Polzin was re-elected vice chairman and Temple Terrace Councilman Eddie Vance was elected secretary.

Suarez has been a HART board member since April 2011 and served as board secretary since 2012.

Steve Whaley, Joe Rudolph, Don Manfredi, Derek Whaley, Phillip Mailey
LIVONIA, MI--ROUSH Clean Tech announced the hiring of five business development executives.

Steve Whaley has a background in launching new technologies. He spent the past seven years coordinating turnkey alternative fuel solutions for vehicle technology, refueling infrastructure, and competitive fuel pricing for private and public fleets.

Joe Rudolph integrated a propane autogas program for Indiana DOT before joining ROUSH, where he will concentrate on fleet analysis and sales in the telecommunications and transit industries.

Don Manfredi has spent 20 years in automotive manufacturing in positions including global business development, operations management, application engineering, and sales.

Derek Whaley has experience in the propane autogas field from previous employment at two propane distribution companies. He will focus on the public sector, including school districts and municipalities.

Phillip Mailey has nine years of commercial fleet sales expertise. Formerly with General Motors, he has worked in the automotive field for three decades.

Shawn Nelson, Jeffrey Lalloway, Tom Tait
ORANGE, CA—The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors selected Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson as its new chairman, succeeding Greg Winterbottom. Nelson previously served as vice chairman.

Nelson, a board member since 2010, is an attorney with more than a decade of political experience since being elected to the Fullerton City Council in 2002. He served as mayor of Fullerton in 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. He was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2010 and currently serves as its chairman.

Succeeding Nelson as vice chairman is Jeffrey Lalloway, a member of the Irvine City Council. He joined the OCTA board in January 2013.

Also joining the board is Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait, a member of the Anaheim City Council since November 2010 and previously from 1995-2004.

Colin Skipper
DENVER, CA—CH2M HILL has named Colin Skipper vice president and global oil and gas market sector leader within the firm’s Ports & Maritime Group, based in Swindon, UK.

Skipper has more than 25 years of experience in the planning and execution of engineering and environmental studies in support of major oil and gas, power, and petrochemical projects worldwide.