Tampa transit agency chooses Benjamin Limmer as CEO

The Custom of Life

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Agency (HART), which operates public transportation services around Tampa, named Benjamin Limmer as its next CEO.

Limmer has spent the past three years as assistant general manager at Atlanta’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Prior to that, he held transit positions with Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and the City of Atlanta, Valley Metro in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Regional Transit Authority in Cleveland, Ohio. At Valley Metro he was credited with shaping a 60-mile light rail network and a 3-mile streetcar in Tempe.

“Benjamin Limmer will bring the experience this County needs to expand service for our fast-growing area,” HART Board Chair Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller said in a written statement. “Today, we welcome a seasoned transit professional with more than 15 years of experience.”

HART runs the TECO Line Streetcar system, a heritage streetcar transit line that connects the city’s downtown to the historic Ybor City district. A plan to build a light-rail system for the city was shelved in 2017 and replaced by bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

Limmer’s selection comes a month after HART named a new slate of directors.

Limmer, a Michigan native, replaces interim CEO Jeff Seward. Seward took the helm a year ago when Katharine Eagan resigned to became CEO at the Port Authority of Allegheny, which oversees public transportation in Pittsburgh.