ARMIJO NAMED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF HART

August 24, 2007 – Tampa, Florida – As transportation takes center stage this week with the first meeting of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, HART also begins a brand new era today with the hiring of Mr. David Armijo as the agency’s Chief Executive Officer.

HART’s Board of Directors met today to approve Mr. Armijo’s contract.

Mr. Armijo has 25 years of experience in the transportation industry. He comes to HART after serving as Chief Toll Operations Officer for the Transportation Corridors Agency in Orange County, California. Before that, he served as General Manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, overseeing transit services for the county’s Westside and Central Los Angeles area.

He was also Director of Operations at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), where he managed the Authority’s bus, paratansit, and commuter rail services, and the county’s taxi administration program. Earlier in his career, Mr. Armijo worked in transit in El Paso, San Antonio, and Dallas, Texas, and in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While in Santa Fe, Mr. Armijo was the Director of Transit and Aviation, and oversaw the start-up of a new transit service operation in New Mexico’s capital city.

Active in the community, Mr. Armijo has served on several non-profit community service boards, including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Ana Empowerment Zone Board, and the Women’s Transportation Seminar. Mr. Armijo holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from California State University, and taught at CSU - Long Beach. The university recognized his achievements by awarding him with the 2001 Graduate Student of the Year award and, in 2003, the Alumnus of the Year award.

The mission of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) is to provide public transportation services which are safe, dependable and cost effective, thereby enhancing the quality of life in our community.

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