Thomas E. "Tom" Margro is a mass transportation executive, and general manager for the San Francisco

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

district from 1996 to 2007. He was CEO of the

Transportation Corridor Agencies Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) are two joint powers authorities formed by the California State Legislature in 1986 to plan, finance, construct, and operate Orange County's toll roads. TCA consists of two local government agencies: * ...

from 2007 to 2012.

Early life and education

Margo graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and a master's degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in systems engineering, with additional post graduate studies in systems engineering.

Career

After graduating college, Margro worked as a rocket scientist for a year, working as a defense contractor on the Minuteman missile guidance system. In 1972, Margro joined

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

as the only electrical engineer in a team tasked with maintaining an aging and ill-maintained transit system acquired from a private company. He worked at SEPTA for 18 years (till 1990); his roles there included manager of facilities engineering; senior program manager, electrical facilities; chief engineer; and ultimately assistant general manager of engineering and construction. Margro worked at BART from 1990 to 1995 as assistant general manager of transit system development. In that position, he was responsible for the BART Extensions Program, including the Pittsburg/Bay Point extension (the

North Concord/Martinez station North Concord/Martinez station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located in the Sun Terrace neighborhood of Concord, California, United States. The station serves the northern area of Concord and nearby Martinez. It is located near S ...

and

Pittsburg/Bay Point station Pittsburg/Bay Point station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Pittsburg, California, United States, adjacent to the community of Bay Point. It serves northern and eastern Contra Costa County, as well as the Sacramento–San Joaquin River ...

) and the Dublin/Pleasanton extensions (the Castro Valley station and Dublin/Pleasanton station). The stations would open between 1995 and 1997. Margro worked for a year (between 1995 and 1996) at the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

as Director of Maintenance and Engineering Services/Chief Engineer. On June 1, 1996, it was announced that BART general manager Richard A. White was leaving BART to become general manager of the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

, with July 26 being his last day at BART. Potential successor candidates mentioned at the time of his departure were Deputy General Manager Dorothy Dugger (who would become general manager in 2007), Jim Gallagher (assistant general manager of operations), Larry Williams (assistant general manager of operations), and John Haley (former deputy general manager at BART, at the time deputy general manager of the port authority in New York). On September 30, 1996, Margro became the general manager of BART, succeeding White. According to BART board member Tom Radulovich who joined the board at about the same time, there was a general feeling at the time that the BART SFO extension (extending BART to the San Francisco International Airport station and Millbrae Intermodal Terminal) was lagging behind, and part of the expectation from Margro was that he would complete the extension. Under Margro, BART successfully opened the extension in 2003. Margro was also at the helm when Measure AA, a proposal to fund BART's Earthquake Safety Program with $980 million from property taxes, was approved by voters in a referendum, and he oversaw the initial implementation of the program. On April 10, 2007, BART announced that Margro was retiring, with June 29, 2007 being his last day. Margro would be BART's longest-serving general manager. Board members Radulovich and Lynette Sweet praised his accomplishments, including getting the SFO extension completed, launching the Earthquake Safety Program, and working out a solution with unions representing BART employees to avert financial crisis. Also, it was during Margro's tenure that BART received the

American Public Transportation Association The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United ...

's Outstanding Public Transportation System honor in 2004. The praise was echoed by Dan Richard, a former BART board member. On August 23, 2007, Dorothy Dugger, the former deputy general manager, who had been filling the role of interim general manager, became Margro's successor as general manager. Margro was CEO of

(TCA) from 2007 (starting a little after his retirement from BART) to 2012. TCA operates toll roads in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. After a nationwide search for a replacement, TCA hired Neil Peterson as the new CEO, with a start date of June 3, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margro, Thomas Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Bay Area Rapid Transit New Jersey Turnpike Authority American public transportation executives