CapMetro Board of Directors Names Dottie Watkins as President & CEO

Watkins has been with CapMetro Since 1994 and has been fulfilling the Interim President & CEO role since June 2022

AUSTIN, Texas (January 30. 2023): The CapMetro Board of Directors has selected Dottie Watkins as its permanent President & Chief Executive Officer to continue to guide the agency through its robust expansion. The announcement comes on the heels of the first CapMetro Rail Red Line improvement project completion under Project Connect.

“As a board, it was crucial that we selected the right leader for this position and for our community,” said CapMetro Board Chair & Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion. “We interviewed multiple qualified candidates for this position, and we wanted to make sure the person we selected had a stellar professional reputation, a proven track record of getting things done and most importantly, was someone the community could trust and their staff could respect and also have confidence in. Dottie meets all those qualifications and I’m confident we made the right decision selecting her as the next President & CEO.”

Watkins is an Austin native and began her career with CapMetro as a part-time bus operator in 1994 while she pursued her degree at The University of Texas. She has held multiple leadership roles within the agency, including Deputy CEO, Chief Customer Officer/Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Bus Operations and Maintenance. During the coronavirus pandemic, Dottie led the effort to maintain transit operations and to continue serving the community, even during the ensuing staffing shortage crisis. She is recognized at the agency for her depth of knowledge of what it takes to make transit operate, but also her unwavering commitment to her staff and the frontline team members the agency relies upon.

“I am honored, humbled and ready to serve as CapMetro’s President & CEO. I want to thank the board for selecting me to serve in this capacity and for their vote of confidence,” said CapMetro President & CEO Dottie Watkins. “I’ve gotten to watch firsthand as CapMetro and our teams grow into what I consider to be among the best in transit agencies in the nation. Delivering safe, reliable and customer-oriented service for our customers is a priority to me. Central Texas has a lot to look forward to when it comes to public transportation, and I can’t wait to continue collaborating with our stakeholders, the CapMetro staff and our community members on the future of CapMetro. We work hard, and will continue to do so, to be an agency that delivers service that everyone is proud of and takes care of everyone in our community.”

Watkins has served as the Interim President & CEO of CapMetro since June 2022, following the departure of Randy Clarke. Clarke announced in May that he was accepting the position of General Manager & CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in Washington, D.C.

CapMetro President & CEO Contract Terms:

  • Start date: January 30, 2023
  • Annual salary: $357,555
  • Bonus Eligibility: Up to 10% base pay per year
  • Contract Limit: 5 years
  • Benefits:  Same as all CapMetro employees with exception of $25,000 in deferred compensation/401k CapMetro contribution
  • Termination Clause: CapMetro Board can terminate contract for cause with no severance or at their option by majority vote with varying severance depending on how much time remains on the contract.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 
Tawaun Cole
CCR-Communications@CapMetro.org

Blythe Nebeker
CCR-Communications@CapMetro.org