Schank leaves DC think tank to help run L.A. Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s a new office of innovation is looking to transform transportation delivery in Southern California and will be bolstered by the former CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation.    The Eno Center for Transportation, a Washington, D.C.-based transportation think tank, is searching for a new CEO after Joshua Schank left earlier this month to become the chief innovation officer for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
   The Chief Innovation Officer is a new position created by new CEO Phillip Washington tasked with coming up with ideas to improve mobility in L.A. County, in partnership with entrepreneurs, academia and industry.
   Schank led Eno to expand its role to include analysis of major public policy issues such as public-private partnerships, freight programs, aviation and transportation finance.
   He began his career at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a transportation planner and later worked as a Congressional Transportation Fellow and legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate. He also worked as a senior associate for two major international transportation consulting firms, specializing in public transit and federal transportation policy. Schank served too as director of transportation research for the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he directed a large panel of former elected officials, policy experts, business executives and civil leaders overseeing a national study of federal transportation policy that resulted in recommendations for accountable, performance-based transportation programs.
   “Dr. Schank is highly regarded across the transportation industry as a collaborator and an innovator,” Washington said in a statement last month announcing the hire.
   The Office of Extraordinary Innovation “will be responsible for mining and implementing the most out-of-the-box and innovative strategies the transportation industry has ever seen In this country,” Washington said. The Innovative Strike Force Team will be involved “in areas such as public-private partnerships, value capture opportunities, high technology and autonomous vehicle impact on transit, as well as leading the agency’s strategic planning efforts.”
   Eno said it has engaged a national executive search firm to find a new leader.