Joshua Schank is the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Dr. Schank joined Metro in 2015 to establish the agency’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation (OEI), which is responsible for fostering innovations that improve mobility, equity and environmental outcomes across LA County’s 88 cities. Dr. Schank leads an office with an expanding mandate that includes shaping LA Metro’s high-level strategic vision, serving as a liaison to the academic community, designing, piloting and implementing innovative programs and policies, and engaging entrepreneurs and businesses to develop public-private-partnerships. As CIO of Metro, Dr. Schank helped OEI create and lead numerous transformative projects including the Vision 2028 Strategic Plan, Metro Micro, Mobility on Demand, Metro’s Traffic Reduction Study, Metro’s Fareless System Initiative, Better Bus, two Pre-Development Agreements for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, a Public-Private-Partnership for the West Santa Ana Branch, and an aerial tram from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. Under Dr. Schank’s leadership, Metro’s innovative Unsolicited Proposal Policy has generated numerous projects and plans for improving mobility and accountability in Los Angeles County, including the use of drones for track inspection, mobile tolling, automated bus lane enforcement, travel rewards, and automatic wayfinding for the visually impaired.

Prior to joining Metro, Dr. Schank served as President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a leading national transportation policy think-tank based in Washington, D.C. He previously led the National Transportation Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and has worked as a consultant for Parsons Brinkerhoff (now WSP) and ICF International. Dr. Schank served as Transportation Policy Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) during the authorization of SAFETEA-LU, and is the co-author of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding. He began his career working on behalf of the riders of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City and has never lost that spirit. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.