Quick Take
Santa Cruz Metro CEO Michael Tree said he is leaving the transit agency for personal reason to be closer to his aging parents in Southern California. He will join the Golden Empire Transit District in the Bakersfield area as its CEO when he officially departs. His last day will be Feb. 16.
Santa Cruz Metro CEO Michael Tree is stepping down less than two years into his tenure, the transit agency announced Friday.
Tree will be leaving the organization Feb. 16 due to personal reasons. He has served as Metro CEO since April 2022.
Tree will be moving to his hometown in Southern California to be closer to his family, and will take over as CEO of Golden Empire Transit District, which serves the greater Bakersfield area.
“My decision to leave the agency and the Santa Cruz community comes with a heavy heart but my decision was made for solely personal reasons related to my aging parents,” said Tree in a news release. “The METRO Board and staff are fully committed to METRO’s vision of increasing ridership, growing our zero-emissions fleet, and incorporating affordable housing into METRO owned facilities, so I am leaving the agency in capable hands that will continue supporting the needs of Santa Cruz County.”
Tree did not respond to Lookout’s request for comment by publication time Friday.
Tree has worked with staff on Reimagine Metro, a major set of changes aimed at improving the transit system to create faster, more frequent and more reliable service. Tree also introduced Youth Cruz Free, which allows all K-12 students to ride Metro free of charge, and purchased 57 hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses for the transit agency — the largest single purchase of hydrogen buses in North America at the time. He also worked to blend affordable housing and Metro facilities into multiuse developments in Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
Tree and Metro staff also launched the organization’s One Ride at a Time program, which is a rider loyalty program that donates to local environmental nonprofits.
Prior to joining Metro, Tree served as the director of the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) in the East Bay community of Livermore, where he similarly focused on improving efficiency and connectivity for riders. In 2020, the American Public Transportation Association named LAVTA the North American Transit Agency of the Year in its category. He was also the executive director for the Tri-Valley San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.
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