BART's governing board voted unanimously last month to appoint board member Janice Li as the body's next president.
Li, who has served as the BART Board of Directors' vice president throughout 2022, represents the transit agency's eighth district, which includes the western portion of San Francisco and partial representation of the Montgomery, Embarcadero and Balboa Park stations.
Li was first elected to the board in 2018 and was reelected in November 2022 after running unopposed.
She thanked Director Rebecca Saltzman, the board's outgoing president, for her mentorship and called for the transit agency to be ambitious and try new things in the coming year.
"The willingness to try and push ourselves both individually and as a district to do more, to do better, to try something, I think that has gotten us so far when we think about fares, to opening bathrooms, to (transit-oriented development), to how we can better serve our employees and our riders," Li said.
The board also voted 8-1 to name Director Mark Foley as the board's vice president. Foley represents a portion of Contra Costa County that includes the North Concord/Martinez, Pittsburg/Bay Point and Antioch stations.
Foley previously served as the board's president in 2021 and as vice president in 2020.
Board Director Debora Allen was the only dissenting vote and proposed Director Liz Ames for vice president, arguing that every BART board president and vice president since 2018 has represented at least part of San Francisco or Contra Costa County.
Ames' district spans southern Alameda County, including the Fremont, South Hayward, Union City and Warm Springs stations. The board voted 3-6 against installing Ames as vice president.
"At the end of the day, it's about growing our ridership and we will need to really look outside the box to do everything we can to maximize those non-commuters that could be using BART for everyday travel," Foley said.
