A day after Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold announced her resignation, Gov. Wes Moore named her successor.

Former state Del. Tony Bridges, a Baltimore Democrat who represented Maryland’s 41st District from 2019 to 2023, will take the driver’s seat of the Maryland Transit Administration starting Sept. 1. He’s a Baltimore native and a graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, and he previously held multiple roles at the Maryland Department of Transportation.

He’ll have a tall task ahead of him.

Bridges is taking the helm of an agency struggling to hit its operational goals on Baltimore’s core bus network while overseeing massive ongoing capital projects on the city’s subway and light rail.

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There’s also the ongoing saga of the Purple Line, a 14-mile light rail project in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, and plans to expand Baltimore’s sprawling transit network.

And more changes are coming. This year, Annapolis lawmakers passed a law to create new MTA oversight boards, and Bridges will be the first administrator to work with them.

“Tony Bridges brings a rare combination of hands-on transit experience, legislative insight, and an unwavering commitment to Maryland,” Moore, a Democrat, wrote in an emailed statement to the Banner.

“He understands that transit is the ultimate connector to opportunity, and I am confident that under his leadership, the Maryland Transit Administration will build a safer, more reliable, and more equitable transportation network for our entire state,” Moore said.

Bridges, who will leave his role as Moore’s deputy legislative officer to lead the MTA, first worked for MDOT as a senior adviser in 2013 under then-Gov. Martin O’Malley and later served as the MTA’s chief of staff until 2015.

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In Annapolis, Bridges was a member of the Environment and Transportation Committee and the Maryland Legislative Transit Caucus. He advocated for more local control of Baltimore’s transit system, laying the groundwork for what would become a regional advisory body to the MTA. He was co-chair of that advisory council while also serving as assistant state transportation secretary in 2024 and 2025.

“I’ve always been a dedicated advocate for public transit and the Maryland Transit Administration, and leading the agency now allows me to put the very policies I’ve championed alongside this administration into practice,” Bridges wrote in an emailed statement.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Katie Thomson thanked Arnold for her service at the MTA in a statement Wednesday and wrote that she’s eager for Bridges to bring his “deep transportation experience and enthusiasm for the Baltimore-region” to the agency.

This story may be updated.