Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm to resign after just 16 months
A light-rail train heads out of Mt. Baker Station south toward Angle Lake, Feb. 11, 2022. (Genna Martin/Crosscut)
Sound Transit on Tuesday announced the resignation of CEO Julie Timm. Her final day at the regional transit agency will be Jan. 12, just 16 months after taking the position in September 2022.
The announcement comes on the heels of Timm’s performance review by the Sound Transit Board last week. The review is not yet public, but board members had recently expressed disappointment in the agency for not taking sufficient steps to avoid cost overruns and delays on its multibillion-dollar work to expand the Link light-rail system, according to reporting by Publicola.
In an email to the Sound Transit staff, which was shared with Crosscut, Timm wrote:
“For the past several months I have been struggling to balance the needs of long-distance care and support for my aging father with the intense requirements of leading Sound Transit as CEO. Over the past week in collaboration with board leadership, I came to the difficult, but I believe the correct, conclusion that my family needs more of my focus.”
In a press release, Sound Transit said Timm is moving back to the East Coast to spend time with family. The release continued, “Since joining Sound Transit in September 2022, Timm has overseen a renewed emphasis on the rider experience as Sound Transit approaches the opening of several new extensions, starting with East Link next spring.”
The Sound Transit Board expects to appoint an interim CEO in the coming weeks.
The agency is in the midst of its next phase of expansion, which will extend the existing line north to Lynnwood and south to Federal Way and build new light rail across Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond.
Sound Transit is also in the planning stages of its third phase of expansion, which was approved by voters in 2016 as a $54 billion ballot measure. Once completed it will connect Tacoma to Seattle to Everett and build new lines in Seattle connecting West Seattle and Ballard to Downtown. The agency's most recent financial plan estimates it will spend $148 billion on operations and new construction between 2017 and 2046.
Update: This article was updated to clarify Sound Transit's estimated operations and construction costs.