As TARTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Laura Koprowski brings 25 years of diverse transit transportation experience to the role at the state and local levels. She most recently served as part of the leadership team that has transformed TARTA in just under 2 years.
“I am excited to take on this new role as CEO and continue the important work we have started,” said Koprowski. “My top priorities are to serve the community and ensure the transportation future for this region through the upcoming initiative on the ballot.
“The Toledo metro area has real momentum as a growing and thriving community, and I believe to keep that going, we must ensure that we have an effective, modern public transit system to help push economic development across the region and uplift the lives of all residents.”
Koprowski joined TARTA and returned to her hometown of Toledo in April 2020. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Public Transit Association.
During Koprowski’s tenure as the Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications at the Central Ohio Regional Transit Authority, the organization was nationally recognized in 2018 as the outstanding mid-size public transit system by the American Public Transportation Association. She worked on a variety of projects including implementing COTA’s transit system redesign, serving as a liaison to Smart Columbus to create technology mobility solutions, and serving on the development and launch team for microtransit with COTA Plus.
In 18 months as Deputy CEO at TARTA, Koprowski worked with former CEO Kim Dunham to oversee a complete transformation of TARTA’s leadership team. Koprowski oversaw TARTA’s seven divisions and was responsible for new business development and partnerships, including new service to Amazon’s fulfillment center in Rossford, the Vaccine Mobile in partnership with the V Project and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and the Jeep Fest Express.
“It’s always been a belief of mine that a strong public transportation system really can change lives,” Koprowski said. “It’s been exciting to come back to my hometown and be a part of what’s changing at TARTA, and this is an awesome opportunity for me to work with an extraordinarily talented and dedicated team as we work to make TARTA the reliable transit system this area deserves.”
