BATA names Patrick Preusser as next executive director
Patrick Preusser will take over BATA on July 22, as the transit agency faces reliability and tourist-season pressure across 900 square miles.
Patrick Preusser will become the Bay Area Transportation Authority’s next executive director on July 22, with interim leader Chris Davis staying in place until then. Preusser most recently served as chief operating officer for the Regional Transportation District in Denver.
BATA serves about 900 square miles across Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties, and its millage page says the system brings in $4,783,786 in annual property tax revenue. BATA’s ridership materials show total trips climbed to 421,088 in fiscal year 2024 from 366,778 in FY 2023, while fixed-route rides rose to 258,773 from 224,837. BATA says total ridership averages near 1,300 rides a day.
The Bayline, BATA’s fare-free Traverse City route, is used for park-and-ride trips, the Cherry Festival, the Bayshore Marathon, school travel, medical appointments and shopping. BATA’s Transit Master Plan, called BATA Next Wave, is a five- to 10-year roadmap meant to guide priorities and keep residents connected to jobs, services and educational opportunities. It says rider expectations and transit demand shifted after COVID-19, even after the agency recovered much of its pre-pandemic ridership.
Before the pandemic, BATA increased ridership, launched the fare-free Bayline, improved rural door-to-door service, added mobile ticketing, started Link On-Demand and planned a new LaFranier Road transit facility. BATA’s new headquarters project at LaFranier and Hammond roads in Garfield Township covers more than 50 acres and includes about 87,000 square feet of operations and administration space, indoor parking for up to 100 vehicles and room for as many as 130 employees. BATA says the project preserved 20 acres of wooded wetland, involved more than 75 primary construction workers and generated more than $15 million in short-term local spending.
A June 11 special board meeting included updates to the executive director job description, and BATA’s board page lists Wayne Schmidt as chair and Lance Boehmer as vice chair. BATA’s board is made up of elected and volunteer representatives from Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties.
Former executive director Jeff Meilbeck resigned after 22 days on the job in 2025.
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