Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has chosen a former Metro board member to serve as its new chairman.

Houston City Council will now be asked to approve Carrin Patman as Metro's new chairman. Patman is a local trial attorney who served on Metro's board from 2010 to 2014, and she's active in a number of community organizations. If she’s confirmed, Patman would become Metro’s first woman chairman.

As for Metro's biggest challenges right now, Patman says the transit agency is having to make do with less money from the federal government. There are also lower revenues because of the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

"There's a big challenge to develop additional transit opportunities within the constraints we're going to be facing in these economic times," says Patman.

Patman's nomination comes only weeks after Mayor Sylvester Turner appealed to the Texas Transportation Commission to find new options for relieving traffic congestion in the urban core.

"There are a number of options that are out there, and we need to provide multiple choices to people for getting them from point A to point B," says Turner. "Metro is a vital stakeholder in that."

The term of current Metro Chairman Gilbert Garcia expires in April. Turner praised Garcia for his leadership during the rollout of the new bus network and two new light rail lines.

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