Permanent director takes over Central Subway Project

Before San Francisco’s top transit official leaves his San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency post as director of transportation, Ed Reiskin announced Monday that he chose a permanent program director for the Central Subway Project.

In an email to staff, Reiskin said he appointed Nadeem Tahir, former Federal Transit Administration program director for Region IX, which services California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.

Reiskin said:

“Nadeem is an experienced transit professional with more than 35 years of experience planning, designing and managing the construction of large, highly complex domestic and international rail transit projects.”

Tahir will replace the interim program director Albert Hoe who has served over the past 18 months.

Reiskin said:

“At my request, Albert selflessly agreed to step into this critical role after the departure of John Funghi early last year and, during that time, has navigated the $1.6 billion mega-project through some of its most challenging obstacles.”

He continued:

“He has worked tirelessly with contractors, community stakeholders, and colleagues throughout the agency to complete most of the work on the Subway’s four stations and 1.7 miles of tunnel and trackway.  His dedication to the project over the past 15 years has been nothing short of remarkable.  Albert will remain on the Central Subway [P]roject to support Nadeem and bring the project to completion.”

Tahir will have his hands full as the project is a year behind schedule, but an April FTA monitor report reflects the project will not be ready for revenue service until Feb. 27, 2020.

In his new role, Tahir will be responsible for the project’s completion.

He will primarily work out of the project’s office space at 530 Bush St. and began his new position Monday.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.