Photo by flickr user nevermindtheend

The next time you’re stuck in a Metro delay, you may have a new person to curse—Neal Cohen.

The Metro Board has selected Cohen as its new general manager, and the parties are currently negotiating a contract. The news of negotiations was first reported by Channel 4.

WMATA has been operating without a general manager since January, when Richard Sarles retired. It’s been more than a year since Sarles announced his plans to leave the role.

The search for a replacement has been complicated by the Metro system’s competing needs. From the Washington Post:

Considering the agency’s money woes, Maryland and D.C. officials asserted that the new general manager should be principally a financial turnaround expert. Virginia officials insisted that the foremost qualification for the job should be experience in running a public transportation agency and instilling a strong organizational safety culture.

The jurisdictions’ differing views were reflected in a sharp divide among Metro’s voting board members — two each representing the Maryland, District, Virginia and federal governments — and caused the search to drag on for months.

Another moving part is the Federal Transit Administration’s announcement earlier this week that it will handle safety oversight of WMATA until D.C., Maryland and Virginia can develop a new agency with more legal authority than the Tri-State Oversight Committee.

Cohen most recently worked as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Orbital ATK, an aerospace manufacturer and defense industry company. He also served as an airline executive for Northwest and US Airways.

We have exclusive footage of Cohen speaking to the Metro Board about the GM position.