Foy, Robert J.

Bob Foy joined the Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) in 1975, serving as general manager for 26 years before retiring in 2010. Under his leadership, MTA grew from a small city transit system into a regional network serving a five-county area. Foy understood that MTA serves those who have few transportation choices. Under his leadership, MTA developed a diverse set of services to meet community needs, including medical transportation, special services for seniors, and one of the state's largest work-related transportation programs. MTA also became a leader in alternative fuel technology. In 2007, MTA launched five hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in a research partnership with Kettering and Michigan State universities, reducing MTA's diesel dependency by 50 percent. Foy led an effort to build an alternative fuel cell facility - one of the first in Michigan - that provides several alternative fuels to MTA and other customers. In addition, many creative processes Foy instituted have been copied in other parts of the country.