Metro in St. Louis extends CEO Taulby Roach's contract through 2028

By Mark Schlinkmann | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)

ST. LOUIS — Taulby Roach, who has headed the metro area's bus and light rail operations since 2019, will continue in that role until the end of 2028.

The board of the Bi-State Development Agency, which operates Metro Transit, has voted to keep Roach as its president and CEO for two more years.

Roach's current contract, which began in 2023, will end Dec. 31 but has an option for two additional years.

Under the contract, Roach's base annual pay in 2027 and 2028 will increase to $425,000, up from $355,500 this year. When he was first hired for the job in 2019, he was paid $280,000.

The contract also called for Roach to get additional amounts contributed to his retirement funds, some of it based on meeting performance conditions.

The board voted in closed executive session Aug. 27 for a resolution keeping Roach on board through 2028. A copy of the resolution was released this week.

A hallmark of Roach's tenure has been the activation in recent months of a long-awaited MetroLink fare gate system aimed at improving security for passengers.

---------------------------------------------

Don't Miss Stories Like This. Subscribe to the Transit Intelligence Newsletter

---------------------------------------------

The move was carried out even though a consultant hired to study MetroLink safety hadn't recommended adding turnstiles. The new system, dubbed the Secure Platform Plan, also includes fencing, improved security cameras and other features.

Since MetroLink began operations in 1993, the system — like most other U.S. light rail operations — didn't use turnstiles and instead relied on security guards occasionally asking riders to show they had bought a ticket once they were on board.

Roach's tenure also has included efforts to improve its door-to-door Call-A-Ride paratransit service following repeated complaints from groups that advocate for people with disabilities.

Roach had been a key advocate of expanding MetroLink with a new so-called Green Line linking the city's north and south sides via Jefferson Avenue.

But he backed off that idea and switched to a less expensive dedicated bus lane plan after consultants determined that the MetroLink extension would be unlikely to win the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid needed to build it.

That happened after newly elected Mayor Cara Spencer last year asked for a reevaluation of the issue.

Roach also led Bi-State and Metro during the pandemic and its efforts since then to bring back passengers.

Roach was hired after working since 2002 as a transportation consultant for the St. Clair County Transit District. The district contracts with Bi-State/Metro to provide bus and MetroLink service there.

He is the son of John Roach, a former St. Louis alderman and community development director who was a key player in the region's pursuit and construction of the first MetroLink line.

_________

© 2026 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Daily News Briefing