Frank White III, the son of Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr., was made the permanent CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, a job he had held on an interim basis since August.

He previously was the vice president of RideKC Development Corp., a 501(c)(3) organization under the organization’s oversight. White joined KCATA as its chief marketing officer in late 2016. After a year in that role, he became the organization’s director of business development for two years.

In a September interview about his priorities as interim CEO, White said he aimed to hired more drivers, which would improve bus service.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think we’ve taken care of them as well as we should have, with respect and (advocacy) and value,” he said at the time. “People will go through a brick wall if they think you care, and so we need to get them to understand, we know if they don’t eat, we don’t eat.”

According to the release, he now has overseen the hiring of 100 new operators. Since he has taken over as interim, White has prioritized transparency and a new emphasis on data and analytics, the release added.

Read more in the Kansas City Business Journal.