Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey Elected To Lead Regional Transportation Council
Cedar Hill mayor, Denton councilmember also named officers for 2025-26
Press Release
Brian Wilson
June 12, 2025 (Arlington, Texas) – Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey was elected chair of the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) on June 12 and will lead the 45-member transportation policymaking body for the next year. Bailey takes over from Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins who chaired the RTC for the past 12 months.
Before his election to lead the RTC, Bailey served one-year terms as secretary and vice chair. Bailey has been a member of the Johnson County Commissioners Court since 2009.
“I want to be more of a listener than just somebody who comes in tooting a horn,” he said. “I’m passionate and vocal about certain topics, but I also know when to listen. I want to hear what everyone in the room has to say and contribute.”
Cedar Hill Mayor Stephen Mason was elected vice chair for 2025-2026, and Denton City Councilmember Jill Jester will serve as secretary. Mason was appointed to the RTC in May 2024, while Jester has served on the policymaking body since August 2024.
The RTC includes local elected or appointed officials from the 12-county Dallas-Fort Worth area and representatives from the region’s transportation providers. As the transportation policymaking body for the 12-county Dallas-Fort Worth area, the RTC oversees transportation planning for the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country, which has a population of more than 8.5 million people.
Among other action at its June 12 meeting, the RTC approved:
-► Mobility 2050, the next long-range transportation plan for the 12-county region, which calls for $217 billion to be spent over the next 25 years on the multimodal transportation system. For more information, visit NCTCOG.org/planinprogress.
-► Nearly $60 million in federal funding for construction of 12 active transportation projects located in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.
The RTC guides the development of roadway, rail and bicycle-pedestrian plans and programs; allocates transportation funds; and recommends projects to the Texas Transportation Commission for other programs. The policymaking body also ensures transportation services are coordinated throughout the region and the metropolitan area complies with federal air quality standards.
As the transportation policymaking body for one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, the RTC often has taken an innovative approach to moving people to ensure that as the population continues to grow, the transportation system can meet the demand. High-speed rail is one current example. The North Central Texas Council of Governments is studying a potential high-speed rail line that could connect Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas to the planned Dallas-to-Houston line.
Additionally, Regional Transit 2.0 is an effort intended to help transportation managers, board members and elected officials develop a next generation transit system for a region whose population is expected to eclipse 12 million by 2050. NCTCOG and the RTC will work between legislative sessions on a plan to develop a transit system that will meet the needs of a region expanding beyond the boundaries established when the existing transit providers were created decades ago.
The new officers will serve in their positions through June 2026. For more information, visit NCTCOG.org/rtc.
About the Regional Transportation Council:
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has served as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for regional transportation planning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1974. The MPO works in cooperation with the region’s transportation providers to address the complex transportation needs of the rapidly growing metropolitan area. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties. The RTC’s 45 members include local elected or appointed officials from the metropolitan area and representatives from each of the area’s transportation providers. More information can be found at NCTCOG.org.
###