RTA picks interim leader

Regional Transportation Authority directors Wednesday turned to their finance czar to serve as temporary chief when Executive Director Steve Schlickman departs.

Joe Costello, senior deputy executive director for finance and administration, will head up the agency after Schlickman leaves Oct. 1.

The RTA is in transition with Schlickman's exit plus the departures of Chairman Jim Reilly and director of legal and government affairs Andrew Gruber this summer.

The board picked John Gates Jr. as its new chairman in August. Costello has worked for the RTA since 1995. The search for a new executive director is ongoing.