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Gordon J. Linton (born March 26, 1948) is an American politician from Pennsylvania best known for his role as the former head of the Federal Transit Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation from August 6, 1993 to 1999. Linton also served as a legislator in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1982 to 1993, representing the 200th Legislative District in Philadelphia. Linton's career in public policy focused on developing and implementing initiatives that aimed to empower underserved individuals and communities.
Gordon J. Linton | |
|---|---|
 Federal Transit Administration Official portrait | |
| Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration | |
| In office 1993–1999 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Brian Clymer |
| Succeeded by | Jennifer Dorn |
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 200th district | |
| In office January 4, 1983 – August 13, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | John F. White Jr. |
| Succeeded by | LeAnna Washington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 26, 1948[1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Lincoln University, B.A. Antioch University, M.Ed | |
Early life and education
editLinton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he resided in North Philadelphia with his mother, a homemaker, his father, a construction worker and barber, and his younger brother. Linton attended William Kelly Elementary School, Vaux Junior High School, Thomas Edison High School, and graduated from Olney High School in 1965.
John E. Allen, founder of New Freedom Theatre, encouraged him to attend Peirce Junior College (now Peirce College), his alma mater, a noted Philadelphia business school. Linton earned his associate degree in business management from Peirce in 1967. He continued his studies at Lincoln University, the nation's first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Oxford, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. in economics. Years later, he served as the Commonwealth Appointee to the university's Board of Trustees and endowed a public policy scholarship. In 1997, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from his alma mater for his contributions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and his distinguished career in service to the people. Linton completed his education at Antioch University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he earned a Master of Education in Counseling/Psychology in 1974.
Career
editPsychology
editEarly in his career, Linton saw firsthand the degree to which people's lives are influenced by forces beyond their control. After graduating from Lincoln University, Linton was mentored by Dr. Warren E. Smith and assigned to the Counseling Services Project where he worked as part of a team with psychologists in Philadelphia's parochial schools.
This experience led Linton to adopt a holistic approach to addressing clients' social and economic needs. Linton began by focusing on educational, community-centered programs in Philadelphia to empower children and families. In one of his first positions, he served as a Community Consultant with the School District of Philadelphia. He also served as education director for Baptist Children's House, a facility for neglected/dependent children in Philadelphia. Linton concluded his work as an educational psychology specialist working with adolescents and families at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
editLinton became actively involved in the development, promotion, and administration of state-funded community-based programs. As Eastern Regional Administrator for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of the Auditor General, he conducted operational and compliance audits of public welfare agencies with control over all logistical aspects, audit direction and regulated adherence to proper audit procedures. Linton successfully fulfilled his fiduciary responsibility in managing the Commonwealth's financial resources while ensuring maximum benefit to clients in underserved communities.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
editIn the late 1970s, Gordon Linton was engaged in political activity and community organizing in Northwest Philadelphia. Linton was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1982, representing the 200th Legislative District, with the support and encouragement of his predecessor, John F. White Jr. At that time, the district included parts of the neighborhoods of West Oak Lane, East Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, and Upper Roxborough in Northwest Philadelphia. He quickly moved into leadership on the House Transportation Committee as the prime sponsor and author of 12 legislative proposals that are now law.
During his tenure in the Pennsylvania Legislature, Linton was appointed, in his first term, chair of the House Select Committee on Minority & Women-owned Businesses after calling for an investigation (H.R. 277) into the number of minority and women-owned businesses receiving contracts from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania agencies; he also introduced a resolution, adopted by the full House, granting the committee subpoena power.
He introduced Act 230 of 1984, which regulated the infiltration of "front" and "sham" operations into minority and women-owned business programs and received national attention. At the request of Majority Leader James Manderino, he co-sponsored minority business working capital legislation and managed the floor debate; the resulting law became part of the Pennsylvania Economic Revitalization Fund of 1984 and established a $5 million revolving loan fund and bonding guarantee fund for minority businesses.
Linton served as chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus from 1986 to 1993, during which he worked to increase minority business participation in state contracts and worked with the governor to create an Office of Minority and Women Owned Business. He introduced and engineered passage of the legislation establishing the Commonwealth's first dedicated funding source for mass transit, as well as Pennsylvania's first law requiring mandatory seat belt use. He also introduced legislation directing Pennsylvania's share of the Benjamin Franklin Estate Trust to Commonwealth Community Foundations for perpetual endowments.[2]
Linton created the House Task Force on the Senior Citizens Shared Ride Program and, as its chair, worked to maintain the program's funding level. He served as vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee and was appointed by Governor William Casey Sr. to the Special Philadelphia Trial Court Nominating Commission, formed to nominate judicial candidates following a judicial misconduct case. He was also a Commonwealth Trustee of Lincoln University and a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, the Transportation Institute Advisory Council, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Advisory Council.
Federal Transit Administration
editBecause of his expertise and success on transportation issues in the Pennsylvania Legislature, Linton was nominated by President Bill Clinton, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and appointed the Federal Transit Administrator in the federal Department of Transportation in 1993. During his tenure, Linton served as the nation's leading official for national public transportation policy and programs. He helped shape and represented President Clinton's public transportation policies and budget, and provided executive direction over all federal transit programs, nationally and internationally. Linton managed an annual budget of $5 billion and employees in the Federal Transportation Administration's (FTA) Washington, DC headquarters and 10 regional offices. He led the FTA's Livable Community Initiatives, which promoted closer connections between public transit and the communities it serves.
"Gordon Linton is a distinguished public servant with an unquestionable knowledge of transportation matters." President Bill Clinton at the 1993 nomination announcement
During his tenure at the DOT, Linton was responsible for more than $37 billion in federal investments in public transportation and negotiated Full Funding agreements totaling $10 billion for 22 new projects. He spearheaded statutory changes and policies that launched the FTA's Livable Community Initiative as a national policy framework in 1994. He also established the first international transportation program in FTA's history, forging partnerships abroad, briefing foreign governments on U.S. public transit policy, and representing the United States in government-to-government bilateral agreements and trade missions.
Linton launched the Bus Rapid Transit Consortium, selecting 17 cities to take part in collaboration, project scoping, and best-practice development for a national program promoting rapid bus transit as an emerging service option, and he led a delegation to Curitiba, Brazil, to study its rapid dedicated bus system, which helped accelerate the system's adoption in the United States. He also helped negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the South African Department of Transport, which established technology transfer centers and education, training, and business development opportunities with the South African government.
References
edit- ↑ McQuown, L.S.; Pennsylvania; Ehgartner, G.; Pennsylvania. Dept. of Property and Supplies; Pennsylvania. Bureau of Publications (1993). The Pennsylvania Manual. Vol. 111. Department of Property and Supplies for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ISBN 978-0-8182-0177-6. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ↑ Butterfield, Fox (April 21, 1990). "From Ben Franklin, a Gift That's Worth Two Fights". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
Hazelton, Lynette " Uncovering Fronts" In The News, pg. 24, Black Enterprise November, 1983.
4. Taylor, Wendi (August 24, 1984) "Legislator Charges Obstacles to Probe Administration Denies Withholding Data On Contracts To Minority Business" The Morning Call.
5. "Linton's Reasonable Request" (August 28, 1984} Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial.
6. "Subpoena Powers voted" (September 20, 1984), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
7. "Review of the 10 Percent Set-Aside Program (Section 10S (f) of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982" (October 22, 1985) Committee on Small Businesses, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
8. Moushey, Bill, Remensky, Carl (June 25, 1986) "5 firms facing prosecution in minority business probe " Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
9. Hazelton, Lynette" Fighting Fraud" In The News, pg. 8, Black Enterprise, (November, 1986).
10. Taylor, Leon (August 1, 1985) "Stricter Ride Rules PUT Off A Week" Philadelphia Daily News.
11. Goldwyn, Ron. (December 16, 1986) "New Leader For Black Caucus" Philadelphia Daily News.
12. " Philadelphia Legislators Head for Parley in Africa" (January 8, 1987), Philadelphia Daily News.
13. Daughen, Joseph R. (February 6, 1987) Guv: Panel Will Pick City Judges", Philadelphia Daily News.
14. Kennedy, John L. (February 27, 1987) South Africa Viewpoint, Indiana Gazette.
15. Zausner, Robert (September 29, 1987) Casey signs orders to Aid Businesses owned by Women and Minorities".
16. Stoffer, Harry (September 29, 1987) "Casey acts to aid minorities, women" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
17. "Casey Creates Office for Minorities" (September 29, 1987), Philadelphia Daily News.
18. Frank, Steve (September 29, 1987) Casey Forms New Agency to Promote Minority/Female Firms".
19. "Solving the Seat-belt Quandary" philly.com. November 2, 1987.
20. Eshleman Jr., Russell E. (November 10, 1987). "Pa. House Approves Bill on Seat-belt Use" Philadelphia Inquirer, Harrisburg Bureau.
21. Drachler, Stephen (November 24, 1987) "Seat Belt Law Signed, Takes Effect Immediately" The Morning Call.
22. "State now has Seat belt Law" (November 24, 1987) Standard-Speaker.
23. Ferrick Jr., Thomas (January 14, 1990) "Some Fear Franklin's Fund will be Philadelphia's Folly" Philadelphia Inquirer.
24. Wolf, Don (January 21, 1990) "Battle of wills is brewing on Franklin gift to state" The Pittsburgh Press.
26. Enda, Jodi (October 2, 1990) "Franklin's Will Splits Legislature House Plans Gift to Organizations. Philadelphia Inquirer, Harrisburg Bureau.
27. "Foundations deserve Franklin trust funds" (November 2, 1990) The Patriot News, Op-Ed.
28. Yenawine, Bruce H. "Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of Microfinance" (pg. 141), Pickering and Chatto. (2010).
29. Motley, Wanda, and Nussbaum, Paul. (August 1, 1991) "Dedicated Source of Mass transportation funding expected", Philadelphia Inquirer.
30. "Mass Transit gets dedicated funding" (August 5, 1991) Doylestown Intelligencer, page 60.
31. "Funding for transit reliable" (August 5, 1991), New Castle News.
32. Burke, Richard (August 6, 1991) "Giant Step Forward' In Funding Lets SEPTA Avert Massive Cutbacks" Philadelphia Inquirer.