Mike Setzer
General Manager, Metro Transit

Mike Setzer is the senior executive of Metro Transit, the 11th largest bus system in America. He assumed the post in January 2002. In his role as general manager, Setzer oversees an all-bus system with 2,600 employees who operate 135 local, express and contract routes. Customers board Metro Transit buses more than 67 million times a year.

Setzer also is a key figure in moving the Twin Cities toward its first light-rail line, scheduled for full operations in December 2004. The Hiawatha light-rail line – a $715 million project – will link downtown Minneapolis with Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and Mall of America.

Setzer’s background includes serving as general manager at Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority in Cincinnati; Bi-State Transit in St. Louis; and Public Transportation Corporation in South Bend, Indiana. He is also a former vice president of Ryder Corporation and a founder of a firm providing management services for seven U.S. transit systems.

He worked at the former Metropolitan Transit Commission, the forerunner of Metro Transit, as a special projects officer from 1972-74. Setzer has degrees from the University of Minnesota and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.