The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors today selected Daniel Grabauskas as the agency’s CEO/executive director to oversee the Honolulu

Grabauskas will begin his new role in mid-April heading the agency responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the $5.2 billion rail project. The HART board of directors voted unanimously on the selection after taking public testimony at its board meeting today at Mission Memorial Annex.

“I am humbled to be selected as HART executive director and I am fully committed to helping bring this project to reality,” Grabauskas said. “I want to thank the HART board for its support and I look forward to working with the HART staff as we continue moving forward.”

Grabauskas’ three-year HART contract includes an annual base salary of $245,000, a $36,000 a year housing allowance and a transportation allowance of $6,000 a year. The proposal also includes the potential for a $35,000 annual performance bonus.

Grabauskas is currently chairman and senior strategic adviser of the Bronner Center for Transportation Management, Grabauskas formerly served as general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). As chief executive officer of MBTA, Grabauskas had oversight of a 6,100-employee operation, with an annual operating budget of $1.4 billion and an annual capital budget of more than $500 million, with operations in 175 municipalities throughout eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  His work also included completion of several capital expansion projects, including an 18-mile commuter rail line.

Grabauskas also served as Secretary of Transportation for the state of Massachusetts, with oversight of a $1.4-billion annual administrative budget and an annual capital budget of more than $1.8 billion. In that cabinet-level role, Grabauskas had oversight of MBTA, highways and municipal airports.

The HART board’s selection process began in November 2011 and involved 150 people being contacted as part of the search.

“Dan Grabauskas has shown himself to be a proven leader in the transit industry and we are very excited to see him come aboard at this time,” said Keslie Hui, chairman of the HART board’s Human Resources Committee. “After an extensive screening process, the board concluded that Mr. Grabauskas was the one for the job: he is an honorable public servant, passionate about public transportation in general and our project in particular, and he is fully committed to using his considerable knowledge, skills and experience to delivering rail to the people of Honolulu, on time, and within budget.”