The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) today announced that their two Boards of Directors have unanimously appointed Valarie McFall Interim CEO effective immediately.

McFall is a respected, award-winning industry veteran with more than a quarter century of transportation, environmental and external affairs acumen.

"Valarie has proven her mettle as our Acting CEO and will approach her new role with a true sense of purpose and leadership,” said Will O’Neill, Chair of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency and Newport Beach City Council Member. “She has a strong understanding of the Agencies, our staff, our Boards and the goals of our seven-year Strategic Plan. She’s the right leader at the right time.”

“Valarie has always been a great leader. Over the last seven years she has been an invaluable resource for me as she helped me navigate the world of transportation. Without her guidance it would have been very difficult to deliver the projects that are so important for Orange County and, in particular, South Orange County,” said Joseph Muller, Vice Chair of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency and Dana Point City Council Member. “I am proud to be part of the decision to appoint her Interim CEO. She is definitely the right leader at the right time.”

Since joining TCA in 2000, McFall has held several increasingly senior positions. Prior to being named the first Deputy CEO in 2020, she served as Chief Environmental Planning Officer, responsible for managing the Agencies’ 17 mitigation sites spanning more than 2,200 acres of protected open space. Her efforts yielded significant results, including the preservation of multiple key properties throughout Orange County to ensure the continued presence of important native habitat for wildlife species and the protection of core wildlife linkages running from the coast to the inland portion of the county. Her expertise in public policy has proven instrumental to TCA’s completion of the South County Traffic Relief Effort and advancing the 241/91 Express Connector Project — two critically-important, large-scale projects that will provide countywide and regional congestion relief.

“I’m honored by the Boards’ unanimous selection and take the responsibility of leading TCA’s talented team very seriously,” McFall said. “I look forward to leveraging the successful partnerships and collaborations that I have established over the years to keep TCA at the forefront of the tolling industry and The Toll Roads as a vital transportation link in Southern California.”

McFall is a past recipient of the Orange County Chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar’s (WTS-OC) Woman of the Year Award, which honors a woman who is a leader in transportation and has made an outstanding contribution to the transportation industry.

McFall earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental analysis and design from the University of California, Irvine. She is an active member of WTS-OC, serves on the board of directors for the Natural Communities Coalition of Orange County and is a member of the Southern California Association of Government’s Technical Working Group. She is past vice chair of the Center for Demographic Research at California State University, Fullerton and past vice chair of education for the Urban Land Institute’s Infrastructure Initiative Council.

McFall was named Acting CEO in September. She will serve as Interim CEO until TCA’s Boards of Directors identify a permanent replacement through a national recruitment expected to commence in January 2023. 

The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) are two joint powers authorities formed by the California Legislature in 1986 to plan, finance, construct and operate Orange County’s public toll road system comprised of the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads.