Rhode Island Transit Riders has put forward a list of names to fill a vacancy on the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s board of directors that’s been open since April.

In a letter to Gov. Daniel McKee, the advocacy group recommended Liza Burkin, Daria Phoebe Brashear, Traci Picard, and Valerie Reishuk.

“Any of these four people … would be a valuable addition to the RIPTA board,” the group wrote.

Burkin works as a policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center and is the lead organizer for the Providence Streets Coalition, a group that advocates for safer streets and helped organize the Save RIPTA campaign to fill in RIPTA’s funding gaps.

Brashear holds an engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University, attends nearly every RIPTA board meeting, and regularly uses RIPTA.

Picard, profiled in ecoRI News’ Out of Service series, relies on transit to get to her job at Brown University’s Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. She’s also been an advocate for better transit and pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

Reishuk, who has been car-free for years, volunteers for Rhode Island Transit Riders, the Providence Streets Coalition, and RI Moms Demand Action, and is a trustee at the Moses Brown School.

The Transit Riders called out the lack of diversity on the board, which is all white with only one female member since Marcy Reyes’ term ended, in their reasoning for recommending the four women, “all of whom would help to create a board that better reflects the interests and diversity of the riders whom RIPTA serves.”

The letter said Burkin, Brashear, Picard, and Reishuk all understand transit, especially as it is connected to climate and housing goals, are committed to transparency, and want to focus on improving transit throughout the state.

McKee spokesperson Olivia DaRocha confirmed that the governor’s office did receive the organization’s letter.

State law gives the governor the authority to nominate members to the RIPTA board, who then must be approved by the Senate.

“Appointments to the RIPTA board of trustees can only occur during the legislative session as they require Senate Advice & Consent,” DaRocha wrote in an email to ecoRI News. “We will give all due consideration to applicants at that time.”

The next legislative session won’t begin until next year.