VANCOUVER, B.C. — TransLink’s new chief executive officer, Pat Jacobsen, will have her work cut out for her when she takes over the hot seat at Vancouver’s troubled transportation authority.

The former Ontario deputy minister of Ontario’s transportation ministry says she will use her Ontario connections to help drum up financial support from Ottawa. She also aims to improve the much-maligned organizations public image.

"I know it has its challenges," admits Jacobsen.

TransLink has been suffering from media and public backlash since it proposed a $75-per-vehicle levy to pay for transit and road improvements. The idea was shot down by the province.

Although she says it is too early to say how TransLink’s situation will be reversed, Jacobsen says she is determined to talk "very, very closely" with the federal government, which has repeatedly denied TransLink of funding.

In addition to working within Ontario’s transportation ministry, where she helped bring toll-highway 407 to fruition, Jacobsen has also worked as the head of Manitoba’s Workers Compensation Board.