LACMTA CEO to step down

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) Art Leahy's last day of service will be April 5, 2015, when his current contract expires. Leahy, who started his transportation career as a bus operator and became one of the nation's leading transit officials, has headed LACMTA for six years.

 

During that time, he guided implementation of one of the largest public works programs in United States history and helped secure billions of dollars in federal and state funding to match local transit sales taxes to finance construction of dozens of transit and highway projects.

“It has a been a privilege, honor and pleasure to serve as LACMTA’s chief executive officer the past six years,” Leahy said. “My time at LACMTA has been filled with enormous successes, intense challenges and opportunities that have and continue to shape mobility for Los Angeles County’s 10 million residents.”

LACMTA points out that against a backdrop of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, Leahy kept LACMTA solvent while he focused on fulfilling the mandate of Los Angeles County voters in carrying out the Measure R building program and ensuring quality service on the LACMTA system that has nearly 500 million annual boardings.

Today, Metro has transit and highway projects and programs valued at more than $14 billion. This includes five new rail projects under construction including the Expo line extension to Santa Monica and the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa, both scheduled to open next year, plus the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project, the Regional Connector that will connect the Expo, Blue and Gold Lines in downtown Los Angeles and the first phase of the Westside Purple Line subway extension to Wilshire and La Cienega. LACMTA also received federal approval to start the engineering phase for extending the Purple Line to Century City.

Leahy also launched a $1.2 billion overhaul of the Blue Line and guided the purchase of a new fleet of rail cars. He also helped turn Union Station into the hub of the region’s expanding bus and rail transit network and led the agency’s acquisition of the 75-year-old facility.

Prior to his tenure as LACMTA CEO, Leahy served as the CEO at the Orange County Transportation Authority and general manager of the transit agency in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

 

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