LOS ANGELES -- Art Leahy, whose mother and father helped run the region's celebrated streetcars
and who himself once worked as a bus driver, was approved Thursday as the new chief
executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los
Angeles.
Leahy is currently the top transit official in Orange County, but will soon take the reins of one of the nation's largest transportation agencies, with a $3.4-billion budget, 9,775 full- and part-time employees and nearly 486 million boardings on its buses and trains last year. He replaces Roger Snoble, who is retiring after seven-plus years on the job.
In choosing Leahy, 60, the MTA board has settled on a leader who is a 38-year transit veteran. But he has spent the last eight years in a county that has a higher percentage of commuters who drive to work alone than in Los Angeles County (77.4% versus 72.3%), a lower percentage who take mass transit to work (3% versus 7%) and a smaller proportion of commuters who carpool (11.3% versus 11.6%), according to the Census Bureau.
The move is also a coming home of sorts: Leahy began his career at the MTA but was unceremoniously fired in 1996 during a management shake-up by then-Chief Executive Joseph Drew. Leahy learned that he had been sacked after coming home from a transit conference in Kansas City and finding a notice taped to the front door of his home.
(As it happened, Drew only lasted nine months at the MTA before he quit, citing infighting and "hypercriticism" of his performance -- both indicative of the often-fiery politics that surround the MTA.)
Leahy went on to head the Minneapolis-St. Paul transit agency and help build a light rail line there before assuming the top job in Orange County in 2001 to help bring rail to the suburbs.
"Obviously, I was not the person to take the organization where he wanted it to go," Leahy said of Drew in a recent interview. "Even though it was difficult for me, I respected his right to do that and I'm much better prepared to be CEO because my experience is richer."
Leahy said the MTA job was attractive because of the size of the agency and its mission -- plus the fact that the agency is based in Los Angeles, where he grew up. "I believe in transit, and I believe in what the MTA is doing and how it contributes to the health and vitality of Los Angeles County," Leahy said. "It's a great place, and it ought to have a great transit system."
The MTA Board unanimously voted to give Leahy a four-year contract with a starting yearly salary of $310,000 plus a housing allowance of $20,000 -- about the same as Snoble's deal. Leahy earns $309,000 at OCTA, including salary, contributions to a retirement fund and an $8,000 transportation allowance.
All in the family
Leahy's mother and father met after World War II while both ran streetcars for the old Los Angeles Railway. As the streetcars vanished, Leahy's father moved to buses and eventually became a driving instructor.
"At this point we're in the post-World War II boom of cheap fuel and freeway construction," Leahy recalled. "I don't think people were especially concerned about the streetcars at the time. I recall they would say things like it's a 20-minute trip downtown on the Hollywood Freeway. No one anticipated the congestion that would emerge."
Looking for work in the early 1970s, Leahy decided to try his hand at driving a bus and was trained by his father. He started at $18 a day and ended up driving several routes around Los Angeles for three years.
"Bus driving is a tough way to make a living," Leahy said. "There's the issue of managing heavy equipment in an uncontrolled environment while collecting fares and talking to customers. I became a much more determined student because of it and I realized I needed an education. Going through bus driver training was my equivalent of going to boot camp."
Leahy eventually earned a degree from USC and was hired to work in community relations and study the efficiency of bus routes for the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which would evolve into the MTA. He later was put in charge of operating the bus system and the new rail system that the MTA was building.
In 2001, his experience in rail was a draw when he began in Orange County, where officials hoped to build the so-called Centerline light rail system. But the $1-billion project never found federal funding or gained support from voters or public officials. It was shelved in 2005 after OCTA officials had spent $63 million planning the line over the previous dozen years.
Leahy fared better with other projects. Working mostly on the roads side, the agency purchased the 91 toll lanes and widened both the 5 and 22 freeways, with improvements on several others. OCTA also began upgrading Metrolink commuter rail service so that by 2010 it would run every half hour in Orange County for most of day, with more parking, new transit villages at stations and improved bus service to nearby cities.
Many of the projects were paid for with the renewal of a half-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax backed by Leahy and passed by voters in 2006. In a an area famously known for a severe distaste of taxes, Leahy and other politicians persuaded each city in Orange County to support it.
Challenges ahead
By contrast, the half-cent sales tax hike passed last fall in Los Angeles County to help fund new MTA projects was controversial from the get-go, and many cities fought it because of parochial battles.
There are, in fact, more than a few challenges for Leahy, including:
* Negotiating a labor contract -- the current pact expires in June -- with about 8,000 MTA employees, including bus and rail operators and mechanics. Leahy struck a deal with OCTA bus drivers in 2007, but it came after a 10-day strike.
* Replacing $409 million in state money lost as part of the recent budget adopted by the Legislature. If the agency's own budget can't be trimmed or federal money found, significant service cuts may result.
* Building the dozens of projects promised to voters as part of the sales tax campaign while avoiding raiding those funds for day-to-day operations. Among those projects are the Westside subway extension and getting the Expo Line to Santa Monica and the Gold Line to Azusa.
"A federal transportation bill is going to be reauthorized this year, and all indications are that this administration is going to place a heavier emphasis on public transit than in the past," said Ed McSpedon, who previously oversaw rail construction for the MTA and is now a senior vice president at the engineering firm HNTB. "We have to be plugged in and make sure enough of that money comes here."
Many observers predict that Leahy will be able to navigate the politics because he's already familiar with the terrain. They also say that his bottom-up approach to learning transit will serve him well in a region where the vast majority of public officials never set foot on a bus or train unless it's for a photo op.
Leahy said that in his current job at OCTA he still likes to go for a drink after work at the Santa Ana train station and make sure the buses are arriving and departing on time. That's a hobby that may serve him well in Los Angeles, where an MTA survey last year found its buses are tardy much more often than buses run by nine other major transit agencies
Leahy is currently the top transit official in Orange County, but will soon take the reins of one of the nation's largest transportation agencies, with a $3.4-billion budget, 9,775 full- and part-time employees and nearly 486 million boardings on its buses and trains last year. He replaces Roger Snoble, who is retiring after seven-plus years on the job.
In choosing Leahy, 60, the MTA board has settled on a leader who is a 38-year transit veteran. But he has spent the last eight years in a county that has a higher percentage of commuters who drive to work alone than in Los Angeles County (77.4% versus 72.3%), a lower percentage who take mass transit to work (3% versus 7%) and a smaller proportion of commuters who carpool (11.3% versus 11.6%), according to the Census Bureau.
The move is also a coming home of sorts: Leahy began his career at the MTA but was unceremoniously fired in 1996 during a management shake-up by then-Chief Executive Joseph Drew. Leahy learned that he had been sacked after coming home from a transit conference in Kansas City and finding a notice taped to the front door of his home.
(As it happened, Drew only lasted nine months at the MTA before he quit, citing infighting and "hypercriticism" of his performance -- both indicative of the often-fiery politics that surround the MTA.)
Leahy went on to head the Minneapolis-St. Paul transit agency and help build a light rail line there before assuming the top job in Orange County in 2001 to help bring rail to the suburbs.
"Obviously, I was not the person to take the organization where he wanted it to go," Leahy said of Drew in a recent interview. "Even though it was difficult for me, I respected his right to do that and I'm much better prepared to be CEO because my experience is richer."
Leahy said the MTA job was attractive because of the size of the agency and its mission -- plus the fact that the agency is based in Los Angeles, where he grew up. "I believe in transit, and I believe in what the MTA is doing and how it contributes to the health and vitality of Los Angeles County," Leahy said. "It's a great place, and it ought to have a great transit system."
The MTA Board unanimously voted to give Leahy a four-year contract with a starting yearly salary of $310,000 plus a housing allowance of $20,000 -- about the same as Snoble's deal. Leahy earns $309,000 at OCTA, including salary, contributions to a retirement fund and an $8,000 transportation allowance.
All in the family
Leahy's mother and father met after World War II while both ran streetcars for the old Los Angeles Railway. As the streetcars vanished, Leahy's father moved to buses and eventually became a driving instructor.
"At this point we're in the post-World War II boom of cheap fuel and freeway construction," Leahy recalled. "I don't think people were especially concerned about the streetcars at the time. I recall they would say things like it's a 20-minute trip downtown on the Hollywood Freeway. No one anticipated the congestion that would emerge."
Looking for work in the early 1970s, Leahy decided to try his hand at driving a bus and was trained by his father. He started at $18 a day and ended up driving several routes around Los Angeles for three years.
"Bus driving is a tough way to make a living," Leahy said. "There's the issue of managing heavy equipment in an uncontrolled environment while collecting fares and talking to customers. I became a much more determined student because of it and I realized I needed an education. Going through bus driver training was my equivalent of going to boot camp."
Leahy eventually earned a degree from USC and was hired to work in community relations and study the efficiency of bus routes for the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which would evolve into the MTA. He later was put in charge of operating the bus system and the new rail system that the MTA was building.
In 2001, his experience in rail was a draw when he began in Orange County, where officials hoped to build the so-called Centerline light rail system. But the $1-billion project never found federal funding or gained support from voters or public officials. It was shelved in 2005 after OCTA officials had spent $63 million planning the line over the previous dozen years.
Leahy fared better with other projects. Working mostly on the roads side, the agency purchased the 91 toll lanes and widened both the 5 and 22 freeways, with improvements on several others. OCTA also began upgrading Metrolink commuter rail service so that by 2010 it would run every half hour in Orange County for most of day, with more parking, new transit villages at stations and improved bus service to nearby cities.
Many of the projects were paid for with the renewal of a half-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax backed by Leahy and passed by voters in 2006. In a an area famously known for a severe distaste of taxes, Leahy and other politicians persuaded each city in Orange County to support it.
Challenges ahead
By contrast, the half-cent sales tax hike passed last fall in Los Angeles County to help fund new MTA projects was controversial from the get-go, and many cities fought it because of parochial battles.
There are, in fact, more than a few challenges for Leahy, including:
* Negotiating a labor contract -- the current pact expires in June -- with about 8,000 MTA employees, including bus and rail operators and mechanics. Leahy struck a deal with OCTA bus drivers in 2007, but it came after a 10-day strike.
* Replacing $409 million in state money lost as part of the recent budget adopted by the Legislature. If the agency's own budget can't be trimmed or federal money found, significant service cuts may result.
* Building the dozens of projects promised to voters as part of the sales tax campaign while avoiding raiding those funds for day-to-day operations. Among those projects are the Westside subway extension and getting the Expo Line to Santa Monica and the Gold Line to Azusa.
"A federal transportation bill is going to be reauthorized this year, and all indications are that this administration is going to place a heavier emphasis on public transit than in the past," said Ed McSpedon, who previously oversaw rail construction for the MTA and is now a senior vice president at the engineering firm HNTB. "We have to be plugged in and make sure enough of that money comes here."
Many observers predict that Leahy will be able to navigate the politics because he's already familiar with the terrain. They also say that his bottom-up approach to learning transit will serve him well in a region where the vast majority of public officials never set foot on a bus or train unless it's for a photo op.
Leahy said that in his current job at OCTA he still likes to go for a drink after work at the Santa Ana train station and make sure the buses are arriving and departing on time. That's a hobby that may serve him well in Los Angeles, where an MTA survey last year found its buses are tardy much more often than buses run by nine other major transit agencies
