OCTA's Leahy tapped to head L.A. Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) board of directors named Arthur T. Leahy to serve as the agency’s new CEO, effective April 6. 

One of the nation’s leading transportation executives, who started out as a bus driver in Los Angeles 38 years ago, Leahy has led the Orange County (Calif.) Transportation Authority (OCTA) for the past eight years, where he has overseen planning, financing and coordination for Orange County’s freeway, street and transit development, as well as managed the 12th busiest bus system in the country, last year, along with commuter rail and paratransit services, among other transportation programs.

"We conducted a nationwide search to find the brightest and most innovative leaders in transportation," said Mayor and Metro Board Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa. "I am happy to say that we have found that leader in Art Leahy. Art will lead the efforts to reduce congestion and expand public transportation in Los Angeles County and ensure that funding from the federal stimulus package and Measure R goes toward creating a sustainable future for Los Angeles.”

Leahy began his transit career in 1971 driving a bus for the Southern California Rapid Transit District, a predecessor of Metro, while attending college. He worked his way up through the ranks to head operations for Metro, overseeing bus operations and activation of the Metro Blue Line, before taking a chief executive job in Minneapolis.

Leahy was selected by the Metro Board following a two-month nationwide search and given a four-year contract.