Ron Tober, CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), will retire on Dec. 21 after a 38-year career in public transportation. Tober said he will focus his remaining time at CATS on the completion of the agency’s South Corridor light rail line.

Tober has been with CATS since 1999 and is credited with developing and promoting a long-term regional vision on transit services. “There has been tremendous expansion not only in the level but also the quality of bus service throughout Charlotte and the region,” said Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton.

Tober has also been instrumental in helping CATS develop its first light rail line, due to open for service later this year. “The South Corridor light rail project has transformed from a concept into reality, with Charlotte now recognized nationally as a model for the integration of transit and land use,” Walton said.

Before joining CATS, Tober was general manager for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. He has also served in executive positions at transit systems in Seattle and Miami and held key planning and operations posts in Boston, Chicago and Dallas.

Tober is a former chair of APTA and was named APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation Manager of the Year in 2005. Earlier this year, he received the North Carolina Governor’s Award from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for outstanding service to public transportation.

Charlotte city officials said a process for finding Tober’s replacement will be developed in the coming weeks.