Artiste of the Turnaround

When a new chief executive takes the wheel of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Oct. 1, it will mean more than a change at the top. It will be a sign of how much the MTA itself has changed.

The last time the MTA board tried to hire a leader, no one would touch the job. That was in 1997, and then-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan ended up tapping an old friend from the business world to run the troubled agency. To a surprising extent, corporate overhaul specialist Julian Burke succeeded in turning the MTA around.

Sure, Burke’s long career included cleaning up a corrupt pension fund, selling off the assets of a bankrupt railroad, reviving two major insurance companies and managing failed savings and loans for the federal government. But the MTA four years ago was a real mess.

The agency was in the midst of building what would become the most expensive 17 miles of subway in U.S. history, and its reputation had sunk lower than the construction-triggered sinkhole that opened on Hollywood Boulevard. The buckled streets, the methane gas explosions, the design missteps, lax enforcement of construction rules, the burgeoning budget and continual delays finally led county voters to ban the use of the transit sales tax for any more subways.

And that was just for starters. Bus riders took the agency to court for running too few buses, too many of them subject to breakdowns and delays. They won, placing the MTA under a court order to improve service.

It was not the kind of job likely to lure a 70-year-old out of semiretirement. But Burke, who thought he would stay for four to six months at the most, rose to the challenge.

His four years as “temporary” chief executive has not all been smooth riding. He failed to head off a strike by bus drivers and train operators that left transit-dependent commuters stranded for 32 days. The MTA continues to butt heads with the Bus Riders Union over the consent decree. But his success at settling down the giant agency and bringing stability to its finances and management has helped restore its reputation in Washington and Sacramento. His goals were plain but doable, and under his direction the MTA replaced dilapidated buses with new ones, began a successful high-tech Rapid Bus system and won approval for busways and a new light-rail line. He brought the last leg of the Metro Red Line to the San Fernando Valley on time and within budget.

There are plenty of challenges left, of course, for incoming MTA Chief Executive Roger Snoble, whose work as head of the Dallas transit agency garnered national recognition. If he thought it was hard to get Texans out of their cars, wait until he encounters Angelenos. That he is willing to take on the job at all is testimony to Burke’s achievements.