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Exit Interview: Metro CEO Snoble Oversaw Unprecedented Expansion of Transit Service

After seven years on the job, outgoing Metro CEO Roger Snoble is rightfully proud of a long list of accomplishments during his time at the helm of the largest public transit agency in the United States, including completion of the Orange Line busway, expansion of the Gold Line, groundbreaking on the Expo Line, the purchase of an entire fleet of clean fuel buses, and voter approval of critical transportation funding mechanisms, especially Measure R, as just a few examples. In order to honor and document his tenure and look to Metro’s future, MIR presents the following exclusive exit interview with Roger Snoble.

Published Wednesday June 3, 2009

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Roger Snoble

You are retiring after more than seven years as the CEO of Metro L.A. We do this interview with you to put on record your legacy—your contributions to the changing transportation landscape of L.A. What are you most proud of from your tenure?

It’s been a great ride. The first that I am very proud of is having brought a culture of safety back to Metro. We’ve reduced accidents and done a huge amount to assure the safety of our customers and employees.

Beyond that, we made improvements to the bus system, with the Rapid buses and all the new buses we have that are either CNG or Hybrid buses. They are good-looking and serviceable buses. I am very happy with how we have put together a much better bus system than we previously had.

There were other things, like opening up the Orange Line. It has been a huge success. The Gold Line opening and operating has been very rewarding. The construction of the Gold Line’s Eastside extension is probably the best federally funded project in the country. It has over 3.8 million hours of workload without a lost-time accident, which is a phenomenal record. There has been an overall improvement in the image of the organization, which has earned the trust of the public. That is embodied in the passage of Measure R, which is the vision for how we are going to be able to move around in Los Angeles County going forward.

Is there anything left for your successor at Metro to do?