Council’s O’Connor now in driver’s seat with the MTA board
DOWNTOWN Her love of public transportation can be traced to her childhood in Chicago, where City Council member Pam O’Connor would hop aboard a bus or a train and travel through the city with her mother and her siblings, discovering hidden gems.
As the newly selected chair of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), O’Connor has her sights set on providing the public the same opportunities she had as a child to explore different communities throughout the region, and do it by riding on one of the most environmentally friendly fleets in the country.
“I’m hoping for us to move forward in a more coordinated manner and help the organization become greener and more sustainable,” said O’Connor, who has served on the metro board since 2001, representing the Westside and South Bay Cities, whose combined population approaches one million. “The agency has already done a lot by creating one of the largest clean fuel fleets in the U.S., but there is more that we can do, such as addressing (state-mandated) green house gas emissions targets.
“We definitely want to take it to the next level.”
O’Connor became the chair of the metro board on Sunday, replacing Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who completed her one-year term as chair.
In addition to serving on the board, O’Connor, who has served on the City Council since 1994, also represents Santa Monica on the Exposition Light Rail Construction Authority board, which is dedicated to building a light rail system from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Phase one of that project broke ground in 2006, and O’Connor is committed to seeing it through to Santa Monica.
In addition to being an advocate for the Expo line, O’Connor said she will encourage transit-oriented developments around transit hubs to bring people closer to their places of employment.
She has also committed herself to riding public transit regularly to hear firsthand from riders what she and her colleagues can do to improve service.
“I am passionate about transportation and mobility,” said O’Connor, who works on policy issues with the League of California Cities, the National League of Cities, the Local Government Commission and the American Public Transportation Association.
Since 1997, she has been a member of the Southern California Association of Governments and is chair of their regional Comprehensive Plan Task Force.
As chair, O’Connor will be responsible for running meetings and assigning members to various committees. The 13-member board is comprised of the five county supervisors, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his three appointees, and four representatives from more than 80 cities served by the MTA.
Metro is one of the largest transportation agencies in the U.S. and provides more than 85 percent of all public transit in L.A. County. It operates the bus system, which consists of more than 2,200 peak-hour buses covering a 1,433 square mile service area. Metro also operates the 73.1-mile rail system. As the region’s primary transportation planner, MTA also funds such programs as the region’s paratransit services, bikeways, street and freeway improvements and the MTA freeway service patrol, which aids stranded motorists for free, according to MTA officials.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 4, 2007. Read the original PDF.