PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
In May, The San Diego
Metropolitan Transit
System (MTS) Board of
Directors unanimously
appointed Sharon
Cooney to take over as
chief executive officer
for the agency. Cooney
takes over for Paul
Jablonksi who passed
away suddenly on Sunday,
May 10. Cooney is the first
woman CEO in the history
of the organization.
Sharon Cooney
“Sharon has all the
qualities to manage a large transit agency like MTS,” said
MTS Board Chair and San Diego County Supervisor Nathan
Fletcher. “At no time in the history of MTS has there been a
clearer need for strong and reliable leadership. Sharon brings
passion, institutional knowledge, and a track record of success
to the job. She has been performing at a high level as deputy
chief executive officer and chief of staff for years. The entire
board is confident that Sharon is the right person to keep MTS
as one of the nation’s top transit agencies.”
“I am honored that the board expressed confidence in
me,” Cooney said. “I think the board also understands that
Mr. Jablonski assembled one of the best staffs in the entire
country. I am lucky to have been mentored by one of the
nation’s most respected transit leaders and to have a group of
professionals that are absolutely dedicated to advancing public
transit in San Diego. We are all ready to take on the challenges
today and into the future.”
Cooney has held many top-level positions at MTS during her
15-year career including the director of government affairs,
director of planning, chief of staff and deputy chief executive
officer. She has been integral to the success of two of San
Diego’s larges t infrastructure projects ever accomplished,
the Trolley Renewal Project ($660 million) and the Mid-
Coast Trolley Extension Project ($2.1 billion). Other regionally
significant projects she has worked on or is currently working
on include:
• New Rapid Network: San Diego’s first high frequency
limited stop bus network
• PRONTO – the agency’s Next Generation Fare Collection
System, $35 million investment that is launching 2021
• Elevate SD 2020: One of the largest public outreach efforts
taking place in San Diego to develop a shared vision for
transit in San Diego
• The recent Transit Optimization Plan, an effort to further
align the MTS system with market demand
She takes over an agency that provides transit service in
10 cities in the region, including much of the unincorporated
area of the county totaling more than 3,200 square miles. MTS
operates 54 miles of double-tracked light rail and more than
95 fixed routes, paratransit services, taxicab administration
and oversight freight rail lines. MTS and its contracted services
employs more than 2,800 people.
Cooney previously worked as a staff officer for the County of San
Diego’s office of strategy and intergovernmental affairs, as the legislative
director for former San Diego County Supervisor Rob Roberts.
Her appointment comes on the heels of the Board’s
unanimous approval of the FY 2021 budget. It’s a $346 million
spending plan that is relying on COVID-19 federal stimulus
funds to restore service and balance the budget, and provides
a $1,000 essential service worker stipend for all employees.
“While we will have significant budget challenges ahead,
MTS will be receiving about $220 million in CARES Act funding
from the federal government, which will help us keep high
service levels for our most vulnerable residents,” Fletcher said.
“Over the last 15 years, MTS has put itself in a strong financial
position with a healthy reserve. This will pay dividends as the
economy heals.”
Budget highlights include:
• Returning to near full service levels in early summer
o To maintain distancing goals amid increasing ridership levels.
o UC San Diego Blue Line service will be restored to all-day
seven-minute service by June 14.
o Bus routes start most regular summer service by late June.
o Some service levels to closed facilities would remain
suspended (i.e. colleges, SeaWorld, etc.).
o I-15 commuter routes would increase to approx. 50 percent
of regular schedule.
• CARES Act (federal stimulus funding): $135 million of $220
million total apportioned to MTS (61 percent) will be used to
balance budgets for FY20 and FY21.
• Passenger revenue is anticipated to improve each month but
not back to 100 percent of baseline in FY21.
• Overall ridership is down 70 percent from Fall 2019; week of
April 6 was low point
• MTS reserve balance at $37.8 million
RATP Dev USA, the North American subsidiary of the global
transportation provider, announced the appointment of Arnaud
Legrand, former chief executive officer of Bombela Operating
Company (BOC), as the chief executive officer of RATP Dev USA.
“I am delighted that Arnaud Legrand has joined RATP Dev USA’s
team,” said Mehdi Sinaceur, RATP Dev’s senior vice president –
Americas, South Africa, United Kingdom Business Unit. “With over
20 years of international experience in the transport sector and
more than 10 years at RATP Group, Arnaud brings RATP Dev USA
his proven leadership and the highest standards of performance to
take our teams and operations to an even higher level.”
Legrand brings with him an impressive scope of operational and
managerial expertise. He directed technical teams and projects
for 21 years in complex transit operations, such as railway tests
and aeronautical maintenance. During his time in the aeronautical
and railway industries, his career was bolstered by international
influences; he commissioned and developed international industrial
partnerships. Arnaud Legrand joined RATP Group in 2008 as
the deputy general manager of RER B, one of Paris’ regional
trains, completing over 165 million journeys per year. In 2010, he
was named RATP Dev’s executive vice president for Africa and
America, deputy to the executive vice president for Africa and
America within RATP Dev, which at the time, managed over 80
transport operating companies. In 2013, he was appointed chief
executive officer of RATP Dev’s subsidiary (BOC) in Johannesburg,
South Africa, leading the Operations and Maintenance of the
Gautrain Transport System.
Legrand is an experienced transportation business leader
with demonstrated project management skills and outstanding
industrial and technical background.
30 | BUSRIDE.COM | JULY 2020