‘Timing is everything’ as Jameson Auten reaches out to LTD about GM position

LTD Board Enters Negotiations With GM Candidate

by Patrick Walsh, Lane Transit District

EUGENE, Ore. —(August 4, 2022)— The Lane Transit District (LTD) Board of Directors voted unanimously at its August 3 work session to enter negotiations with Jameson Auten, Deputy CEO/Chief Operating Officer with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), who was offered the District’s General Manager position at the end of May but withdrew from consideration.

“Timing is everything,” said Caitlin Vargas, LTD’s President of its Board of Directors. “When Jameson reached out to us to say he was still very interested in coming to LTD, we made a decision to suspend our current executive search, including employee and community forums scheduled in early September, to offer him the position and to enter into negotiations.”

Auten told the board of directors that the timing to make a move to LTD has now lined up for him professionally and personally.

Since 2012, Auten has held a variety of key leadership positions with KCATA, including Sr. Vice President of Operations and Innovation, Vice President of Regional Service Delivery and Innovation Division, Chief Transportation Officer, and Director of ADA Compliance and Customer Relations. Prior to joining KCATA, he was with Greater Richmond (VA) TC Transit System as Director of Specialized Services and was Executive Director of RideFinders.

Active in the community, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Goodwill Industries of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas and is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Public Transportation Association. Auten has an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania (PennWest).

Auten is expected to start as LTD General Manager in the next few months.

About Lane Transit District (LTD)

Lane Transit District (LTD) is a special district of the State of Oregon led by a seven-member volunteer board of directors appointed by Oregon’s governor. LTD’s budget is funded through a combination of fares, taxes paid by local employers and employees, and from state and federal sources. LTD lives its mission to connect our community by delivering more than 5 million annual passenger boardings from 30 fixed bus routes and two EmX Bus Rapid Transit lines. LTD’s paratransit service, RideSource, provides more than 250,000 trips annually for people with disabilities and Medicaid recipients. More information about LTD is at www.LTD.org.