It’s official: Jameson Auten starts at LTD

by Pat Walsh, Lane Transit District

Jameson T. Auten, LTD’s new Chief Executive Officer, officially begins his tenure with the District today.

“Lane Transit District is highly respected nationally,” Auten said. “I am pleased to join and lead the LTD team and I look forward to working with our communities to deliver customer-centric services that provide community value and are developed with community input. Our mission is to connect our communities in a fiscally responsible, environmentally sustainable, equitable, and transparent manner.”

Auten leads an agency with an annual operating budget of $56.8 million. LTD has more than 325 employees, 30-fixed bus routes, three bus rapid transit routes, and 100 buses, including 30 that will be battery-electric powered in the first quarter of 2023, while the remaining 70 buses operate on R99 renewable diesel fuel.

“Today, the district begins a new chapter in public transit,” said Caitlin Vargas, president, LTD board of directors. “We welcome Jameson and his family to the community and look forward to working with him and staff to chart a fresh route for public transit in the communities LTD serves.”

After an extensive national executive search, the LTD board of directors voted unanimously in August to hire Auten. He comes to the district from the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), where he served as the agency’s deputy CEO/COO.

A 20-year career vet, Auten has held a variety of key leadership positions with KCATA and with the Greater Richmond Transit System (GRTC). He also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Public Transportation Association in addition to serving in a voluntary role with the National Academies of Sciences.

He replaces Mark Johnson, who has served as LTD’s interim general manager since August 2021, when Aurora (AJ) Jackson resigned from the district’s top spot to accept a position in the private sector. Johnson will continue with LTD through Auten’s transition.