Interim SFMTA chief has transit ‘chops’
San Francisco has a new interim transportation chief to oversee its multigenerational stock of Muni vehicles, its expanding skein of bike lanes, and its menagerie of twowheeled devices, among other things.
Board directors for the Municipal Transportation Agency have picked Tom Maguire, a fiveyear staffer who began his career in New York, to take the reins in August. He’ll head the sprawling bureaucracy while the board searches for a permanent leader to replace Ed Reiskin, who will step down when his contract expires next month.
Maguire is currently the director of SFMTA’s Sustainable Streets Division, which oversees pedestrian, bicycle and parking infrastructure, as well as streetlevel improvements to ease the way for buses and trains. Before joining the agency in 2014 he served as assistant commissioner of New York City’s Department of Transportation, where he worked closely with former Commissioner Janette SadikKhan, who is known for building a vast bicycle and pedestrian network across the five boroughs.
“We have great faith that he’ll keep the ship steady,” said the board’s vice chair, Gwyneth Borden. She and her colleagues are finalizing the job description for a new agency director, and they’ll seek public input at next Tuesday’s board meeting.
“What we’ve heard so far is that there’s a strong desire for the person to have transportation chops,” Borden said.
Reiskin, who took the post in 2011, was a newcomer to the transit world with plenty of experience running other embattled city departments. He had helmed the Department of Public Works and the 311 call center for complaints.
An avid cyclist and Muni rider with a penchant for wearing secondhand suits, Reiskin endeared himself to many but seemed to buckle under criticism from Mayor London Breed. She sent a series of letters to the agency last year, demanding more reliable transit service, a more transparent permitting process for escooters, accelerated construction of bike lane infrastructure and a better internal culture at SFMTA, where some employees complained of harassment and bullying.
Reiskin announced his resignation in April, days after a 10hour subway meltdown choked the city.
Borden and SFMTA board Chair Malcolm Heinicke praised Reiskin on Wednesday in a memo announcing Maguire’s appointment.
“For many of us, his calm, humble ‘leadership by example’ has been the model for what it means to be ‘called to public service,’ ” they wrote. “He has consistently demonstrated a keen sense of personal duty to build and operate a transportation system that is safe, sustainable and, perhaps above all, equitable, for all San Franciscans.”
They listed several notable accomplishments the agency made during Reiskin’s tenure, including the passage of a $500 million bond measure for transportation infrastructure, the creation of a rapid bus network, and the purchase of new biodieselelectric hybrid buses to replace aging vehicles.
Though Maguire is set to take over in August, Borden said he’ll effectively start the job next week, when Reiskin heads out for vacation.