Alameda Corridor Agency Leader Accepts Port Post; Interim Chief Executive Officer is Named.

News Editors

LOS ANGELES COUNTY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 2003

The Chief Executive Officer of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA), James C. Hankla, said he will leave the agency Tuesday to accept an appointment to the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Hankla, the former Long Beach city manager who joined ACTA as CEO in 1998, said his resignation would become effective Tuesday, the day he is scheduled to be sworn in as a harbor commissioner.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, chairwoman of the ACTA Governing Board, said Director of Construction and Engineering John Doherty has been named interim CEO until a permanent successor is selected by the Governing Board. "Under Jim's leadership ACTA was able to usher in a multi-billion dollar project which is the model of efficiency. While the initial corridor has been completed, there are ongoing projects for ACTA to tackle and we trust that Mr. Doherty will lead us in the right direction."

Doherty has been a member of the Alameda Corridor team for eight years, serving as director of construction for the agency's construction management joint venture Alameda Corridor Engineering Team (ACET) before being named ACTA's director of construction and engineering in February. Doherty has 35 years' experience in the industry, performing consulting roles on the Metrolink Commuter Rail Project, the Honolulu Rapid Transit Development Project and the California High Speed Rail Study with DMJM + HARRIS and Morrison-Knudsen. Doherty was formerly the vice president of operations of the Long Island Railroad, the nation's largest commuter railroad, where he served 24 years in various capacities.

Hankla was appointed to the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on June 10 by Mayor Beverly O'Neill. The Long Beach City Council confirmed the nomination on June 17.

Opened in April 2001, the $2.4 billion Alameda Corridor consolidated four branch rail lines into a high-speed freight rail expressway stretching 20 miles between the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the rail yards near downtown Los Angeles. It eliminated conflicts at more than 200 street-level railroad crossings, thereby reducing traffic congestion and air pollution. ACTA is a joint powers agency formed by the cities and ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The agency continues to work on projects that enhance the benefits of the Alameda Corridor. For example, ACTA is working under a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Transportation to manage design and construction of the $107 million Pacific Coast Highway Grade Separation in Wilmington. The volume of cargo moving through the ports is expected to approximately double in the next 10 years, making additional improvements to the transportation system critical.

"The Alameda Corridor has become a model for the on-time and on-budget completion of major public works projects," Hankla said. "The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority is well-positioned to continue the work of making port-related cargo movements more efficient while minimizing the traffic congestion and air quality impacts on local communities."