New Transit Head.

With well-respected Julian Burke announcing last week that he plans to step down as chief executive of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the MTA's 15-member board is once again in executive search mode.

The agency is not quite the basket case it was when Burke was named to the position three and a half years ago. Then, the MTA was on the brink of financial meltdown as a result of the billions of dollars it had poured into building subways. Burke quickly brought spending under control and helped shift the agency's focus towards improving the bus system.

They may be big shoes to fill, but already a couple names have surfaced as possible successors to Burke. One is James Hankla, chief executive of the authority overseeing construction of the Alameda Corridor, the $2.4 billion rail project connecting the ports with the railyards southeast of downtown. Hankla, who was previously Long Beach city manager and before that chief administrative officer for L.A. County.

But Hankla has never run a bus system. That's not a handicap of the other rumored candidate: John Catoe, chief executive of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus system. Although much smaller than the MTA, the Big Blue Bus operation has the enviable reputation of being one of the most reliable, well-run bus systems in the state.

In announcing he will step down, Burke said he would wait until a successor is found and set no firm deadline for that search being concluded. However, local transit experts say that one likely deadline is June 30, the day L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan leaves office. It was Riordan who brought in Burke to help stabilize the MTA. The thinking goes that Riordan would like to leave a legacy of ensuring a smooth transition in MTA leadership for the first time in its 8-year history.