Railer Tom Margro to head Orange Co tollroads
Posted Fri, 2007-06-08 08:54
The Orange County Toll Roads are getting a prominent railman, Thomas Margro as chief executive. He has been appointed to succeed Bill Woollett who is retiring. Margro, 62, has been in charge of the BART passenger rail service in the San Francisco area since 1996. Before that he was head of development and #2 at BART. Margro had been #2 at SEPTA the Philadelephia area transit outfit.
Margro negotiated a $225k/year salary at the Transportation Corridors Agencies (TCA) as the Orange County Toll Roads are legally titled. (Mention that title in Orange County and you get a blank stare.)
The last railer we can think of who came into tollroads was Jack Hartman who came from the Chicago Transit Authority to head up the Illinois Tollway in 2003. By all accounts he did a terrific job. He resigned in March 2006 over his $127k salary, which was a fraction of what he could get in the private sector.
Most CEO salaries for US toll authorities are now in the range $160k to $250k. Salaries are held down by the political nature of the job in many states, where it is seen as merely a temporary perch between political appointments.
Foothill South a Margro priority
In a press statement Margro said his number one priority will be completion of the Foothill tolllroad to link with I-5 in San Clemente. There is a missing 26km (16 miles) which has strong local support but is facing opposition from small but noisy environmentalist groups and footdragging federal agencies.
The Orange County Toll Roads include the Foothill/Eastern in the eastern part of the county and the San Joaquin Hills (CA73) close to the coast. They total 82km (51 miles) and are mostly 2x3 lanes. The system was designed in the late 1980s after the state devolved the initiative including funding for new highways to counties. Some counties imposed sales taxes but Orange county decided on tolls.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-06-08
Margro negotiated a $225k/year salary at the Transportation Corridors Agencies (TCA) as the Orange County Toll Roads are legally titled. (Mention that title in Orange County and you get a blank stare.)
The last railer we can think of who came into tollroads was Jack Hartman who came from the Chicago Transit Authority to head up the Illinois Tollway in 2003. By all accounts he did a terrific job. He resigned in March 2006 over his $127k salary, which was a fraction of what he could get in the private sector.Most CEO salaries for US toll authorities are now in the range $160k to $250k. Salaries are held down by the political nature of the job in many states, where it is seen as merely a temporary perch between political appointments.
Foothill South a Margro priority
In a press statement Margro said his number one priority will be completion of the Foothill tolllroad to link with I-5 in San Clemente. There is a missing 26km (16 miles) which has strong local support but is facing opposition from small but noisy environmentalist groups and footdragging federal agencies.
The Orange County Toll Roads include the Foothill/Eastern in the eastern part of the county and the San Joaquin Hills (CA73) close to the coast. They total 82km (51 miles) and are mostly 2x3 lanes. The system was designed in the late 1980s after the state devolved the initiative including funding for new highways to counties. Some counties imposed sales taxes but Orange county decided on tolls.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-06-08