personnel

Joseph P Doherty is new group president of all the government business units of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), the largest customer service provider for the E-ZPass electronic toll system. Doherty is a 20 year veteran of the US Navy, but more recently spend ten years at Computer Sciences Corp where he rose to preisdent of the Americas Division.  

The government business group of ACS where toll systems support is located has its major offices in Washington DC and the Maryland suburbs.

Michael Huerta still rules tolls

Michael LaPolla, 51, executive director is leaving the New Jersey Turnpike for an undisclosed job in the private sector. LaPolla says he's most proud of the job he did in "fixing E-ZPass." He also presided over the Turnpike Authority's takeover of the Garden State Parkway and managed to administer the Turnpike without scandal or fuss for almost exactly six years.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has nominated two businessmen to the board of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission that operates the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the 39km (24 mile) pier style 2+2 lane bridge over the tidal Lake that links New Orleans directly to the north.

Norman Wartman one of the original members of Miami Dade Expressway Authority is back. This guy was a non-stop generator of ideas, a one-man thinktank, an unabashed enthusiast for tollroads, scourge of the rail fantasists, impatient with more timid no-can-do timings-not-right colleagues, and talk about outspoken!

Texas governor Rick Perry has nominated a former political aide Deirdre Delisi and a Fort Worth businessman and NTTA commissioner William Meadows to the Texas Transportation Commission which controls major decisions of the Texas DOT. The governor's office said he has "appointed" the two but the state Senate has to confirm the nominations.

Three professionals are joining the mostly Australian-owned toll systems supplier Transtoll Inc in their Carlsbad CA technical center. They are:

- Rick Carrier, quality assurance and testing, experience in several toll systems projects

- Joseph Erbacher, systems engineer familiar with RF, VOIP, GPS

- Steve Attebery, senior software engineer, longtime toll lane systems specialist

The sex drive is complicating transportation policymaking in Atlanta GA. Georgia's State Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans has resigned and Gena Abraham, CEO of the state DOT and of the State Toll Authority has been reprimanded for a love affair.

Abraham, 39 is a divorcee with a son, and Evans, 47 is a divorcee with two daughters.

Elliot Spitzer's man at the Port Authority NYNJ, Executive Director Anthony Shorris has been sent packing by the new Governor David Paterson in a familiar game of political musical chairs. He handed in his "resignation" today as gubernatorial aides said his likely replacement is Christopher O Ward.

The Ohio Turnpike Commission has formally voted in Democrat State Representative George Distel, 55, as their new executive director replacing Republican Gary Suhadolnik. Suhadolnik was asked to resign last month as part of the Republican-Democrat transition following the last elections.

After five terms Distel was being term-limited out of the state assembly at year's end.

Friday afternoon Massachusetts Turnpike chief Alan LeBovidge fired four top officers of the Authority:

- Ann Journeay, chief financial officer

- Robert Cole, head toll operations

- George Reed, director human resources

- Paul Anderson, head of employee relations