DEL.ICIO.USWHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ... NATHANIEL FORD
Ex-MARTA chief: San Francisco job ‘totally different’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, August 25, 2008
When former MARTA CEO Nathaniel Ford resigned in late 2005 to take a job running San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, he knew he’d be in for a culture shock.
After all, he was leaving car-dependent, sprawled-out Atlanta for San Francisco, where transit takes center stage. Nearly everyone rides the train or bus. Residents boast about not having to own an automobile to get around the compact, walkable city.
KIMBERLY SMITH/2003 photo
Former MARTA chief Nathaniel Ford is in charge of San Francisco’s network of buses, trains, cable cars and street cars and holds other leadership posts.
Last November, San Francisco voters approved a measure to provide more funding for the MTA, expand the powers of its board and impose new limits on downtown parking.
That’s almost unthinkable in metro Atlanta, where criticizing MARTA is a public sport, and where suburban counties have long resisted joining the regional transit system.
San Francisco “is a very different environment,” Ford, 47, said in a telephone interview. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to compare Atlanta to San Francisco. They are totally different.”
In Atlanta, Ford found himself having to advocate for the very idea of public transportation.
“That is not necessary here,” he said. At the MTA, Ford said, “most of our time is spent focusing on how to improve public transit.”
In San Francisco, Ford is in charge of the city’s network of buses, trains, cable cars and street cars, known collectively as Muni. He also runs the city’s parking and traffic department and serves on several regional boards.
By running the city’s entire transportation show, Ford said, he’s in a great position to foster change and make lasting improvements. “It’s really exciting,” he said. “It’s definitely much more dynamic.”
As Ford nears the end of his third year in San Francisco, he’s winning fans for his decisive leadership style and his efforts to improve the city’s rail and bus service. Some observers, though, stress it’s far too early in Ford’s tenure to properly evaluate his performance.
“We’ve worked very closely with Nat Ford, and so far it looks like he’s doing a good job for us,” said Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of San Francisco Planning and Urban Research, a public policy think tank.
During the six years he led MARTA, Ford was credited with shoring up the system’s finances by making tough job and service cuts and by adopting innovative revenue-building strategies such as wrapping buses in ads and installing TV monitors in buses and rail cars.
His Atlanta years had a few rocky moments. He was criticized for dining in posh restaurants on the public dime at a time when MARTA was laying off workers and cutting bus routes. And Ford drew fire in 2002 for throwing a lavish holiday party for employees at Turner Field.
In San Francisco, Ford so far has avoided such gaffes, transit system watchers say.
And he’s been incredibly busy. Ford has reorganized the MTA’s leadership team, bringing in many of his own people including several from MARTA. He also has restructured the operations staff, placing more supervisors in the field to help improve the system’s on-time performance.
Ford is overseeing the construction of a subway tunnel and leading an effort to make the transit system more efficient by devoting more resources to the most popular routes and cutting the least traveled bus lines.
“It makes for a very exciting mixture of responsibilities for me,” Ford said. “As we deal with issues that all urban cities deal with — congestion, travel times — we have a very holistic approach towards it.”
The MTA faces challenges, including a chronic need for more funding, an aging infrastructure and a riding public demanding better service.
Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, a nonprofit group that promotes sustainable transportation and land use in San Francisco, applauds Ford’s desire to improve Muni’s performance, but he worries the effort faces too many hurdles.
Muni “is a system that needs major reinvestment. [Ford] hasn’t found a political way to do that,” he said. “I think he’s doing the best he can with the operations, the part he can change most immediately.”
For Ford, the move to San Francisco is a homecoming of sorts. Earlier in his career, he worked as a manager for the Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority, a regional rail system.
Ford and his family have settled in San Francisco’s Presidio neighborhood. He and his wife have four children, two in college and two in middle school.
“We love it,” he said. “It’s a great city. It’s a progressive culture, a very creative culture out here. We enjoy it. … There’s never a dull moment in this city.”
Ford said in his spare time he likes to go to a farmers market held every Saturday in the city’s Ferry Building. He rides Muni all over the city to catch concerts, visit museums and take his kids to baseball games.
But he said he has fond memories of Atlanta, his home for eight years.
“We love Atlanta,” he said. “We still have family and friends there.”
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