17 May 2006

ARTA's CEO Takes Up New Position

The Chair of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) Brian Roche, today announced with regret the resignation of ARTA’s Chief Executive Alan Thompson. Mr Thompson has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive and Secretary for Transport, Ministry of Transport, in Wellington.

Mr Roche said he, the ARTA Board and ARTA staff were saddened by the resignation of Mr Thompson who, he said, “has developed and guided ARTA with great vision and leadership since its inception in December 2004.

“However we also see that this is a great opportunity for Mr Thompson to extend his career, and he has an excellent understanding of Auckland transport issues. This can only be viewed positively in terms of Wellington and Auckland working closely together towards a resolution of Auckland’s transport problems”, said Mr Roche.

During his time at ARTA, Mr Thompson has overseen the introduction of a number of improvements to Auckland’s transport system. These include:

The introduction of improved train timetables in 2005 which have boosted train services by around 50%. This has already led to a month on month increase in train patronage of 30% with a high of 545,000 passenger journeys reached in March this year;

The introduction of the new Northern Express Bus Services in November 2005 which provided express services from the North Shore to Britomart for the first time. In a short five months of service, patronage on the Northern Express has grown by 200% and the original fifteen minute frequency at peak time has been moved to every ten minutes to cope with demand.

Mr Thompson also oversaw the development of ARTA’s new draft Passenger Transport Network Plan, which will provide a comprehensive high quality passenger transport system for the Auckland region and provide a real alternative to car travel for many journeys by 2016.

Mr Thompson, a civil engineer by training, has extensive transport sector experience and previously held the position of Chief Executive of the Australian Capital Territory Department of Urban Services. The Department is responsible for managing passenger transport, roading and other municipal functions servicing the needs of some 340,000 Canberrans.

Mr Thompson has also held Chief Executive and Chair positions for a number of public service organisations in the State of Victoria.

Mr Thompson takes up his new position in the next two months. During this time the ARTA Board will commence the process of recruiting for a new Chief Executive for ARTA.

ENDS

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