MTA chief to retire

Snoble took the top job at the transportation agency seven years ago after a period of turmoil at the MTA, which faced cost overruns on rail lines it was building.

Snoble has overseen a rail building boom for the MTA, which is building an extension of the Gold Line to East Los Angeles and the Expo Line from downtown to Culver City. He was also involved in completion of the Orange Line busway from North Hollywood to Warner Center.

Although he won praise for those projects, he came under criticism when the MTA increased fares two year ago in a move some considered unfair to poor riders.

Snoble was a leading backer of Measure R, the sales tax hike approved by voters this fall to pay for transportation projects.

"After 43 years of public service in the transit industry, I think this is an opportune time to move on and pass the baton to another executive who will insure the implementation of Measure R," Snoble said in a statement. "I did a lot of soul-searching and decided it's in the best interest of the agency to have an executive on board soon who can commit the next four to five years in guiding the development of dozens of critical transit and highway projects that will be funded by the new sales tax, which will be collected starting next July."

Snoble was praised by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, both of whom serve on the MTA board, for bringing a steady hand to the agency.

"What was a troubled and moribund agency more than 10 years ago is now recognized as one of the highest-performing bus systems in the nation," Yaroslavsky said in a statement. "Eastside Gold Line and Exposition light rail line have been or are being built. With the passage of Measure R last month, Metro is poised to build the integrated public transit network that this region so desperately needs."