Art Leahy Interviewed (Metro Library and Archives/Creative Commons)

“It has been a thrill to be at Metro,” Leahy said. “We have done things no one else in the country has done.”

Garcetti praised Leahy for getting massive transit projects off the ground, including expansion of the Expo, Gold and Purple lines and the Regional Connector. The ceremony dedicated a bus maintenance yard to Leahy and his family. Leahy’s parents were both local streetcar operators.

His departure is mired in mild controversy. Rumors abound that his contract, which was set to expire in April, wasn’t going to be renewed. Reports of an unsatisfactory internal MTA audit of Leahy’s performance are swirling around several media outlets.

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He took over MTA in 2009 after an almost eight-year stint running the Orange County Transportation Authority.  Measure R, a half-cent countywide sales tax, juiced MTA coffers with a projected $30 billion, while a national recession threatened to dry up future federal funding.

Leahy, buoyed by public support for rail and freeway spending, proved an able steward of big-ticket line extensions, though projects have not always gone smoothly. Some have been near-disasters. 

L.A. Metro Crime (Danica Ceballos)

The first phase of the Expo Line launched in Spring 2012, two years late and millions of dollars over budget. Noise complaints and nagging safety issues tainted Phase 1 of the Expo Line—the portion that runs from Downtown L.A. to Culver City. 

Phase 2, however, which will extend the line to the Pacific Coast, is ahead of schedule, according to Metro officials.

Construction of a 10-mile carpool lane on the 405 freeway was plagued by delays and sour public opinion. Expensive and annoying, the extra lane is not even easing congestion. 

Leahy managed some of the biggest public works projects in the country, and merely completing them in the face of sludgy bureaucracy is impressive. 

Metro’s TAP program is somewhat of a black eye for the MTA chief. Rolled out in 2008, the universal fare card system is glitchy and dated, rife with broken card readers and confusing restrictions. 

Crime on trains and buses ticked up in 2012 and 2013, according to an independent audit released last year that used FBI crime reporting data. Robberies, for example, jumped 43 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to an L.A. Times report on the audit. Robberies and thefts on public transit are surging nationwide. 

Expo line rider Berenice Yang Gonzalez said it’s too easy for potential theives to board Expo Line trains. Many of them are at street level and don't have latched turnstiles.

Diane Tam, also an Expo line rider, said she normally feels safe on the train, but wishes there was more security. 

“I’ve seen people fighting, or one time there was someone who had their iPhone snatched,” she said. 

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s County Dept., which is in charge of policing MTA rail, signed a six-month contract renewal with Metro last November. 

Former Denver Transit chief Phillip Washington takes over MTA this month. Leahy will head Metrolink, a commuter rail line that serves six Southern California counties. 

Email Staff Reporter Jonathan Tolliver here. Reach him on Twitter here.