Orange County, Calif.’s Transportation Corridor Agencies said Neil Peterson will become its new chief executive officer.
Peterson, formerly a transportation strategy consultant with CH2M Hill, will start with the Orange County-based toll road agency on June 3.
“Neil Peterson is an executive and entrepreneur with extensive expertise in the transportation industry, with more than four decades of leadership experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors,” said Lisa Bartlett, chairwoman of the TCA’s Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, in a statement Friday.
Lisa Telles served as interim CEO for the 67-mile public toll road system since October after former CEO Thomas Margro resigned due to illness.
Bartlett said the search to fill the position began in November and attracted more than 50 candidates.
She said Peterson will help TCA though its major initiatives, including converting to all electronic tolling and the State Route 241 Tesoro extension.
Peterson, who also previously worked for Booz, Allen & Hamilton, has served as executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and chief executive of public transportation systems in Seattle and Oakland.
Additionally, Peterson was the founding CEO of the car-sharing company Flexcar, now called Zipcar, a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group Inc.
He also was the CEO overseeing several state social welfare programs in Washington.
The TCA runs the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency and the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency.
The San Joaquin tollway has struggled for years against a heavy debt burden amid weak traffic.
The San Joaquin Hills agency restructured $2.1 billion in debt in April 2011 after getting approval from bondholders to lower the debt-service coverage requirement and extending maturities.
