This is a summary of information about the MTA service sectors, created by then-MTA CEO Roger Snoble (left). Some information came from MTA's employee intranet.

The MTA had five service sectors: The first two began operations in July 2002 (San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley). The remaining service sectors (Central City and Westside, the South Bay and the Gateway Cities in the southeastern part of Los Angeles County) started in September of that year. Each of these areas was identified by its cohesiveness as a group of communities, as well as by the trip generators and transit service patterns.

The MTA Board of Directors approved the creation of Sector Governance Councils to oversee the planning and implementation of service within their area. Their responsibilities at the time included approval of the sector General Manager's budget; proposals for the Chief Executive Officer's consideration and recommendation to the MTA Board; calling and conducting public hearings for sector bus lines; approval and evaluation of sector programs; implementing service changes; reviewing and developing policy recommendations for MTA Board approval; ensuring compliance with all MTA policies and procedures and legal agreements (e.g. collective bargaining agreements, Consent Decree); providing input into the Sector General Manager’s performance review; and participating in annual meetings with the MTA Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and the other Sector Governance Councils and General Managers.

The MTA Board retained all mandated responsibilities in accordance with Public Utilities Code 130051, such as hiring of the Chief Executive Officer and other Board appointees; approval of the agency budget and capital plan; negotiation of collective bargaining agreements; setting fare and service policies; establishing and monitoring agency programs; conducting public hearings for fare changes and service changes to corporate bus lines, Metro Rapid and Metro Rail service; conducting major procurements; managing construction projects, setting regional policies and having ultimate responsibility for resolving disputes regarding agency matters.

The Board confirms the appointment of members to the Governance Councils from the names submitted by local nominating coalitions (comprised of Councils of Governments, Interim Joint Powers Authorities, and any cities and unincorporated county areas in each sector). Councilmembers reflect a broad spectrum of interests and geographic areas of the sector, and may be elected officials or private citizens. One-half of each Council's members must be users of transit service (and all members must reside or work within the Service Sector boundaries); however, MTA Board members and employees may not serve on any Council. This staff report from when the councils were created includes the sector governance policy (scroll down to "Attachment A" at page 5), the nomination responsibility matrix for the initial councils' creation ("Attachment B" at page 9), the nomination process schedule and timing of tasks required to nominate an individual to the Service Sector Council ("Attachment C" at page 10) and the nomination process flowchart ("Attachment D" at page 11). (Adobe Reader required.)

The Metro San Fernando Valley Governance Council -- which replaced the Interim Joint Powers Authority (IJPA) for the San Fernando Valley Transit Zone -- consists of four appointees from the City of Los Angeles, two appointees from the County of Los Angeles, two appointees from the San Fernando Valley East cities, and one appointee from the San Fernando Valley West cities. The original governance councilmembers were confirmed by the MTA Board of Directors February 27, 2003:

• Coby King, alternate member of the IJPA for the San Fernando Valley Transit Zone
• Kymberleigh Richards, president, Southern California Transit Advocates
• Joan Leonard, public transit consumer/community activist
• Bart Reed, public transit consumer/community activist
• David Fleming, political and community activist and member of the IJPA for the San Fernando Valley Transit Zone
• Jesus Ochoa, public transit consumer/community activist
• Rafi Manoukian, Councilmember, City of Glendale
• Stacey Murphy, Councilmember, City of Burbank, member of the IJPA for the San Fernando Valley Transit Zone
• Jeff Reinhardt, Councilmember, City of Agoura Hills *

David Armijo	Richard Hunt

Service sectors were semi-autonomous areas with a general manager having the authority to shape service, reroute Tier Two and Three bus lines (lines considered to be local to a sector, rather than regional), and conduct the sector's business in the most appropriate way to serve the area. Sector management offices, located within the service area, housed service scheduling and planning personnel, security, public affairs, recruiting, finance and administrative employees. The original general manager for the San Fernando Valley sector was David Armijo, previously director of operations at the Orange County Transportation Authority; he was moved to the Westside/Central sector in 2004 and was replaced by Richard Hunt, who continues as Deputy Executive Officer for Operations at MTA Headquarters, primarily responsible for bus procurement.

Roger Snoble defined success for a service sector as "providing high-quality, on-time, safe and efficient customer-responsive service at a cost that saves money for the taxpayers ... what those who have advocated transit zones said they wanted".

MTA Headquarters remained responsible for Tier One transit services -- lines that link major regions of the county -- until September 29, 2005, when responsibility for all lines other than Metro Rail was transferred by the MTA board to the appropriate sectors (prior to that, the sectors had de facto control of all such lines that operated entirely within their boundaries), although the Board retained the responsibility to confirm Tier One changes approved by the Governance Councils. Remaining at Headquarters was Metro Construction and Countywide Planning, along with portions of the administrative and financial, Human Resources, ITS, communications, customer and government relations, Board-related activities and other functions that support the service sector operations (including the Bus Operations Control Center). Each sector employs between 1,100 and 1,300 staff members, including bus operators and maintenance personnel, and operate a fleet of approximately 400 to 600 buses.

The former golf pro shop of a Chatsworth driving range was renovated for use as offices for the San Fernando Valley Service Sector; the 6,000-square-foot building (shown at right, before renovation) stands on some eight acres of MTA-owned property at the intersection of Topanga Canyon Blvd. and Marilla St., less than a mile northwest of Chatsworth Division 8.

When Art Leahy succeeded Roger Snoble as CEO at Metro, he expressed concern that the sector concept made the planning, scheduling, and operation of bus service more difficult, because of the geographic separation of the service development teams for each sector from each other. He also felt that having general managers created an additional and unnecessary layer of management between the operating divisions and Metro headquarters. Beginning in October 2009 with Metro South Bay, Leahy re-consolidated the planning and scheduling functions at the headquarters building (the process was completed with Metro San Fernando Valley moving back downtown in March 2010 and Metro Westside/Central relocating within the building in April 2010) and eliminated the general manager positions. The governance councils have remained in place, and continue to have jurisdiction over the semi-annual service change process, but now interface with Metro headquarters via a "manager of governance councils" (the word "sector" no longer appears anywhere on the agendas for the monthly meetings). The sector office building, now vacant, will likely be remodeled to operate as a satellite bus division for the Metro Orange Line when the extension to Chatsworth Metrolink Station becomes operational.