RTA Chairman and SCAG Vice President Randon Lane resigns for U.S. DOT appointment

Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) Board of Directors Chairman and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Vice President Randon Lane is resigning for a presidential appointment with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in Washington, D.C.

Lane served on the board for over a decade where he represented the city of Murrieta, and he served as the first vice president of SCAG. He’s also leaving the positions of mayor Pro-Tem for the city of Murrieta as well as his appointed role with the League of California Cities.

“Randon has shown extraordinary leadership on regional transportation issues throughout southern California. His city and our region will miss him, but we know he will accomplish great things in Washington,” said SCAG President Bill Jahn. 

He is perhaps best known for becoming the first person to ride every RTA route end to end. That’s 2,000 miles, 113 hours and parts of 35 days inside dozens of buses. For Lane, who owns his own car, this epic bus journey was all about experiencing firsthand the routes and customers that he and his fellow board members were making decisions about. But his influence on RTA goes much deeper.

During his tenure, customers benefitted from more weekend service. College students reaped the rewards of a flourishing free-ride program; youth took advantage of a special 25-cent fare during their summer and winter breaks; senior citizens signed up for training sessions to ride the bus; and folks in Southwest County celebrated the opening of a new transit hub at the Promenade Temecula.

As chairman, he also helped RTA launched a pilot program for mobile ticketing that will soon allow customers to pay their fares with their smartphones. Because Lane is departing the board roughly four months before his term concludes, the RTA Board of Directors plan to hold a special meeting on September 4 to appoint a successor. 

His position at SCAG, the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization that represents six counties, 191 cities and nearly 19 million residents, will be filled by Rex Richardson, a Long Beach City Council member. The agency’s Regional Council will select Richardson’s successor as second vice president at its September meeting.

“I’m extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to serve Murrieta and this incredible region we call home,” Lane said. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done together at SCAG and am confident that the team in place here will continue to provide the leadership southern California needs to meet its challenges and deliver on its opportunities.”