LTD Board enters negotiations with general manager candidate

The Lane Transit District (LTD) Board of Directors voted unanimously at its Aug. 3 work session to enter negotiations with Jameson Auten, deputy CEO/chief operating officer for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA).  

Auten was offered the district’s general manager position at the end of May but withdrew from consideration. 

“Timing is everything,” said LTD Board President Caitlin Vargas. “When Jameson reached out to us to say he was still very interested in coming to LTD, we made a decision to suspend our current executive search, including employee and community forums scheduled in early September, to offer him the position and to enter into negotiations.” 

Auten told the board of directors that the timing to make a move to LTD has now lined up for him professionally and personally. 

Since 2012, Auten has held a variety of key leadership positions with KCATA, including senior vice president of operations and innovation, vice president of regional service delivery and innovation division, chief transportation officer and director of ADA compliance and customer relations. Prior to joining KCATA, he was with Greater Richmond Transit Company as director of specialized services and was executive director of RideFinders. 

Active in the community, he is the chairman of the board of directors for Goodwill Industries of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas and is a member of the board of directors of the American Public Transportation Association. Auten has an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania (PennWest). 

Auten is expected to start as LTD general manager in the next few months.