Роберт Кили: Руководитель транспорта и спаситель городских систем

Transport executive

Robert R. Kiley (September 16, 1935 – August 9, 2016) was an American public transit planner and supervisor, with a reputation of being able to save transit systems experiencing serious problems. From 2001 to 2006 he was the initial Commissioner of Transport for London, the public organisation empowered with running and maintaining London's public transport network. Kiley also worked as a CIA agent, as the CEO of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Deputy Mayor of Boston, the chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and as President and CEO of the New York City Partnership. He is credited as being the architect of the revival of Boston and New York's ailing public transport systems in the 1970s and 1980s respectively. Kiley unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 1983.

Kiley was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and educated at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He graduated magna cum laude and went on to study at Harvard's Graduate School. In 1963 he joined the Central Intelligence Agency. The BBC reports that although former colleagues say it would be incorrect to regard Bob Kiley as a "spook" he did travel around the world in his role as Manager of Intelligence Operations. He later served as Executive Assistant to the Agency Director Richard Helms. Kiley left the Agency in 1970 and embarked a career in management, with particular emphasis on transport. He first worked as an assistant director at the Police Foundation in Washington D. C. Two years later he became deputy mayor of Boston, a position he held for three years. During his time as deputy mayor, he prioritised public safety during the court mandated desegregation of schools. From 1994 to 1998 he was also principal of Kohlberg & Company, a private equity investment house. Kiley's Transport for London biography notes that Kiley was also "Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, board member of the Salzburg Seminar, the American Repertory Theater, MONY Group Inc, the Princeton Review Inc and Edison Schools, Inc. He was on the Advisory Board of the Harvard University Center for State and Local Government".

In October 2000, Kiley was head hunted to become the first Commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), London's new integrated transport body, reporting to the Mayor of London directly. Following his appointment, Kiley was criticised by the press due to his £4m four year contract, the use of a £2m grace and favour property in Belgravia, and his expatriate status. Remaining as Commissioner of Transport for London, he and Livingstone took the government to court in trying to prevent PPP. Subsequently, the PPPs collapsed due to financial difficulties in the late 2000s. In November 2005, Kiley announced that he would be standing down in January 2006, after five years in the job, albeit three years earlier than expected. Kiley was credited as helping Livingstone bring in the London congestion charge, introducing the Oyster card payment system, as well as improving the quality and frequency of Buses in London. In a controversial interview with the London Evening Standard, he admitted he was unsure exactly what he did to deserve his consultancy fee, and denied rumours of a rift with Livingstone. He also revealed his struggles with alcoholism, exacerbated by overwork and the loss of his family in a car accident, followed by the death of his father shortly afterwards. They have two sons.