City manager selects transportation director
City manager selects transportation director
Written by Staff Tuesday, 12 August 2008
City Manager Marc Ott has selected Robert Spillar, a professional engineer with 20 years experience in the public and private sectors, to take on the challenges of transportation mobility in Austin.
Ott has established this transportation director executive position as a proactive step to focus on this priority for the community.
"With the major mobility challenges facing our city, we need to have an experienced transportation professional working every day to develop viable solutions that align with our sustainability values," Ott said. "This position will bring together all the pieces of the transportation puzzle into a clear picture of what needs to get done and how to do it."
Spillar's role will be comprehensive, weighing traffic congestion solutions in the context of Austin's Climate Protection Plan and environmental goals. He will look at how each of the modes of transportation — auto, mass transit, bikes and pedestrians — can work together to improve how people get around town; and he will evaluate downtown parking needs and develop parking system plans that mesh with mass transit goals and promote alternative fuel vehicles.
Spillar, a former director of traffic management for Seattle, was most recently vice president of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc. for the Central/South and West Texas operations of PB Americas Inc., one of the world's lead planning, engineering and construction management organizations.
He has led several major local projects including Loop 1-U.S. 183 corridor improvement alternatives planning; Central Austin transit option analysis; and development of multiple Safe Routes to Schools initiatives for the Austin Independent School District. He is a member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce's "Take on Traffic" Committee.
Spillar will join the city of Austin Sept. 2. He will report to assistant city manager Robert Goode.
"Mr. Spillar is a proven leader and problem solver and brings extensive experience in transportation issues both nationally and locally," City Manager Ott said. "Working with other agencies, I am confident that Mr. Spillar will help resolve the transportation needs of not only Austin, but also for this ever-growing Central Texas region. His main priority will be to address our transportation challenges while maintaining Austin's livability."
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