Brian J. Lamb
General Manager, Metro Transit

"The people of the Phillips neighborhood are transit focused; they are
among Metro Transit's best customers. We are especially pleased with
our 2004 improvements to transit service within the Phillips
neighborhood with a new route on Lake Street, faster more frequent
service as well as connections to light rail. We also are pleased that
our customers will enjoy a new transit center being incorporated into
Midtown Exchange development. The Phillips Partnership has been instrumental in
the revitalization of the neighborhood. I look forward to working with
the Phillips Partnership and neighbors to continue this progress."

Brian J. Lamb returned to Metro Transit in September 2004 to serve as the agency’s general manager. 

He oversees a bus and rail system with 2,700 employees who operate a light-rail rail line and 135 local, express and contract bus routes. Customers use Metro Transit services more than 67 million times a year. Its operating budget exceeds $200 million annually.

Lamb also is a key figure in completing the first light-rail line operating in Minnesota. The Hiawatha line – a $715 million project completed in 2004 – links downtown Minneapolis with Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and Mall of America. It spans 12 miles and serves 17 stations. Ridership during the first five months of operation reached 2.2 million, 91 percent higher than projected.

Earlier, Lamb served Metro Transit for nearly 20 years, leaving in 1999 after seven years as director of service development. From 1999 through 2002 he was director of driver and vehicle services in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In January 2003, he was selected by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as the state’s commissioner of administration, a cabinet post, where he served until he rejoined Metro Transit.