David L. Gunn

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David L. Gunn bigraphy, stories - Railroad executive

David L. Gunn : biography

June 21, 1937 –

David L. Gunn (born 21 June 1937) is a transportation system administrator who has headed several significant railroads and transit systems in North America.

Gunn was born in Boston to parents of Canadian ancestry whose families had emigrated to Massachusetts from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Retirement

A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Gunn retired to his family home on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. He has become associated with the Free Congress Foundation since his dismissal from Amtrak. He currently sits on the board of a local transit service in rural Richmond County known as the Strait Area Transit Cooperative. Accessed February 23, 2009 and will be consulting for his former employer, WMATA

Education

Gunn was educated at Phillips Academy in Andover and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Harvard College in 1959. He served in the United States Navy Reserve from 1959 to 1962. He received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1964.

Career

Gunn has the following work experience:

  • Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, 1964 to 1967
  • New York Central Railroad, 1967 to 1968
  • Assistant Vice-President, Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, 1969 to 1974
  • Director of Commuter Rail, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), 1974 to 1975
  • Director of Operations, MBTA, 1975 to 1979
  • General Manager and Chief Operations Officer, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), 1979 to 1984
  • President, New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), 1984 to 1990
  • General Manager, Washington DC Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), 1991 to 1994
  • Chief General Manager, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), 1995 to 1999
  • President, Amtrak, 2002 to 2005

New York City Transit Authority

During his tenure as president of the NYCTA, Gunn instituted operational changes that led to the reduction of graffiti and service improvements in the New York subway system, including the establishment of a "clean car program" and restoring the system to a state of good repair. Cars were to be regularly cleaned, hundreds of older cars overhauled and tracks and stations rebuilt.

The "Redbird" cars were originally known as "Gunn Red" when they were repainted between 1984 and 1989, under Gunn’s tenure.

Toronto Transit Commission

Gunn has a philosophy called "state of good repair" where the first priority is to maintain infrastructure and equipment, making regular repairs where needed and retiring equipment from service at the end of its life-cycle. This brought him in frequent conflict with TTC chairman Howard Moscoe, who advocated the use of funds for improving TTC accessibility. Gunn’s tenure at the TTC was also marked by changes in management structure, which were criticized by his successor, Rick Ducharme, amongst others.

 He also argued against new subway construction. 

Toronto’s only fatal subway train accident, the 1995 Russell Hill subway accident that claimed 3 lives, happened only 8 months after Gunn became head of the TTC.

Amtrak

Gunn assumed the presidency of Amtrak on May 15, 2002, and was fired by the board of directors on November 9, 2005.(November 9, 2005), . Retrieved November 9, 2005.

Gunn came to Amtrak with a reputation as an experienced operating manager. During his tenure at WMATA (the Washington Metro) from 1991 to 1994, Gunn was frequently at odds with that agency’s board of directors, which included representatives from the District of Columbia and suburban jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia. His work as president of the New York City Transit Authority from 1984 to 1990 and as Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission in Canada from 1995 to 1999 lent him a great deal of credibility as these two agencies were each the largest transit operations of their respective countries.