Bob Kiley, who has died aged 80, was a former CIA agent who was hailed as the saviour of the New York and Boston public transport systems when in 2001 he was lured to London by its then Mayor, Ken Livingstone, to effect a similar miracle for the British capital.
Kiley moved across the Atlantic to become the capitals first Commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), the public body which reports to the Mayor. His £2 million salary package (together with a £2m rent-free Regency terraced house in Belgravia) made him the worlds best paid public servant.
Over the next five years Kiley was instrumental in transforming the capitals transport system, securing the investment to modernise London Underground and expand the bus network. He also introduced the congestion charge and oversaw the introduction of the Oyster Card.
Along the way, however, he became a pawn in the internecine squabbles of the Labour Party and fought his own private battle with alcoholism. In early 2006 he quit his job four years before the end of his (renewed) contract.
