Dave Wardrop is accustomed to commuting all over the city to inspect sewer pipes and river levels, but his new job as the city's transit boss will let him ditch his car and take the bus.

"To be honest, I'm looking forward to what could be a delicate and controversial job as director of Winnipeg Transit.

Wardrop inherits a transit department whose moral was battered by the sudden departure of the former transit boss and by the confusion surrounding the fate of the long-promised rapid transit system.

Rick Borland stepped down as transit director last fall, the day Mayor Sam Katz and city council voted to postpone the first phase of a bus rapid transit system and divert millions in federal and provincial infrastructure funding to recreation centres.

In a stinging letter announcing his retirement, Borland cited a "fundamentally different value system than that of the mayor and his staff — an oblique reference to a leaked memo written by Katz's senior policy expert that questioned the integrity of transit staff and the accuracy of a rapid transit study Borland commissioned.

The future of rapid transit is still hazy.

A task force chaired by Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt is expected to make its final proposal to council this fall. It will likely recommend a mix of bus-only diamond lanes and dedicated high-speed corridors, but it's not clear if Katz will make the plan a priority or if the federal and provincial governments will help fun the plan's $90 million first phase.

It will be up to Wardrop and his staff to chaperone the plan through to construction, a challenge Wardrop said he welcomed.

He said he's excited about the prospect of improving the bus system in order to help Winnipeg capitalize on its recent growth spurt.

"I see Winnipeg as being on the cusp," said Wardrop, who won the job as transit director earlier this month. "There's such an opportunity for economic and cultural growth and with that comes the chance to improve public transit and build communities around it."

Wardrop is new to transit, but he is no stranger to city hall. He is now water and waste's field service operations engineer and is best known to Winnipeggers as the go-to guy on basement flooding and sewer issues. He is in charge of the city's 5,000 km of sewage pipes and manages the crises that comes almost yearly when high river levels and sudden thunderstorms threaten to overwhelm the city's drainage system.

Wardrop used to ride the bus to work before he became the boss of the city's sewer system and spent much of his week driving to remote parts of the city to check out the sewers.

From his home in St. Vital, it would take him about an hour to get to his office in Transcona on Plesis Rd. But once he moves into his new digs at the Osborne Street transit garage, a bus commute will take him only about 20 minutes.

But speed — a key demand of the rapid transit plan — isn't Wardrop's only concern. He said the bus system must also be safe, reliable and easy to use.

Wardrop earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba. Last year, he earned an MBA from the  of M, graduating with the highest marks in his class.

Wardrop's appointment as transit boss raised some eyebrows at city hall since he is an engineer by training instead of a transit expert. But Coun. Russ Wyatt said a fresh perspective combined with an understanding of city hall's quirks could pay off.

"To have different experiences from different backgrounds can give you strength," said Wyatt.

Wardrop said that he sees himself as a team leader and plans to listen and learn from what he called one of the most efficient transit departments i the country.

Wardrop won't start hs new job for another few weeks. He is busy coping with extremely high river levels that could cause widespread basement flooding.