It’s been a busy week for metro Atlanta’s largest transit agency. Here’s a look at what MARTA’s been up to.
• As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today, MARTA has struck a deal with Fulton County that could clear the way for more transit expansion beyond Atlanta.
The agency has agreed to pay the operating costs of two new bus rapid transit lines out if its existing 1-cent sales tax revenue. The move is an attempt to address the concerns of some north Fulton elected officials, who want MARTA to offer more service from its existing budget before asking voters to approve a new sales tax for a transit expansion.
• On Friday the MARTA Board of Directors voted to hire Jeffrey Parker as the agency's next CEO.
Parker is a vice president at infrastructure firm HNTB Corp. He's also run Boston's passenger rail service and oversaw the Connecticut Department of Transportation. You can learn more about Parker and the challenges he faces at MARTA here.
• With Atlanta hosting the NCAA men's basketball tournament this weekend, MARTA beefed up staffing and planned to operate more buses and trains. The agency also is dealing with today's March for Our Lives event downtown.
MARTA is hoping to avoid a repeat of problems that followed January's college football championship game, when hundreds of people were stranded at Five Points Station.
• On Friday the agency also celebrated the third anniversary of its expansion into Clayton County. The number of passengers using MARTA bus service in Clayton has grown substantially since it was introduced in 2015.
• Finally, something that didn't happen this week: MARTA says it has not been affected by the cyberattack against the city of Atlanta.
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