MARTA, the oft-beleaguered transportation system, is in a renaissance of sorts and many attribute the rebound to CEO Keith Parker. So news recently of his departure to become CEO of Goodwill of North Georgia surprised many and begged the question: Why? After turning 50, Parker said is looking for a change.
“I’ve been a transit executive or in the city manager realm for the past two decades,” Parker said exclusively to the AJC and WSB. “I’ve wanted to see if there’s something else that gave me passion - that I wanted to wake up every day energized about and go to bed every night with it on my mind.”
Parker has served on the Goodwill board and is passionate about its cause, he said. “Their primary mission being putting people to work, particularly the most hard-to-place people in our society.”
And he sees similarities with MARTA.
“I think the single-biggest synergy between the two organizations is they’re both about service. At MARTA, we carry over 400,000 people a day. Goodwill [of North Georgia] provides over 70 outlets, as well as other places that people can donate goods and with that, employ more than 3,000 people themselves.”
Parker believes MARTA is set to succeed now. “The state of the agency is extremely strong.”
KPMG, one of the top auditing firms in the country, revealed in its 2012 audit that if MARTA kept at the pace at the time, it would be financially insolvent. MARTA now has a quarter of a billion dollars in budget reserves, said Parker. He added that as far as transit systems go, MARTA is comparably managing crime well.
“We now have the second-fewest number of Part I crimes of all the large transit systems in the country,” he said.
Public acceptance of MARTA, Parker said, is suddenly turning into a policy boon that breeds expansion. “After going a generation without having passed a single measure, MARTA has now passed in just the last three years, two very significant tax increases.”
Clayton County residents voted in 2014 for a one percent sales tax increase to join MARTA. No new counties had joined MARTA since its 1971 creation. Atlanta voted for a half-cent sales tax hike in 2016 to spur MARTA expansion. The biggest item on that drawing board is a proposed rail line in the Emory-Clifton area.
The I-85 bridge collapse provided a boost for MARTA ridership initially, but those numbers haven’t held since I-85 reopened. Parker’s take on that wasn’t pessimistic. “There is a national decline in transit ridership right now, primarily due to gas prices being down for the third year in a row, but we are one of the few who have been able to maintain at least a flat level.”
Parker will remain with MARTA into October, as the new deputy GM he hired, Rob Troupe, begins work Sept. 18. Troupe is a former deputy GM of WMATA (Washington D.C.’s Metro system), where he oversaw all rail operations. Troupe has worked rail operations jobs at Amtrak, in the U.K. and Egypt, and in the private sector. Parker will help find the search firm that will choose his replacement.
In the meantime, MARTA named Elizabeth O’Neill as its interim general manager and CEO. The Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve O’Neill, a 22-year MARTA veteran who currently serves as chief legal counsel.
“I think we have made significant progress in these last five years. People are safer on the transit system, we run more reliably, and we’ve not raised fares one time.”
Other innovations include WiFi on every bus and cameras on every bus and train.
Yes, Parker and his team have managed to make MARTA profitable and more rider-friendly, without raising fares. Even optimists must wonder if MARTA’s upward trend will continue under new leadership. Parker is not worried.
“But I’m so optimistic that the next person that comes in- that he or she is going to take this to another incredible level and you all will forget about Keith Parker.”
Hear the full interview with Kieth Parker and more analysis about his departure on the WSB Traffic Podcast with Turnbull and Smilin' Mark McKay here.
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