The advisory board appointed to support interim MARTA CEO Jonathan Hunt provided its official recommendations for the transit agency at a Dec. 4 meeting, pushing for urgent improvements to operations and image.
In August, MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood abruptly retired, and Chief Legal Counsel Jonathan Hunt took over as the interim General Manager and CEO. The board of directors then created a “strategic operational advisory group” to meet with Hunt periodically.
So far, the advisory board has been led by former MARTA General Manager and CEO Keith Parker, with Atlanta Chief Strategy Officer Peter Aman, Metro Atlanta Chamber CEO Katie Kirkpatrick and ARC CEO Anna Roach.
“MARTA is one of the most important assets in this region, and ultimately, we want to see MARTA become the best in the world-class system that we all strive for it to be,” Kirkpatrick said.
The advisory group had a laundry list of focus points for MARTA: ridership, cleanliness, safety and security, special events, operational excellence, World Cup preparation and inter-community relations.
“We need to reach into the funding sources and specifically focus on four things that we need to be invested in now,” Peter Aman explained.
He called for additional investment in help for the homeless populations in and around MARTA stations, strategic bargaining with jurisdictional partners, safety and security measures and communications.
Specifically, the board wants more paid media and better communications. Keith Parker said when he started leading MARTA in 2012, internal reports showed the transit agency had received “negative $4 million” in coverage. When they hit the “apex of good,” the press gave an estimated $11 million in positive coverage.
Parker wants MARTA to do even better than $11 million. So do the other advisory board members – though the agency faces challenges.
“MARTA is a brand, and just like a number of other brands it has suffered,” Aman said.
Alongside the four immediate items, the board found some small-scale brand improvement actions.
“I know management is working on these, but additional money spent on pressure washing, brighter lightbulbs, all the things I know you have in your long and medium-term capital plans,” Aman said. “Just advancing some of those to the short term.”
He also pushed for immediate safety investments like hiring boosts.
MARTA Board Chair Jennifer Ide said the board is working on most of the advisory board’s topics, but she hears the city “wants to see it on steroids.”
‘They want to see it faster, more and faster,” Ide said.
Still, Kirkpatrick emphasized the main focus MARTA must keep moving forward.
“The single most important thing you can do in the next several months is select the new GM, and that cannot be understated,’ Kirkpatrick said. “We encourage you to take your time.”
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