MARTA CEO Jonathan Hunt marked another step in his new tenure with an updated mission and vision statement he unveiled at the Nov. 12 board meeting.
Hunt stepped into the role permanently on Aug. 13 after a stint as the agency’s interim CEO and general manager. Previously, he served as the chief legal counsel for MARTA.
When Hunt took on the role, he laid out a vision of collaboration across jurisdictions, business partners and community leaders. He also centered greater transparency – a longtime issue for MARTA – and improved rider experience.
“I believe we also have to be ambitious about what the organization has become,” Hunt said in the meeting. “We need a clear and compelling vision.”
The previous MARTA vision statement is simple: “People taking people where they want to go today and tomorrow.”
Hunt’s update is more targeted towards his views. “Leading the nation in customer experience, operations and innovation.”
“It’s an ambitious goal, and intentionally so,” Hunt said. “We should aspire to be the best in the country at everything we do.”
He said the vision establishes a “north star” for MARTA, while the mission defines how the agency will get there. Previously, the MARTA mission was to “advocate for and provide safe, multimodal transit services that advance prosperity, connectivity and equity for a more livable region.”
But Hunt’s mission statement rewrite lasers in on the customer experience, just like the vision statement. “The mission: Connecting people to opportunities by delivering routine excellence every day.”
According to the CEO, that “routine excellence” comes through with a high quality employee experience, and in turn a high quality customer experience.
The rewrite paves the way for a larger goal, though. “With the vision and mission guiding us, we will soon begin a comprehensive strategic planning process,” Hunt announced.
The agency’s last comprehensive strategic planning process happened in 2023, according to Hunt. He said the agency is long overdue for another. Once finished, the new plan will outline priorities and objectives over the next five years for a transit system “the region wants and needs.”
“This effort will be different from previous planning exercises,” Hunt said.
He said MARTA will open the doors to different jurisdictional partners, businesses, community leaders, customers and other stakeholders. Then the agency will create priorities and start to invest in major goals.
Hunt’s tenure so far has focused largely on customer experience, especially with new and ongoing projects. The CEO gave some updates at the Nov. 12 meeting: Summerhill’s BRT system is still under construction, and the Campbellton BRT is in the process of community engagement.
One of the biggest updates to the so-called “customer experience” is through Better Breeze, MARTA’s new fare system.
The major payment overhaul allows customers to skip vending machines and tap to pay, complete with new faregates across all MARTA stations and “validators” on the bus fleet. MARTA installed the new fare gates earlier this year, and started charging riders regular fares in late May.
Hunt said the agency is now “transitioning from equipment installation to even greater customer engagement and activation.” By tomorrow, all 450 fare gates and 249 ticket vending machines across the system will be completed.
Bus fare validators are also complete, and BRT stations will soon have platform fare validators. Hunt said it will improve the “integrity of our system.”
The biggest move is happening outside of MARTA stations, though: MARTA is adding Breeze cards to local stores. The preloaded fare cards will soon be available for purchase at 7-Eleven, CVS, Racetrac and Walgreens.
After Hunt’s presentation, MARTA board Vice Chair Al Pond thanked the CEO for his focus on “significant initiatives that make a difference in the system.”
“In years past, we haven’t seen a lot of that detail,” Pond said.
