MARTA General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood is leaving the transit agency.
Greenwood, who has served as GM and CEO since 2022, is taking early retirement due to “immigration and personal matters,” according to the resolution approved by the MARTA board of directors at their meeting on Thursday.
The board has agreed to a mutual separation and MARTA will pay the balance of Greenwood’s contract term and severance as defined in his employment agreement, Jonathan Hunt, MARTA’s chief counsel of legal services, said during the meeting.
“Thank you to Mr. Greenwood, who was not able to be with us today because of his immigration status,” board chair Jennifer Ide said. “He got us through some difficult times at the end of COVID and the transition from losing our previous general manager very unexpectedly and is leaving us in tremendously good stead financially, with the status of our projects, as the world is coming to Atlanta for FIFA [World Cup].”
Greenwood, who is Canadian, had to make the best decision for his family, Ide said.
“I am also saddened by his leaving the enterprise. I understand these things happen. We have tried to work through it and it just wasn’t possible,” board member Roderick Frierson said at the meeting.
Rhonda Allen, MARTA’s Chief Customer Experience Officer, will take over as acting GM and CEO of MARTA until an interim GM and CEO is chosen by the board.
The MARTA board of directors also voted on Thursday to create a committee to search for a new head of the transit agency, with members from each jurisdiction.
“The City of Atlanta thanks Collie Greenwood for his service at MARTA and wishes him success in his next chapter,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement.
“The search for new leadership at MARTA provides the opportunity for a needed hard reset in operations and project delivery,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said of the news.
During Greenwood’s tenure, MARTA was named the American Public Transit Association’s transit agency of the year in 2024. MARTA was also audited by the City of Atlanta in the same time period. The mayor’s office and the transit authority have yet to come to an agreement about how much money MARTA may owe Atlanta taxpayers.
“MARTA is underperforming in so many ways,” Shipman said. “The Board must engage key stakeholders to define the needs of the organization and the scale of change required.”
This is the latest in a series of MARTA leadership departures over the last year. Former chief of staff Melissa Mullinax and former chief counsel Peter Andrews both left the agency in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“This is a pivotal opportunity to accelerate the system improvements and expansions our residents have long called for. We will also continue deepening collaboration with fellow municipal leaders across the region to ensure that MARTA keeps pace with our growth,” Dickens said in a statement.
Maria Saporta contributed to this story.
It’s an indictment of our current Presidential administration that a Canadian obviously here legally is concerned about his immigration status.
More like someone uncovered a convenient escape hatch
it’s an indictment rather of the boobs who gave this man a five-figure salary bonus last year (which he should return before deportation)
Its an indictment(?) that I appreciate both of these takes.
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You have not uncovered the back story on this. Reading your article makes one feel that the right questions have not been asked. Or, if they were asked, you have chosen not to give the whole story here.
The MARTA board of directors should kick him out way sooner. Where is $70M missing from the City?