The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is without a permanent leader after CEO Collie Greenwood announced he was stepping down from the job amid delays in renewing his immigration paperwork.
But before that, some civic leaders and transit advocates had already soured on his leadership.
When Greenwood announced his retirement last week, he had already been off the job for a month. The Canadian citizen applied to renew his work permit in January. By the time the work authorization expired on July 18, federal immigration officials had yet to act.
Greenwood stopped working. He notified MARTA board members and executives, but not the public.
“Effectively, MARTA was operating without their CEO able to do their job for a month, so I think that’s a concern,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman told WABE’s “Closer Look.”
Shipman has long been a vocal critic of MARTA, which has struggled with declining ridership while other major transit systems have started to bounce back, as well as delayed capital projects, labor shortages and ongoing reliability issues.
This month, several Beyoncé concertgoers were injured when a station escalator malfunctioned, the latest mishap to fuel concerns about the system and its readiness to handle events like the 2026 World Cup. MARTA has cited broken fare gates and fare evasion for the ridership decline.
“There have been questions about the ability of MARTA to deliver what we can expect MARTA to deliver, which is basic, clean, safe service every day so the city can function,” Shipman says.
Why MARTA’s CEO stepped down
MARTA board chair Jennifer Ide wrote in a statement last week that Greenwood served the agency “tremendously” since joining the staff in 2019. “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,” she wrote.
In a statement, Greenwood said he was taking the paperwork delay as an opportunity for early retirement to spend more time with family and friends. He did not respond to an interview request.
Asked why the public was not told for a month that Greenwood had stepped back from his daily duties as CEO, MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said the organization expected his paperwork renewal to come through during the 10-day grace period following its expiration.
MARTA says Greenwood’s green card was ultimately approved, although as of July 17, it had not been in hand. Still, MARTA announced Greenwood’s retirement. MARTA chief customer experience officer Rhonda Allen is now the acting CEO and general manager.
What’s next for metro Atlanta transit
“If the board says, ‘Hey, everything’s good, we just need somebody to continue on,’ then I think we will miss a huge opportunity for actual improvement,” Shipman said. “And so yes, I’m glad that there’s a leadership change because I think it opens the door. The question is, are we going to walk through it?”
Rebecca Serna, executive director of Propel ATL, an organization that advocates for better transit, used to ride a MARTA bus regularly. Since the pandemic, she says it became so unreliable she all but stopped.
Serna says she wants a new leader to be, “Someone who rides the system and relies on it to get where they need to go on a daily basis. I think that makes a huge difference in just the little things that make it possible to rely on transit or make it impossible.”
She also sees an opportunity to address two of the region’s biggest challenges in tandem — transit and housing affordability.
“I see all the possibilities,” Serna says. “If we can get everyone’s attention focused on how affordable housing and transit are intertwined, then I think we can do a lot of good.”
