FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2024
MARTA RECEIVES OUTSTANDING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AWARD FROM APTA
MARTA Recognized for Systemwide Excellence Including Customer Service, Innovation, and Equity
ATLANTA – The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been honored with the Outstanding Public Transportation System Award by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) for remarkable leadership, systemwide excellence, and serving as an exemplary role model for other North American transit agencies.
“To be recognized like this by our peers working in transit throughout North America is truly an honor and a recognition of the outstanding work our 5,000 employees do every day,” said Collie Greenwood, General Manager and CEO at MARTA. “What this award demonstrates to me is that this focus on people is paying off at MARTA, and I hope this award energizes everyone at our agency as we plan the next level of improvements and innovation.”
APTA's selection criteria encompassed various aspects, including infrastructure development, technology and innovation, sustainability, equity, customer service, and community engagement. As MARTA undertakes its most significant capital expansion in 45 years, the agency has introduced award-winning programs across all key areas of operation and has received annual recognition from APTA for its innovations and customer-focused initiatives.
- Financial Management: The MARTA Finance Department and Office of Treasury Services have worked hard to enhance MARTA’s credit rating to lower debt service costs and obtain AAA bond ratings. Most recently, Fitch Ratings upgraded MARTA’s bond rating to AA+.
- Safety & Security: MARTA remains one of the safest transit agencies in the country and has won multiple APTA Awards for its innovations and customer-focused initiatives in safety and security.
- Cleanliness: The agency’s Station Management program has implemented an eyes-on, hands-on, and game-on approach across MARTA’s rail system to ensure customers experience cleaner and better maintained stations and amenities.
- Infrastructure Maintenance: MARTA is investing in its current rail fleet through its fleet life expansion program, while also purchasing a new fleet of state-of-the-art railcars. The agency has also focused on maintaining its bus fleet, renovating rail tracks, and rehabilitating its escalator and elevator equipment.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: MARTA has recruited a diverse workforce and supported its employees through the creation of employee resource groups. Setting the tone from the top, women hold 40 percent of the ranks of MARTA’s Executive Management Team and racial diversity is prioritized with 60 percent people of color in leadership.
- Customer Service: MARTA worked with a local non-profit to create MARTA HOPE (Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement), a transit-specific outreach team, that has connected more than 1,300 people to temporary shelter. On the digital side, MARTA’s Office of Customer Technology has deployed an enhanced data feed to the real-time arrival displays at all 38 rail stations, making this data more accurate for customers using our digital platforms.
- Sustainability: MARTA's achievements in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices reflect the agency’s commitment to sustainability principles and underscore its role as leaders in sustainable public transit. For example, MARTA deployed two retired rail cars into the Atlantic Ocean as artificial reef material to provide stable habitats for marine life, support ecosystem resilience, and foster coral and algae growth.
- Marketing: MARTA has launched innovative marketing campaigns over the past three years to retain and attract riders, including 50 Years of Hip Hop, MARTALand Holiday Activations, and the 50th Anniversary of MARTA’s longest serving bus operator Coy Dumas.
- Community Relations: MARTA's Community Relations program is embedded in neighborhoods across the agency’s service area and has spearheaded vital programs to address food deserts and to help create a more vibrant, livable region. MARTA has also expanded the world’s first and only transit-accessible “League of Stations” with new StationSoccer pitches at Kensington, Lindbergh, and East Lake stations, allowing kids and adults to cultivate healthy lifestyles through sport and transit at their home stations and across the system.
The attached qualitative summary submitted to APTA details accomplishments in all key areas of operation.
Through these efforts across multiple categories, MARTA has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing transportation services in the Atlanta metropolitan area. As this award demonstrates, MARTA has been improving its transit system by prioritizing the needs of passengers as the agency continues to play a vital role in connecting communities and promoting economic development in the Atlanta region.
Click
HERE to view a video celebrating MARTA’s achievements.
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