Departure of MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood seen as chance for new start

It was no secret that many in Atlanta’s political, business and civic spheres had complaints about MARTA’s leadership long before the sudden news that General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood was leaving for personal reasons.

Unbeknownst to them and made public with his early retirement announcement was the fact that for nearly a month — beginning June 18 and spanning three of the largest events the city will host this year — Greenwood had stepped back from work and delegated his authority indefinitely.

While MARTA and Greenwood, who is Canadian, were privately trying to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow him to return to work, others were discussing how it was time for him to leave, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The opposing efforts to keep Greenwood or push him out became moot with the mutual separation agreement approved by MARTA’s board of directors. They agreed to pay out his contract through January 2027, just weeks after a dozen people at the transit agency received layoff notices amid a tight budget. Greenwood has an annual base salary of $446,250.

For those critical of his management, the immigration issue is being seen as a tidy resolution. Greenwood’s unknown absence for the past month is also being seen as another black mark for an agency that has collected several this year.

“I am certainly empathetic to issues of immigration status and visas and such given the federal chaos that is happening in that system,” said City Council President Doug Shipman, who has been one of the loudest critics of MARTA’s performance for years. “However, it is concerning that seemingly for almost a month we were unaware that the leader of MARTA was not able to undertake the job.”

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Virtually no one was willing to talk publicly about their discussions to keep or push out Greenwood. But everyone interviewed by the AJC, even those who said they supported the chief, said the issues with MARTA’s service and reliability have been mounting.

Just this year:

A MARTA bus driver was fatally shot over a fare dispute, prompting union leaders to demand safety protections;
A renovation at Five Points station was delayed amid a back-and-forth between MARTA and the city over permits;
The chair of MARTA’s board said she lost confidence in Greenwood over his handling of an audit into capital spending, before later walking back her statement;
MARTA announced the Summerhill rapid bus line won’t be complete on time or on budget;
A man shot and injured two people on a train;
There were lengthy train delays after pop star Shakira’s concert and at the AJC Peachtree Road Race;
At least 11 people were injured in an escalator malfunction after a Beyoncé concert this month.

And all the while, MARTA has continued to struggle to regain ridership. It had one of the worst rail ridership drops of any transit agency in the country in 2024, a decrease that MARTA officials have said “is not real” because of known issues with its fare gates failing to capture ridership.

Attempts to reach Greenwood were unsuccessful.

Fixing MARTA’s issues is seen as critical to the city’s success.

“MARTA is a significant leading indicator of the future success of Atlanta,” said Jon Birdsong, an entrepreneur helming South Downtown revitalization efforts. “If we’re going to grow responsibly and be accessible to all and inclusive, MARTA is the key ingredient to it all.”

City Council member Matt Westmoreland echoed the sentiments of many who spoke to the AJC about Greenwood’s decision to leave.

“Whether it’s recent concerts or the road race, Atlanta residents have seen a string of incidents that have shaken faith in the system to execute and deliver,” he said. “I appreciate Collie’s service and am excited about the next chapter.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Greenwood, who came to MARTA in 2019 and was named general manager and CEO in 2022, is a transit veteran who has earned praise from those in the industry. He spent most of his career working for the Toronto transit system. Under his leadership, MARTA earned a AAA bond rating and has been recognized nationally as an outstanding public transportation system in North America.

While some who spoke to the AJC viewed Greenwood’s immigration issues as a convenient excuse, a source with direct knowledge said they truly were the defining factor in his resignation and that significant efforts were made up until that day to resolve the issue.

MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said in a statement Friday the transit agency, as his sponsor, had requested expedited review of Greenwood’s work permit documentation twice.

Greenwood submitted his renewal request in January, roughly six months before it expired. Typically, a renewal takes half that time for approval. But it still had not been OK’d before the June 18 expiration.

When Greenwood ceased working, the expectation was that it would be approved within 10 days, Fisher said. That would have allowed him to resume work. But that did not happen.

He has since received written notification that his request for permanent residency was approved but as of Thursday he had not received delivery of his green card, Fisher said.

A source with direct knowledge said MARTA hired immigration attorneys to assist and also had asked for help from members of Georgia’s congressional delegation. Members of Congress are often asked to intervene on constituents’ behalf but Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock declined to comment on the CEO’s case and would not confirm or deny if their aid had been requested, citing privacy policies.

Before he stepped away in June, Greenwood personally notified all MARTA board members and those on the executive leadership team. It’s unclear what conversations, if any, the board had about how or whether to publicly acknowledge his absence.

Fisher did not answer a question about whether any city or county officials in MARTA’s jurisdiction were notified before the departure became public. A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declined to say. DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said she was not made aware.

Greenwood stepped back during a busy month for the agency.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

The Club World Cup games, which were treated as a dry-run for next year’s FIFA World Cup, started June 19 and continued through July. The AJC Peachtree Road Race, and four Beyoncé concerts also fell during this time period.

MARTA board members declined to comment but there is little indication that Greenwood had lost their support. Few have publicly criticized him in recent months. They unanimously awarded him a $22,312 bonus in December. Several praised his leadership Thursday when his departure became news.

“If you’ve ever been outside the walls of MARTA, you understand how well-respected he is in this industry and what a great job he has done ... serving through difficult, unforeseen times,” board member Katie Powers said Thursday.

The most significant criticism has come from outside of MARTA.

In May, one Atlanta City Council member accused Greenwood of being dismissive and not taking seriously the city’s concerns about how money from the “More MARTA” sales tax has been used.

“It continues to feel like you’re not taking the city’s position seriously and taxpayers’ concern seriously,” said Council member Amir Farokhi, who has since resigned his seat for a career change.

Several key Atlanta leaders and members of the region’s business community told the AJC they had lost confidence in Greenwood.

Colin Connolly, president and CEO of Cousins Properties, the largest office landlord in Atlanta, applauded Greenwood and the MARTA board for making the decision to shift leadership at this time. He, along with many Atlanta stakeholders, say 2026 is a critical year for the city given it will host several World Cup matches, thrusting Atlanta on to an international stage.

“It is critical Atlanta has a safe, clean, highly functioning mass transit system for this major event,” Connolly said in a written statement. “This is an ideal time for business, civic and political leaders to support MARTA in its search for a new CEO who cannot only transform and grow MARTA, but also operate it efficiently and effectively on a day-to-day basis.”

Scott Taylor, president and CEO of Atlanta developer Carter, emphasized that the CEO role of the region’s transit agency “is a critical leadership position” that impacts the entire metro. Just like public transit needs to be reliable, so does its agency’s back office.

Specifically, he voiced frustrations with MARTA’s bus rapid transit line that’s slated to connect several downtown Atlanta neighborhoods, including Summerhill — an area in the shadow of the former Turner Field that Carter heavily redeveloped.

“The project delays for the Summerhill BRT have been incredibly frustrating,” Taylor wrote. “The ability for MARTA to deliver capital projects on budget and on schedule is paramount to the sustained growth and prosperity of our city and region.”

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Greenwood himself left no signs that he was contemplating a departure.

As recently as June 13, just days before he was to step away from the position, Greenwood was touting his future plans for MARTA in an interview with the AJC’s editorial board. The transit agency had recently adopted a new “north star” focus on cleanliness, safety and reliability.

Greenwood extolled the importance of transit in creating a city’s culture.

“We claim to be a part of this city but if you’re just getting up, getting in your car, driving to your garage at work and going to your office, you didn’t travel in the city today,” he said. “If you get on the bus or you get on the train, you see things, you experience things. You actually share the geography, the landscape with fellow citizens. I think you’re more of a citizen when you participate in the public realm.

“The very successful cities, everybody’s out and everybody’s riding transit and everybody’s walking. there’s a different je ne sais quoi, a different feel, about that kind of an existence than the one where you’re cocooned in your car.”

Staff writers Riley Bunch, Zach Hansen, Tia Mitchell, Amy Wenk and Reed Williams contributed reporting.

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