This is most definitely bad news for Atlanta: Keith Parker set to resign as CEO of MARTA, after five years of trying to improve the maligned transit authority
I know I’ve often been the first guy to offer un-constructive criticism or unnecessary sarcasm to just about everything Keith Parker has done, or just about anything pertaining to MARTA. But the truth is, I really should have eaten a good measure of my words throughout the last five years, because in spite of the snark and wise cracks, Keith Parker accomplished more with MARTA than I ever would have anticipated.
It’s easy to be jaded about things related to infrastructure in Atlanta, because this is a major market in the United States, but often times feels like it’s operating like the Podunk town that those not from the south tend to associate to places located in the south. The politicians in the city are flagrantly abusive in their privileges, yet nothing ever seems to change. So something like MARTA, the near-pointless metro service in the city always exists as an easy target for criticism, and when Keith Parker came to town, it was always easy to assume another crooked stooge was taking a notable position to likely flounder, make promises that would go unfulfilled, pad his pockets, and then get the fuck out when things are at their worst (like the Beltline).
But over the last five years, Keith Parker has made some tangible improvements to MARTA, despite the fact that I would champion all the flops but none of the real successes. Ridership did improve, although it got a massive assist when I-85 burned to the ground earlier in the year, and the general consensus of riders seems to show improvement, and not nearly as much shithead behavior on the trains, allegedly.
Continue reading “Looks like MARTA is headed back to the dark ages”
