It was with a great sense of pride that I concluded my tenure on the MARTA board of directors on Dec. 31. It is truly the dedication and hard work of the 4,500 MARTA employees which has made MARTA one of the best transit systems in the country — even in the face of the enormous financial challenges that it has experienced recently.
One of the biggest challenges that MARTA confronted this past year was the task of continuing to provide vital service to its riders, while down-sizing to accommodate drastically reduced revenues. When I became chairman, the agency was facing a budget shortfall of approximately $120 million. This projected deficit was due primarily to the impact of the Great Recession which had caused sales tax revenues to plummet dramatically. MARTA’s financial dilemma was exacerbated by the fact that MARTA, alone among its peer transit agencies, receives no significant dedicated state funding.
Given the fact that approximately 46 percent of MARTA’s riders have no other means of transportation , it was imperative for MARTA to preserve as much service as possible, while implementing cost reductions that would allow for a balanced budget. I am extremely proud that the entire MARTA family confronted this Herculean challenge and resized the system in such a manner that we were able to preserve 86 percent of MARTA’s ridership coverage.
This resizing came at a tremendous sacrifice to MARTA’s employees. The MARTA work force was reduced by approximately 14 percent with more than 700 positions eliminated. Bus routes were reduced by more than 30 percent while rail service hours were cut by more than 14 percent. Additional cost-cutting measures included mandatory 10-day furloughs for all of MARTA’s nonunion employees, no merit salary increases for these employees and an increase in their share of the cost of health care insurance. Similarly, even though MARTA’s unionized employees already were among the lowest paid transit workers in the country, a new labor contract was agreed to in November that included no wage increases.
Despite the sacrifices that MARTA’s employees were forced to make, their tireless efforts enabled the agency to achieve a number of new accomplishments. In November, the first ever Bus Rapid Transit service in Georgia was launched using smart technology that will ease congestion and provide faster transit in the Memorial Drive corridor of DeKalb County. In October, the first phase of a concessions program was initiated with vending machines installed in all 38 rail stations. The concessions program stands to generate millions of dollars of much-needed revenue. MARTA also proceeded with the implementation of a state-of-the art green energy project utilizing solar energy panels at its primary bus maintenance facility. Similarly, MARTA played a crucial role in partnering with Atlanta to help secure another $47 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Atlanta Streetcar project.
Because of the extraordinary sacrifices and productivity of the MARTA employees, I and my colleagues on the MARTA board decided to reward the employees with a holiday appreciation gala held last month. Given the financial straits of MARTA, the board decided to fund the gala through the voluntary contributions of private companies that had worked with MARTA, rather than to utilize any of the agency’s limited resources. Even though this funding approach was completely consistent with the approach utilized previously by many others, including Gov. Sonny Perdue who raised $1.4 million for his inaugural ball in 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution regrettably chose to question its ethical propriety. The gala, however, was a resounding success for the thousands of MARTA employees who were able to attend due to the generosity of the private companies who sponsored it.
One major bit of unfinished business that must be addressed, however, is the necessary revision of House Bill 277, the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. Specifically, this law singles out MARTA as the only transit system in the state that would be ineligible to receive any new funding for operations and maintenance of its current system, if voters in the Atlanta region approve a new 1-cent transportation tax in a 2012 referendum.
MARTA is obviously in desperate need of additional revenue and the 2012 referendum could result in billions of dollars of revenue that could not only aid MARTA, but also could provide much-needed funding for a host of other important transit and transportation investments in the Atlanta region.
Just as MARTA has sought to do all within its power to address the challenges confronting it, now is the time for our state and regional leadership to acknowledge the need to revise HB 277 to include MARTA as an equal recipient of funding from the 2012 referendum. If this is done, it will greatly enhance the prospects for the passage of the referendum, which will not only help to sustain MARTA, but also will greatly advance the welfare of our state.
Michael W. Tyler, an attorney at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, is the outgoing chairman of the board of MARTA.
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