MATA reports improved morning vehicle availability but council presses for clarity on funding, fleet and service reliability

Interim MATA Chief Executive John Lewis and Chief Administrative Officer Eric Stevenson briefed the City Council transportation committee on MATA’s monthly operations and finances. Lewis said maintenance teams had achieved 100% vehicle availability for fixed‑route service each morning during the past month and that a rubber‑wheeled replacement trolley service on Main Street is operating while the steel‑wheeled trolleys undergo recertification testing with the Tennessee Department of Transportation; MATA staff said the redundant braking system work on the trolleys will cost under $30,000 for the system described in the briefing.

Lewis told the committee that MATA has been recruiting and that a permanent chief financial officer begins the week after the briefing; the board’s executive search committee will begin interviewing candidates for a permanent CEO. From a capital standpoint, Lewis discussed a previously awarded federal grant (about $54 million) to support a replacement operations and maintenance facility and said the agency has sought to reframe the original grant scope — which had envisioned electrification and a larger bus count — into a realistic plan the Federal Transit Administration can obligate. Lewis said MATA has already spent $1.4 million of its own funds on the project and is working to obligate the federal funds so those expenditures can be reimbursed; he noted the original award as written had not yet been obligated to MATA and that the agency is seeking an amended award to reflect a smaller vehicle count and different technology.

Staff reported ongoing fleet constraints. Lewis provided fleet numbers in the meeting packet: 98 fixed‑route vehicles in the fleet with roughly 65 deployable vehicles and 33 non‑deployable for maintenance reasons; MATA runs about 54 scheduled fixed‑route buses per day and reported 61 paratransit (MATAplus) vehicles with six currently non‑deployable. Lewis said twelve new 40‑foot Gillig buses are expected in early 2026 and that MATA expects to begin receiving 15 replacement paratransit vans later in the month, with additional temporary vehicles arriving from a sister agency to bridge the gap.

Council members pressed staff on service reliability and transparency. Vice Chair Swearingen Washington raised constituent examples of missed paratransit pick‑ups for dialysis and asked for direct contact information to resolve immediate rider issues; Lewis identified operations managers who can be contacted and said staff would provide contact lists. Council members repeatedly questioned the agency’s prior leadership, praised recent operational improvements, and demanded more candid reporting about systemic problems. Councilwoman Logan and others said a “100% morning availability” claim did not address afternoon and all‑day reliability, and she characterized the 1,600 page submission from MATA as too voluminous without a concise, transparent summary of core problems and the agency’s plan to fix them. Council members asked for a clearer schedule for trolley recertification, documentation about the $1.4 million already spent on the facility project and for a plan showing how any city bridge loan or CIP support will be repaid or matched by other funding sources.

MATA staff acknowledged repairs, recruitment and procurement constraints, and said additional details on the facility grant re‑authorization, the CEO recruitment and vehicle delivery schedules will be provided as the agency moves forward. Committee members asked MATA to return with more concise material and concrete near‑term timelines for vehicle availability, fleet repairs and steps to stabilize daily service.