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MARTA interim CEO outlines ridership gains, AFC2 payment rollout and local projects at Fulton County meeting
Summary
MARTA's interim CEO and police chief told Fulton County commissioners the transit authority is seeing rising ridership, testing new fare gates and preparing for systemwide Automated Fare Collection (AFC2) and major projects including the Rapid A line and 5 Points transformation.
MARTA gave a quarterly briefing to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 1 covering ridership trends, capital projects, safety efforts and a major systemwide fare‑collection upgrade.
Lede: Jonathan Hunt, MARTA’s interim general manager and CEO, said MARTA moved about 423,000 customers safely over Labor Day weekend and reported increasing ridership trends heading into fall; the agency is piloting fare gates and preparing to launch a systemwide Automated Fare Collection 2 (AFC2) “Better Breeze” platform next spring.
Nut graf: The presentation laid out multiple capital and service projects in or affecting Fulton County — including Airport Station rehabilitation, the Summerhill Rapid A line, 5 Points transformation and Bankhead platform extension — and highlighted safety investments and a real‑time crime center. MARTA’s chief of police described crime reductions and staffing plans related to policing the transit system.
Key details: Hunt said the AFC2 program will cost approximately $220 million and will introduce contactless payments, new fare gates (pilot at Lindbergh and Doraville), updated validators on buses and improved ticket vending machines. MARTA is contracting for new railcars and expects a phased systemwide rollout by April (note: staff said customer‑facing launch anticipated in April next year with systemwide impact realized over 2026–2027).
Safety and staffing: MARTA Police Chief Scott Kreher reported year‑to‑date overall crime down about 21% and violent crime down almost 30% compared with last year; he said MARTA has around 250 sworn officers, has stood up a real‑time crime center to monitor 3,000 cameras and plans a larger recruiting push.
Other projects: The briefing covered airport station artwork and rehabilitation, the Summerhill Rapid A line outreach and engineering work with GDOT, the Bankhead platform extension design, the Campbellton‑Greenbrier transit hub planning and an ART/Arterial Rapid Transit procurement. The agency also said it fully drew down a 2017 TIGER grant and will begin training operators in November.
Board questions: Commissioners pressed MARTA officials on ridership targets, expected ROI from AFC2 (better fare data and reduced evasion), the $220 million cost and the timeline for ridership improvement. Hunt said MARTA will provide riders projections and additional detail to the board on request.
Ending: MARTA requested ongoing coordination with Fulton County on community engagement for service changes and construction; commissioners said they will follow up on ridership targets and requested more concrete, board‑level projections for the system’s recovery.
