MARTA outlines NextGen bus plan, FY26 budget and local projects to DeKalb commissioners

MARTA General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood told DeKalb County commissioners on June 3 that the agency has seen a slow but steady ridership recovery, and laid out a timetable for the NextGen bus network, fiscal 2026 budgets and several DeKalb-area projects.

Greenwood said the agency discovered a technical undercount in its ridership reporting caused by failing fare-tap hardware. "It was an under reporting of actual ridership conditions, and you can see that these 2 lines are that gap is eliminated," Greenwood said, describing work to retrieve data from aging fare-gate components and the planned rollout of an automated fare-control system (AFC2) to replace older equipment.

The NextGen bus network — the agency's systemwide bus redesign — was presented as the product of extensive public engagement and is scheduled for MARTA board consideration on June 10, Greenwood said. If adopted, MARTA is targeting a launch in December 2025 and plans an extensive rider-education effort beforehand. The plan, Greenwood said, would increase access to jobs within an hour by about 21 percent and provide frequent…