Jeff Parker was CEO of the company since 2018. He had a career in the transportation industry for over 35 years.
Jeffrey Parker, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) general manager and CEO, has died by suicide, the company said in a statement.
“With very heavy hearts, we share the official news of GM/CEO Jeffrey Parker’s tragic passing on Friday evening, January 14, 2022,” the website states. “Please keep his family in your prayers and meditations.”
“Jeff cared deeply about MARTA and his leadership gave us a strong foundation from which to carry forward.”
MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott also released a statement and noted that Jeff has a wife named Erin and daughters.
“As Chairwoman and on behalf of my fellow MARTA board members, we are devastated at this loss as we valued Jeff’s leadership and looked forward to him bringing his vision for transit to fruition,” Scott said.
“The entire metro Atlanta region owes him a debt of gratitude for his transformational efforts and we will not stop working to build on the foundation he created.”
SaportaReport reports that several people close to the transit agency say that Jeffrey Parker walked in front of a MARTA train at the East Lake MARTA station Friday night.
Around that time, the MARTA Twitter account tweeted out that an emergency was causing delays.
“Due to an emergency at East Lake, delays occurring on the Blue line,” they wrote. “Bus shuttle service being established at Avondale, Decatur, East Lake, & Candler Park. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
They later tweeted that the Eastbound Blue line trains were discontinuing eastbound service at Candler Park.
“Nobody knows the WHY,” MARTA board member Jim Durrett said to SaportaReport in a text. “What I can tell you is that he was NOT fired,” he continued.
Jeff was CEO of the company since 2018. His career began in 1985 when he interned with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), his bio reads.
During his career, he was listed as one of Atlanta Magazine’s Most Powerful People of 2020, Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans of 2020, and was named “Man of the Year” in 2019 by the Atlanta Chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar.
