‘Outstanding’ Atlanta public transit CEO, 56, kills himself by jumping front of train
Atlanta GA Jan 18, 2022 Atlanta public transit CEO Jeffrey Parker committed suicide on Friday night after stepping in front of a train in the outskirts of the city.
Parker, 56, was struck at the East Lake station in Atlanta at 10.30pm, a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority official told DailyMail.com.
No motive for his suicide has been announced. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office and Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com.
He is survived by his wife Erin and his daughters.
MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott described him as ‘an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken.
‘We are devastated at this loss as we valued Jeff’s leadership and looked forward to him bringing his vision for transit to fruition. 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,’ she added.
Parker was named general manager and CEO of the agency in March 2018. Since then, he has overseen transit expansion plans, helped negotiate a three percent annual raises for workers and led the agency through a Super Bowl and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
In 2020, Parker won a three-year contract extension, securing his job until 2026.
His salary at the time was $366,575, according to the AJC. He was also eligible for a bonus of up to 10 percent of his base salary – or $36,657.
He reportedly told the board that ‘any bonus or base salary pay raise was inappropriate this year,’ according to MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher.
On Saturday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp shared his condolences in a tweet.
‘Marty, the girls, & I are saddened to learn about the tragic passing of Jeffrey Parker – GM/CEO of MARTA. In addition to a remarkable professional career in the public/private sectors, Jeffrey was known for his civic engagement and support for the advancement of his communities,’ Kemp wrote.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said: ‘I’m so sorry to hear this. My prayers are with Jeff’s family, friends, and colleagues.’
Parker graduated cum laude from Northeastern University with a degree in computer science, according to his MARTA biography.
He was named one of Atlanta Magazine’s Most Powerful People of 2020 and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans of 2020.
In 2019, he was recognized by the Atlanta Chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS-Atlanta) as its ‘Man of the Year’ for his history of hiring and promoting women in transportation.
‘As we struggle to understand the complexity of this tragedy, we grieve with and for his wife Erin, his daughters and all of Jeff’s family and friends as well as his MARTA family. As we continue to grieve, we want you to know that suicide is preventable and help is available to you,’ said Chairwoman Scott.
Parker helped lead MARTA expansion plans, such as a bus rapid transit line in Clayton County, one of the counties that make up the Atlanta metro area, according to the AJC.
He requested funding for the $300 million project through the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts Program.
In 2019, Parker called for a $100 billion ‘moonshot for transit’ investment, as the region’s population was set to grow by 2.5 million people by 2040, the AJC reported.
The massive funding goal – which would have vastly shadowed a $2.7 billion, 40-year plan approved by Atlanta voters in 2016 – didn’t go well with some lawmakers.
‘That’s about 50 years of current GDOT spending,’ state Rep. Brett Harrell said at the time. ‘Not an ROI [return on investment] that sounds appealing to me.’
MARTA named Collie Greenwood as interim general manager and CEO after an emergency board meeting Saturday.
Greenwood is a former chief service officer at the Toronto Transit Commission. He joined MARTA in 2019 as the head of bus operations and was promoted to deputy general manager of operations last January.
In 2019, MARTA, under Parker’s leadership, approved a new contract that gave its workers three percent raises for the next three years, AJC reported.
The agreement gave a 25-cents-an-hour longevity premium to all employees with 20 or more years of service and added a ‘parity pay adjustment’ of 50 cents an hour to all bus and rail operators.
It added $1 an hour for mechanics and other skilled technicians and came with $1,000 ratification payments for full-time employees and $500 for part-time workers.
Britt Dunams, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732, which represents more than 2,500 MARTA and other local transit workers, said:
‘We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear of the tragic death of MARTA general Manager/CEO Jeffrey Parker.
‘Parker understood the importance of MARTA and public transit for our city, our members, and our citizens.
