MARTA hires interim general manager to lead organization

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) board of directors named Jonathan Hunt, the interim general manager, as the permanent CEO at its regular board meeting on Aug. 13.

A search committee had narrowed the search to three candidates – all involved in the mass transit industry. Hunt, one of the finalists, has served as interim general manager and CEO since August 2025.

“Choosing MARTA’s next GM/CEO is one of the most consequential decisions this board will make, and the region deserves a rigorous process,” said Jennifer Ide, chair of the MARTA board, in a release from the organization. “I’m proud of the national search we ran and of the caliber of the three finalists it produced.”

At the Aug. 13 meeting, Ide complimented the three finalists, saying that the organization “ran a truly national search.”

“We heard from a number of well-qualified candidates,” she said. “The decision the board has made is a monumental one.”

The finalists, along with Hunt, were Cleveland Ferguson III, an executive vice president and chief administrative officer of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, and Leroy Jones, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, a role he took on in 2025.

Hunt has been MARTA’s interim general manager and CEO since August 2025. He joined MARTA in 2014 and spent more than a decade in its legal department, holding the titles of chief of corporate law and real estate, deputy chief counsel, and chief legal counsel before being named interim GM/CEO.

He was previously a senior assistant city attorney for Atlanta, handling aviation matters for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; practiced law at Dentons and Baker & Hostetler; and worked as a project engineer for Gilbane Building Co.

Ide said, after the vote to appoint Hunt to the permanent position, cited his leadership when Atlanta hosted the FIFA World Cup, as one of the reasons for the decision.

“He will say it is the result of a lot of people, but it was the Jonathan show,” she said. “We believe that he has MARTA headed in the right direction.”

Hunt said he is committed to “building back trust in MARTA, something we have made progress toward.”

MARTA challenges

MARTA has faced significant challenges in the past few years, with incidents of violence reported on and around the stations. So far in 2026, there have been six violent attacks at MARTA stations or aboard trains, two of them resulting in fatalities.

In early June, a 66-year-old woman was randomly stabbed to death by a man on a train headed to Oakland City station. The violence prompted U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to order an investigation by the Federal Transit Administration in early June.

In addition, a new fleet of MARTA rail cars, expected to be operational by the time Atlanta held eight FIFA World Cup matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium from June 15 to July 15, has yet to be installed.

However, after the World Cup, MARTA officials announced that the system moved 4.7 million riders during the 35 days of events in metro Atlanta, with no major crimes reported.

Six hundred MARTA ambassadors and 100 multilingual FIFA volunteers also pitched in, as the agency gave directions, water, sunscreen and first aid to fans.

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