ATLANTA — The sudden death of MARTA's General Manager and CEO left the community shocked and saddened over the weekend. Jeffrey Parker had been the CEO since March 2018 and received a three-year contract extension in November 2020.
Parker died by suicide after being struck by a MARTA train at East Lake station around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, the agency confirmed to 11Alive.
MARTA tweeted about the "emergency situation" at the station at 11:45 p.m. Friday night and informed riders of a bus bridge and offered Uber and Lyft credits during the disruption. They did not elaborate on the nature of the emergency.
"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," MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott said in a statement. "As we continue to grieve, we want you to know that suicide is preventable and help is available to you."
She went on to say that they valued Partker's leadership and "looked forward to him bringing his vision for transit to fruition."
Taking Parker's role in the agency on an interim basis is Collie Greenwood. She joined MARTA in 2019 as the head of Bus Operations and was promoted to Deputy General Manager of Operations last January. Greenwood previously served as Chief Service Officer with the Toronto Transit Commission.
According to his MARTA bio, Parker was a "recognized national leader in transportation and transit" with more than 35 years of both private and public experience in the industry.
Parker, a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, joined MARTA following a long career, beginning in 1985, with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
MARTA officials offered the community information to services and immediate crisis help. You can call the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225 and they are available for you 24/7.