MARTA hires Collie Greenwood as new chief of bus operations

Collie Greenwood, formerly the chief service officer with the Toronto Transit Commission, has joined MARTA as chief of bus operations. In his role, Greenwood will be responsible for daily operations and maintenance of MARTA’s bus system, which includes a fleet of 532 buses and paratransit vans.

With 32 years in the transit industry, Greenwood has experience in operations, administration and service delivery, giving him an appreciation for longstanding transit principles that he will rely on to improve service delivery and reliability.

“When you turn on the faucet, you expect water; when you flip the switch, you expect lights. You don’t think about it until you don’t get it,” says Greenwood. “That’s what I’m aiming for with MARTA’s bus service – being on time and in good repair so our customers don’t have to think about it. It will take employee buy-in and some time, but getting the basics right every day is at the core of customer service.”

General Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker said that buses are a critical part of MARTA’s service provision, representing nearly 42 percent of average daily ridership – roughly 152,400 people per day. “MARTA fully recognizes the importance of bus service, and we are committed to improving our service, with the ultimate goal of a world-class user experience,” Parker says. “Collie Greenwood has demonstrated that he has the imagination, creativity and pragmatism necessary to lead a collaborative transformation of our bus service.”

As part of MARTA’s commitment to bus operations, the fiscal year 2020 budget includes funding for “The Year of the Bus (YOTB),” a long-term initiative aimed at ensuring high quality service. The Bus Operators Task Force, part of the YOB initiative, is a team tasked with developing solutions that address recruitment, hiring and retention of appropriately skilled bus operators to serve MARTA’s customers. Greenwood, who began his career as a bus operator, will assume leadership of the task force and plans to have productive conversations with operators and stakeholders to help him make assessments that will lead to revitalization.

Greenwood, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, started work on July 3.