Jeffrey Parker, general manager and CEO of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, (MARTA), has committed suicide. The company announced this in a statement. 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.”
Rita Scott, Chairwoman of the MARTA Board of Directors, also released a statement. She noted that Jeff has a wife named Erin as well as 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.”
SaportaReportReports claim that Jeffrey Parker walked up to a MARTA train at East Lake MARTA Station Friday night.
The MARTA Twitter account posted that an emergency was causing delays around that time.
“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.”
Later, they tweeted that Eastbound Blueline trains had ceased eastbound service to Candler Park.
“Nobody knows the WHY,”Jim Durrett (MARTA board member) sent a text message to SaportaReport. “What I can tell you is that he was NOT fired,”He continued.
Since 2018, Jeff has been the CEO of the company. His career started in 1985, when he was an intern at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). 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.