How Atlanta Citizens Are Giving Thanks to Transit Workers

Maintainers—folks who clean streets, care for children, repair infrastructure—don’t usually draw much praise. Society tends to value “innovators” and “disrupters” more than the legions of workaday toilers who keep cities running.

MARTA Army, a grassroots citizens group that supports Atlanta’s beleaguered transit system, hopes to change that, at least for the unsung heroes moving buses and trains in its hometown. Nominations are open for the second annual MARTA Kudos awards, which honors exceptional workers who operate, maintain, and patrol the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Riders can submit bids for standout workers they’ve encountered in the system—bus drivers, train operators, janitors, station agents, transit police officers, or others—who’ve “demonstrated great valor in the line of duty,” according to the nomination page.