The Remarkable Turnaround of Atlanta Public Transit

Atlanta's transit agency, MARTA, was on the brink of financial disaster when Keith Parker arrived as CEO in December of 2012. Ridership was down roughly 5 percent on the previous year. Annual losses ranged upwards of $33 million. An outside audit found the agency's business model to be "structurally unsustainable" and projected that without major changes it was on a path toward insolvency.

"The first thing we had to do was convince people the service was even going to be here in five years," says Parker. "There was a real sense that the agency may shutter its doors."