Tag: Gary Rosenfeld

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MATA Reports Improvements In Ridership, Community Engagement

Photo: Justin Fox Burks

Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) leaders reported improvements across many of its service lines to Memphis City Council members Tuesday.

Bacarra Mauldin, MATA’s interim CEO, told the council’s Transportation Committee that ridership and usage was up on trollies, buses, and the agency’s on-demand system. Mauldin was appointed on February 1, 2024 following the retirement of Gary Rosenfeld.

When Mauldin stepped into the role the agency was “fresh from the rejection” of their controversial proposed winter service changes. Mauldin said their biggest challenges were unreliable services and buses, and “strained relationship with community advocates.”

However, recent changes helped to push total ridership over 2 million recently, she said, with a significant number of those on MATA’s traditional bus services, The most popular routes to date are the 36-Lamar, 50- Poplar, and 42- Crosstown. These numbers are reported from year-to-date.

More than 36,000 hopped a trolley last month, Mauldin said. Much of that improvement came from a partnership with Renasant Convention Center.

“They really help us advertise and promote our services when conventions come to town,” she said. “We get a lot of additional ridership on our trolleys during those instances.”

Mauldin said Groove On-Demand, MATA’s “Uber-ish” car service system, rose to over 100,000 bookings so far this year. That service allows citizens to call a car for access to Downtown, the Medical District, South City, and New Chicago.

Mauldin said MATA is also listening to customers and community organizations. In the last 80 days MATA leaders met with members of the Bus Riders Union, Citizens for Better Service, and Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH). 

“As a result, we renewed our joint commitment to work and make transit better for all riders,” Mauldin said. “Advocate and adversary don’t have to be the same. We all want better transit, and we can do more if we all work together.”

To further improve transit in the Mid-South, Mauldin said MATA met with union leadership “early.” She said they do not have a contract yet, but wanted to let council members know that this was a priority.

The agency has also added eight new buses that are in service to their “fixed route bus fleet,” and has secured 29 used buses to aid in reliability and efficiency. 

“Hallelujah!” council member Jana Swearengen-Washington said at the conclusion of the presentation . “Our emails of concerns and phone calls have just been drastically reduced. We appreciate your team and all that you’re doing.”

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Staffing Shortage Worsened by Pandemic Impacts MATA’s Reliability

(Credit: Justin Fox Burks)

Bus riders are waiting longer for buses or sometimes waiting for a bus that never arrives due to a Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) staffing shortage. 

MATA’s goal for on-time performance, which measures how often buses arrive within a seven-minute window of their scheduled time, is 76 percent. Since May it’s been at 63 percent. 

Gary Rosenfeld, MATA’s CEO, said that number is “totally unacceptable.” He said a shortage of bus operators has affected MATA’s ability to improve its on-time performance and meet the expectations of customers. 

MATA has about 200 fixed-route bus operators and needs about 30 more just to have enough manpower to provide reliable daily services. Rosenfeld said this is especially true as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise in the county. 

“We’ve been hit with Covid-related absences at a much higher rate this month than last month or the month before,” Rosenfeld said. “We find ourselves with not enough operators to put all the service in the streets according to what’s posted in the schedule.”

Rosenfeld said he knows this puts additional stress on passengers, as well as the employers whose employees depend on MATA to get to work on time. 

“I emphasize and sympathize with our passengers,” Rosenfeld said. “It just creates a really bad situation for them and for our employees who catch the brunt of people’s stress and anger over poor service conditions.”

There is also a shortage of mechanics who are needed to regularly inspect the buses. On average, buses need to be inspected every eight to ten days, Rosenfeld said. Without a full complement of mechanics, the inspections back up and those buses can’t run. 

“So you can see the gravity of the situation,” Rosenfeld said. “If we fall behind a day or two because of a shortage of qualified mechanics, we quickly fall behind in the number of buses that are available to provide service. And we will not sacrifice safety and put buses in the street that are not inspected.”

‘It’s Not Pretty’

With late buses, or buses not showing up at all, Sammie Hunter, co-chair of the Memphis Bus Riders Union, said he and other bus riders struggle to get to jobs, school, and other essential destinations like the grocery store. Hunter said August has been particularly rough as temperatures rose above 90 degrees most days. 

“You have people that have to stand in the heat and the sun when the bus they’re waiting on might not even show up,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen it all and it’s not pretty.”

“Taxpayers deserve reliable, sufficient transportation.”

Hunter said he relies on the 69 route to get home after work and often waits two hours for it to arrive. 

“When I get off work, it’s the end of the day, I’m tired, and I’m ready to go home,” Hunter said. “Taxpayers deserve reliable, sufficient transportation. We should be able to go to a stop, get on a bus, and get where we need to in a reasonable amount of time.”

Hunter said he understands “things happen,” but there needs to be contingency plans for situations like bus operator shortages. 

‘Doing All We Can’

Rosenfeld said the issue is not limited to MATA or Memphis. There has been a shortage of commercial drivers in the country for the past several years, he said. The pandemic has exacerbated that.

“Just like the medical profession is seeing an exodus because of what nurses and hospital workers are going through, our frontline folks are dealing with many of the same issues,” Rosenfeld said. “They have to deal with the public and trying to enforce reasonable rules for public safety while operating a bus is not necessarily an easy job.” 

As a result, employees are finding jobs with less responsibility or retiring. 

“Employees are in charge right now in terms of the market,” Rosenfeld said. “Employers are really at a disadvantage.” 

“Just like the medical profession is seeing an exodus because of what nurses and hospital workers are going through, our frontline folks are dealing with many of the same issues.”

Rosenfeld said MATA has been working to recruit employees for “quite some time” with signing bonuses, a modified training program, and revamped benefits packages. 

“We’re doing all we can to generate interest in our program for new employees,” Rosenfeld said. “At the same time, so is every other employer in the service industry in the greater Memphis area.”

One way MATA attempted to recruit more employees is by raising its starting wages to $19.35 an hour for bus operators after they complete training and $26 an hour for mechanics, but Rosenfeld said that still isn’t enough to compete with other major transportation companies in the region.

The average starting wage for commercial operators has increased from $12 an hour to over $25 an hour in the past 18 months, he said. In retail, there’s an avenue to generate more revenue to pay employees more, but MATA has a fixed revenue. 

“From a wage and benefit perspective, we’ve probably done all we can do for right now,” Rosenfeld said. “But if we end up at the top of the hill, it won’t take long for other companies to either match it or exceed it.”

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MATA to Demo Protective Shields for Drivers

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

MATA demos protective shields for drivers

The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is demoing a new security measure meant to keep drivers and passengers safe.

The agency will introduce bus shields, or a sliding glass window that puts a partial barrier between drivers and passengers, for a trial period beginning next week, the agency announced Tuesday at its Airways Transit Center.

Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA said bus shields, having been in the transit industry for a while, are not a new concept. MATA is exploring installing them now after the recent request by a group of bus drivers.

Compared to other transit agencies across the country, Rosenfeld said “relatively speaking,” MATA has not seen a high number of incidents.

“We’re always concerned about passenger and employee safety aboard our buses,” Rosenfeld said. “That’s our number one priority at all times. We recognize that incidents do occur from time to time. There has been no real uptick in incidents, but, nonetheless, we recognize that there are incidents we need to take affirmative action to try and deal with them.”

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The idea of the shield is to deter passengers from physically interfering with the bus operator. At roughly $5,000 a piece, Rosenfeld said the shields are a “tremendous capital investment,” but that MATA is “willing to invest in safety.”

“If we can be proactive in this situation, that’s great,” he said. “If it demonstrates that it prevents something bad from happening, even better. So it’s just a matter of working hand in hand with out bus drivers.”

For now just two of MATA’s buses will be equipped with shields during the demonstration period as MATA determines whether or not they are effective.

The demonstration period will continue “as long as it takes,” Rosenfeld said. This will give MATA time to collect data on the number and severity of incidents involving drivers when a shield is in place in order to make an “informed decision” on whether or not to add them to each of MATA’s approximate 120 fixed-route buses.

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Harris Presents ‘Landmark’ Funding Plan for MATA

CREDIT: Memphis Area Transit Authority

Memphis Area Transit Authority

Mayor Harris wants to give MATA $10 million.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris presented a plan to the Shelby County Commission Wednesday to generate $10 million in funding each year for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA).

In the past, MATA has said it needs an additional $30 million in funding to build a more robust, frequent, and reliable system.


Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA said Wednesday that the mayor’s proposal is a “landmark plan” that would “dramatically change the trajectory of funding for public transit in this community.”

Harris said the plan would have “zero impact” on most families and does not include an increase in property taxes. Instead, the plan would implement an annual $145 registration fee for households’ third vehicle and beyond. Harris said this would only affect about 17 percent of residents here.

“Today I presented out #Future4Transit plan to the Shelby County Commission,” Harris wrote on Twitter. “If adopted it will have a big impact on transit.”

If the commission adopts the plan, the county would also allocate 1.5 percent, or $1 million of its capital improvement budget, to transit.

Harris anticipates the additional funds will be used to implement recommendations laid out in the Transit Vision 3.0 Plan, such as an express route to the airport and increased frequency on MATA’s most popular routes.

The additional $10 million would have an economic impact of more than $40 million, Harris said, citing expanded job access and a reduction in car accidents.

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The mayor also said the plan would have a significant impact on poverty, noting there are 15,000 available jobs in the county: “More frequent transit helps people get a job and keep a job.”

The transit investment would also have a “big impact on our shared environment.” Harris said. With more frequent and reliable transit options, there would be more ridership and a reduction of automobile emissions by thousands of tons.

“Everyone has to play a role in trying to preserve our shared environment, even local officials,” Harris said. “We will all enjoy the benefits of clean air, reduced congestion, and a reduction in poverty. This sustainable investment in transit helps achieve all those objectives.”

Harris is looking for the commission to vote on the plan by February 2020. County approval could be contingent upon MATA giving the county a place on its board.

Earlier this year, the county commission approved $2.5 million of the county’s 2020 budget going toward MATA and related infrastructure improvements. This was the first investment in public transit by the county.

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MATA Head:Trolleys Have Set Stage For Success in First Year

In three weeks, it will have been one year since the Main Street trolley line has been revived, and the head of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) said it’s met nearly all expectations so far.

President and CEO of MATA, Gary Rosenfeld said since the steel-wheel trolleys returned to the tracks after a four-year absence, there have been no real issues with the line. The five-car system has been running “smoothly” — other than one trolley car that hasn’t been able to be revived and put into service yet, he said.

“All and all the system is running pretty well for what we’ve been through,” he said. “It’s setting the stage for future successful years of service.”

The main issue is keeping those using the trolleys and those around it safe, Rosenfeld said. One precaution he advises pedestrians on the Main Street Mall to take is to avoid wearing headphones while walking near the trolley tracks: “We want everybody to be safe.”

There are red and white signs on the Mall instructing pedestrians to yield for the trolleys.


Ridership has been as expected, Rosenfeld said.There have been approximately 372,000 boardings since the service was reinstated on April 30th of last year.

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Rosenfeld said that number is in the “range of expectation,” and that he anticipates it rising in the summer months.

“We’ve certainly had respectable ridership,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s demonstration that the Main Street line is viable and that more lines will be viable in the future. The community has accepted the trolleys.”

As for the future, Rosenfeld said the goal is to bring back the Madison and Riverfront lines at some point. However, he said MATA has had trouble securing a vendor for trolley parts. That’s a “critical point in the flow chart,” Rosenfeld said.

“Until we get passed that critical point in flow chart, we’re not going to go one way or another,” Rosenfeld said. “The cars have to be refurbished or we’ll find some other method.The critical issue with the trolleys since the beginning of the recertification process has been safety.

“We’re not willing to compromise safety and we’re not going to sign a contract for the sake of signing a contract.”

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Transit in Transition

The city, in collaboration with Innovate Memphis and the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) asks that the public take a second survey on concepts for the future of Memphis transit.

This is the second phase in a process required for Tennessee’s transit systems to pursue various funding options laid out in Gov. Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act that passed in July. The legislation requires that MATA create a transit vision plan before going to the Memphis City Council to request more funding.

Planning began in September with stakeholder meetings, followed by community engagement. Now, the question is should MATA allocate resources to services that are more frequent and encourage high ridership or services that cover a larger percent of the city with less frequency.

To answer this question, Jarrett Walker + Associates (JWA), the transit consultant group working with the city, drafted four basic network concepts — two of them revenue neutral, two requiring additional funding.

MATA envisions its future.

Using existing funds, the Coverage concept is most similar to today’s network with routes extending well beyond the city’s core. But, with coverage spread out, most buses would come about every 60 minutes or greater.

The Ridership concept, also cost-neutral, concentrates services within the I-240 loop. This means buses on all routes would run every 30 minutes or less. The downside, though, Scudder Wagg of JWA said, is that some neighborhoods, namely in the eastern and southeastern areas of the city, would lose access to services completely.

But, with about $45 million of additional funding, Wagg said MATA could provide a service that increases bus frequency as well as extends coverage outside of the city’s center. “If you don’t increase resources, it’ll be painful,” Wagg said.

CEO of MATA Gary Rosenfeld agreed, saying that funding for the city’s transit system has been stagnant for years. “We need to change that for the benefit of the community.”

Coverage PLUS would require additional funding. Buses on every route would come every 30 minutes or less, while still servicing most areas that are currently covered.

Ridership PLUS proposes the highest frequency services, creating five east-west routes out of downtown — including routes on Poplar, Lamar, and Jackson — and two going north-south traveling from Brooks to Chelsea. Wagg said this concept promotes “seamless transfers.”

The PLUS concepts also include replacing fixed-route services in Southwest Memphis with dial-a-ride transit services that would run on flexible routes, connecting to a new transit center near Mitchell and 3rd Street.

Wagg added that the concepts aren’t to prompt an “either-or” decision, but rather to provide a range of concepts that “frame the extreme ends.”

Over the next two months, Innovate Memphis staff will lead outreach and survey the public on the four concepts. The survey is also available on the Memphis 3.0 website.

Justin Davis of the Memphis Bus Riders’ Union weighed in on the concepts, saying that the riders’ union would be most excited to see a scenario in which MATA gets a robust influx of funding.

“On our end, I hope we don’t get put in a position where we have to sacrifice service for more vulnerable communities in the process of making those routes on big coordinators run faster,” he said. “Race and class equity is something we should be asking about in every step of the process.”

After the public engagement wraps up, a recommended network will be drafted in February, with the final vision plan slated for completion in May.

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MATA Board Appoints Gary Rosenfeld as Permanent CEO

Gary Rosenfeld

The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) board of commissioners formally appointed Gary Rosenfeld as MATA’s new chief executive officer on Tuesday.

Rosenfeld has served as the interim CEO since January and according to MATA leadership, since then he’s managed to begin leading a strategic vision in partnership with the board, while building relationships with stakeholder groups in the community.

Additionally, he was able to negotiate a labor agreement with unionized MATA employees who are a part of the Amalgamated Transit Union 713.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to be named to lead MATA as its permanent chief executive officer and I look forward to continuing to making improvements to our public transportation system,” Rosenfeld said. “We are in the process of strategically building a successful transit future for MATA and I am honored to be given the opportunity to guide the organization at this critical time.”

With over 30 years of experience in transit, Rosenfeld is responsible for nationally recognized transportation programs at Yosemite National Park. He’s also served as the director of operations at Laidlaw Transit Services, which provides public transit, as well as school and charter transportation to 21 agencies, school districts, and governing boards.