The Memphis Area Transit Authority’s (MATA) current administration may be replaced by consultants from the transportation consulting agency, TransPro.
The news comes after the agency’s new board of commissioners voted 5-4 during yesterday’s board meeting for the MATA board to continue to work with the city and TransPro on a contract initiating the change.
As proposed, TransPro employees would take over as interim CEO (John Lewis), interim COO (Steve Hamelin) and interim CFO (Aaron Headley). TransPro said this would be to “enhance the reliability, timeliness, and customer satisfaction of mobility services offered by MATA.
TransPro was originally hired by Mayor Paul Young to audit the transportation agency as it faced financial struggles and performance issues. The consulting firm highlighted these changes in a draft report which ultimately led to Young replacing the former board of commissioners with the existing board.
The resolution indicated that TransPro submitted their “Phase 2 Proposal” to the City of Memphis which outlines a “comprehensive plan” for MATA addressing accountability, service quality, safety, and operational efficiency. This includes reviewing current bus routes, schedules, ridership, and more.
TransPro’s oversight will last for eight months and will cost the city $1,298,023, and will be paid in “non-federal funds.” The bulk of the costs stem from labor, totaling $1,018,989. The firm promises their oversight will be beneficial to MATA in many ways including accountability and financial compliance and management.
While the resolution passed, several board members voiced their concern as they said there were still details that needed to be cleared up.
Prior to the vote, board member Jackson McNeil said he was hesitant to engage in discussion, as it seemed as if an interim “part-time CEO” would be making $400,000.
“I think because of the importance of the work that needs to be done, I think we need to make sure we as a board are accepting or considering a proposal that includes full-time leadership of the agency.
Board chair Emily Greer said this was part of the negotiation.
Commissioner Cynthia Bailey said the board hadn’t been involved in discussions regarding the contract and commented on the ambiguity regarding interim leadership and how the transition would work.
“We have to think on this very toughly,” Bailey said. “We have to listen to the community. I’m going back on things that Mr. John Lewis was saying so bad about MATA — yet you want to be a part of that team to work with him.”
It was later clarified that two people would not serve in a role simultaneously, and if approved, interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin would serve in her previous role, deputy CEO. At the end of the eight months, TransPro would leave and the board would determine who the agency’s next CEO would be.
While the motion passed, the board decided to form a committee that would work through details that needed clarification and bring them back to the board.
Towards the end of the meeting, Mauldin said she has been able to advocate for better transit on multiple levels, and is now being asked to support TransPro in rebuilding MATA.
“If that’s where the mayor and the board feel like my talents are best utilized in Memphis, then that’s where I’ll serve,” Mauldin said. “I’m fully in support of the mayor’s vision. I’m supportive of this board and what you all decide to do.”
MATA Interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin (Photos: Courtesy MATA)
When we spoke to the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin in August, she called the state of affairs at MATA “business unusual.”
This summer, Mauldin and her team were in the process of finalizing the budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (F25). They had promised their board they would present a balanced financial plan after it was announced that the agency was in a $60 million deficit. The balanced budget, with plans for bus route suspensions and more than 200 layoffs, was unanimously passed, and would only further affirm Mauldin’s confidence in her own assessment of the current climate as “business unusual.”
“It’s not everyday that you have your whole board replaced at once,” Mauldin says now, reflecting on the most recent move made by Memphis Mayor Paul Young.“I trust Mayor Young, we’ve partnered, and he has a vision for how he wants this to go. He sent a clear message that he wants things to change — and we intend for them to change — and I support his vision,” Mauldin says.
Young made the move to replace the entire MATA Board of Commissioners in October, following a draft report from transportation consulting firm TransPro. The 117-page recommendation — which one city council member called “scathing” — summarizes recommendations for the agency and analyzes bus usage, ridership, and on-time performance, among other things. Its purpose was to highlight the pressing challenges the agency faced and call for urgent action.
TransPro conducted its analysis from August 19th to October 11th — during which time the board passed the budget without questions. This proved to be a point of concern for TransPro when evaluating MATA. “Existing MATA board fails to provide reasonable oversight,” the report said. “Just a month ago the MATA board unanimously adopted a budget with no questions … for a fiscal year that started more than 100 days prior.”
The consulting firm found only 26 percent of the community believed in the agency’s ability to efficiently handle public funds. In order to gain the public’s trust regarding management of funds, they recommended the entire board be replaced.
“The MATA board as currently constituted should be replaced with new members who will take seriously their responsibility to act as the policy and oversight entity of the agency,” the report said. “New board members should be trained on expectations and responsibilities.”
Mayor Young’s decision exemplified his intentions to start a “clean slate” at the transit authority, which had been at the center of controversy and public discourse for months.
The new MATA board members pose for a group picture following their Oath of Office ceremony at City Hall on November 15, 2024.
In the Interim
In February, Mauldin was named interim CEO following the retirement of former MATA CEO Gary Rosenfeld. Her appointment came a few months after the agency opted to nix their controversial 2023 proposed winter service changes.
These changes were proposed as a way to enhance the agency’s on-time performance and efficiency. This included stopping service after 7 p.m. as well as suspension of numerous routes. After hearing from the public at both board and public meetings, as well as from state leaders such as Justin J. Pearson, the board of commissioners opted to keep service as usual.
MATA touted these adjustments as a way to give the public more reliable service, by addressing their shortage of mechanics and bus repair backlog. At the time, officials said they were missing 20 percent of all of their scheduled trips.
Mauldin took over as interim CEO in the aftermath, and one of the first things she did in her official capacity was retain the services of an external CFO, Hamish Davidson of J.S. Held LLC. According to Mauldin, MATA had not previously had a CFO — a crucial position in stabilizing the organization’s financials.
Shortly after publicly announcing that the agency had been operating in a deficit, officials presented their budget proposal to the Memphis City Council, who has historically been the agency’s primary source of operating funds. The council allocated more $30 million to the agency for FY25. During this time, they also said they would be more involved in MATA’s budget moving forward. Officials instantly began their process of refining the budget. Mauldin said their largest expense was wages and fringe benefits.
In the summer, Mauldin admitted that if they were still operating in the way they had been previously, they would require a budget of $85 million; instead, she proposed a draft budget of $67 million. With this draft proposal, Mauldin acknowledged there would be cuts that would impact routes, staff, and other factors. She added that these changes would “hurt,” yet they would provide the agency with a “solid sustainable foundation” to thrive.
The interim CEO said they had not been able to identify funding for their current operating system, which has caused them to make the proposed cuts. According to MATA, they would also be streamlining staffing and vendor costs, as they prepared to submit the final budget for approval.
Days before the agency presented their balanced financials, officials announced they would be suspending trolley services, after discovering a brake issue which resulted in a “costly recommendation” from Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). MATA opted to “temporarily suspend the service as opposed to making that spend” at the time. Eighteen employees were laid off as a result. The new budget was approved by the former MATA board at a meeting that same week, which included a plan to lay off more than 200 employees and suspend several ridership routes.
While the new board of commissioners voted to delay the proposed changes until February 2025, several problems have been left unanswered.
In analyzing these problems, many commentators note that these aren’t the result of one administration. Bennett Foster, executive director of Memphis For All, says most of these problems come as a result of previous leadership and people who “lack imagination.”
“Frankly, these white men who have been running MATA and running our city for the past eight years, they not only lack imagination for what MATA could be, but they also lack political will to do anything about it because of who MATA serves,” Foster says. “Black, working-class Memphians are not getting the services they need because of the people in charge and the people those leaders were serving.”
Foster says Mauldin has the “imagination and power to bring in people — both federally and statewide — to help progress the agency forward and bring in revenue.” But barriers remain in getting past these issues.
“Nobody wants to take blame for what happened, and politicians want to point the finger at management and management can’t really respond because [Mauldin] doesn’t know where they kept the receipts — it’s not her fault,” Foster says. “Of course as soon as a Black woman takes over it’s like, ‘Okay, now we need to hold you accountable.’”
Bacarra Mauldin hugs a MATA rider moments before a February 2024 event honoring the late MATA leader, William Hudson.
A Two-Fold Discussion
Conversations about MATA seem to fall in two different categories — evaluation of leadership and funding solutions — with many of the conversations intersecting. Groups such as the Memphis Bus Riders Union and Citizens for Better Service say these cuts sent the wrong message to riders and drivers, and that the changes sent a message that “[the board] was in favor of service cuts and layoffs.” Sammie Hunter, co-chair of the Memphis Bus Riders Union, was quoted as saying the budget was enough of a reason for Mayor Paul Young to “clean house.”
Further criticism of the administration and the board stemmed from a September city council presentation by the agency. Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton said Mauldin had been “gifted an issue from her predecessors” and condemned the agency for not asking for help in their budget crisis.
Officials reported they had been operating in an unrestricted budget deficit for the last 10 years, which also caused Cooper-Sutton to call out the board of commissioners, saying they should “share in accountability for the agency’s financial burdens.” Mauldin said the board did not know the state of affairs, and when she was given full visibility over their finances, she shared the information with the board.
“I know that it’s unbelievable,” Mauldin said. “I know that it’s unacceptable, but we have done everything in our power to bring this in-line so that we could provide the service this city needs and deserves.”
But there’s another side — funding — and that doesn’t solely rest on the shoulders of the agency. Much of the public discourse about MATA sheds light on the turbulence, but people like Foster say this doesn’t help procure additional funding.
“The people who are going to be impacted by these conversations are people that actually ride the bus,” Foster says. “It’s being used as an excuse to not take action and protect MATA from crumbling. Protect these riders — it should be talked about as a service, not [to talk about] these people who are in charge. Are we going to save MATA? People are thinking about the management — no, think about the riders. Are you willing to do what it takes to make sure they don’t experience an end to their bus routes?”
L. Rochelle Hubbard depends on MATA’s services for her day-to-day activities,with no part of her life that isn’t impacted by reliance on transit. Hubbard says she doesn’t feel like ridership is a priority in decision-making.
“It comes across that we’re at the bottom when decisions are made,” Hubbard says.
She adds that she’s thankful for advocacy groups such as Better Transit for a Better Memphis who have helped amplify their voices, but she can’t help but feel that, although the agency hears their riders, “very little is done.” Still, Hubbard hopes that the new board, who she says has members that represent the voices of riders, will bring new change.
“Keep the riders at the forefront of this fight to establish a better transit for better Memphis,” Hubbard says.
Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children, says, in his advocacy work, public transit has consistently been among the top issues people have talked about, by both community members and elected officials.
“We’ve had studies that show how things could be better for people to access jobs, healthcare, food, education, workforce development — almost anything you can think of could get better if we had a better transit system,” Orrin says. “We’ve created a transit system of necessity. Only people who have to ride transit for the most part ride it, even though a lot of people we hear from would like to ride public transit, whether it be for convenience or the environment … but we can’t rely on an ill-functioning and an ill-funded system.”
Ridership has plummeted as a result of Covid-19, playing a major factor in the state of transit, Mauldin said in a previous conversation. Agencies are also in the aftermath of Covid-19 relief funds running out.“That really propelled the state of financial instability for transit agencies across the country, large and small,” Mauldin said.
Mauldin says the agency’s debt has been growing due to the increased cost of doing business, decreased ridership, and flat funding. Officials say funding also impacts on-time performance.
With the city being the agency’s primary funding source, many people such as Foster say the city shares in the responsibility to maintain transit service. Foster says the agency seems to have not been a priority in current and previous administrations.
Fuel to Move Faster
These months of turmoil reached a climax when Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he was looking to start a “clean slate” by replacing all members of MATA’s board of commissioners following the release of a draft report from TransPro.
The analysis indicated that public transportation has its share of financial challenges — which MATA officials have continuously noted, citing lack of funding contributing to their budget woes. However, TransPro said MATAs challenges “are further amplified by a lack of focus on the daily needs of customers, poor financial management and oversight, and the pursuit of major projects that are straining the limited staff and fiscal resources of the authority.”
While many people have applauded the report — as it led to a change in board leadership — it isn’t without flaws. Orrin, for example, says people have problems with public transit and where the money is going. But, he says, the report fails to provide context for how public transit is funded locally as opposed to other cities.
“I affirm that people are concerned about having adequate public transit. I think working back from that, the cause is not necessarily what they relate there about whether [it’s funding] being put toward these bigger projects, because the challenge of making that kind of connection is that the bigger projects they list are supposed to make transit better.”
One example Orrin refers to is MATA’s Memphis Innovation Corridor, the first bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Memphis. BRT is commended as representing the future of public transit, as a bus route that operates like a rail line with 31 stops along the way.
Mauldin says they have not made any decisions to scale back from the project at this time, as they also value the contributions from federal partners such as Congressman Steve Cohen and the Federal Transit Administration.
“The BRT project is the core of the mobility system,” Mauldin explains. “We’re continuing to work with Mayor Young and his administration to see that project through at this point.”
She adds that the report also indicates making a new operation system a priority, a recommendation they are following.
“Overall, the report didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know,” Mauldin says. “Things were already underway, so it’s good to have that report to validate some of that. We’re using that report as fuel to move us a little faster in that direction that we were going. We’re well aware of some of the problems that existed, but again, those problems didn’t start on February 1st when I became the interim. We definitely are working very hard — from the moment I took over — to try to rectify as many of those as necessary, but the fundamental issue for all of that is a lack of funding. We just don’t have the dedicated funding.”
What’s Next?
Mauldin’s recent appointment as interim CEO comes after being at the agency for three and a half years. Though this year has had its share of controversy and setbacks, Mauldin views it as a valuable step forward in elevating public conversations around transit.
“Public transportation is more of a conversation today than it was when I first got here,” Mauldin says. “People are truly giving it the time and attention that it’s really needed for quite a long time. The fact that we’re talking about it means we’re on the right path to truly fixing it because we all know this community really needs and deserves quality transit.”
Currently, MATA is working on a financial plan to bring the trolleys back, with Mauldin saying they expect to bring something to the board “very soon.”
In evaluating the TransPro report, Mauldin says they are taking a “hard look” and working with Young on solutions, but there are a lot of things the report showed that they already knew.
Moving forward, MATA is looking to work with city, state, and federal partners to get more funding while also working with community groups and riders. And Mauldin says they’re not running from accountability.
“We’re not happy about the state of the transit authority right now and the service we provide,” she says. “We’re working every day, all day, half of the night even, trying to make service better, and I’m actually very proud of our team and what we’ve been able to accomplish so far along the journey.”
In the midst of chaos and discourse, Mauldin says she doesn’t want the work of the operators to get overlooked. While there is work to be done, she says the resilience and commitment of her team is important to address.
“The story of MATA is going to be a story of resilience,” Mauldin says. “We’re going to be the comeback kids. I believe that with all of the attention, all of the interest and development of our system, we’re going to be better on the other side because of this.”
Foster says they’re hopeful about Mauldin and her administration, saying they agree with who should take priority in decisions — the riders.
“I like her. I like the new board,” Foster says. “That’s promising, that’s giving me hope, and I do think what we saw in Nashville with the transit referendum is kind of sending a signal that people want public transit. People want that service, so I think we should prepare for something similar. We can put that on the ballot in 2026 and try to get some dedicated revenue.”
Some walk for health, some out of necessity. (Photo: Vadim Zakharishchev | Dreamstime.com)
A walk can be many things. You can have a lovely stroll in the woods on a nice autumn day; you could be going to a friend’s house to play or gossip; or, you may even walk just for walking’s sake. But for many folks, me included, walking is their one and only form of transportation — especially without buses and trolleys available.
The trolleys of Memphis used to run from East Memphis, near the college, all the way down to the river. Along the river, it ran the span of North to South Memphis. Nowadays, if you want to get through any of those neighborhoods, you either have to walk the length of the city or become car-dependent. The last remaining trolley, the Main Street Line, has been shut down by the city, and with it, accessibility for anyone without a car Downtown.
Honestly, Memphis is beautiful when you walk its streets. I have seen families growing up and trees blooming over the years. Infrastructure rising and falling. Businesses coming and going, new youthful energy rushing into those spaces like birds to their nests. But I’ve also seen the sidewalks get torn up from mismanagement. I’ve seen streetlights go dim and then finally off for good. And I’ve seen the rusting rails of our once magnificent trolley lines.
I could rant and rave of course about how frustrating it feels to be so closed-off from my communities, land-locked to Midtown. But even when I want to walk in the other areas of Memphis, it’s much more difficult than I remember. Out east and beyond, every road is meant for cars and traffic. Over by White Station, the intersection might as well be nonexistent. Forget trying to see a movie at Paradiso.
Downtown is almost no better. Constant construction means diverging pathways for any visitor to those streets, sometimes well out of the way of anywhere you want to go. And the only surprisingly easy pathway is along Tom Lee Park, by the bluffs. Credit where credit is due: The switchback installed by the city is one nice treat for any pedestrian. But god knows if you are disabled, that hill is still a nightmare.
Now, I feel like I should specify that when I say pedestrian I mean anyone who doesn’t drive or cannot drive. That includes my disabled neighbors. That includes my friends and family who shake behind the wheel of the car and realize that they’d be more a danger on the road than off it. That especially includes those who walk to combat climate change, to try our damndest to lower emission levels, even by a smidgen. For us, it feels like survival of the fittest on these streets.
My colleague Alyssa Wolf has a project she’s working on, researching the affordability of Memphis housing. One thing she’s included on her list is a “walk-score.” How close are you to the nearest stores; how rough is the terrain outside your home; how close are you to any other city infrastructure? Let’s just say, in her research, she has found more disappointment than relief.
What else can be said? I’m mad about how MATA got its funding cut. Mad about how the trolley lines sit there, unused. I used to live in Portland before moving back home. There was a lot I had trouble with in that city, but the trolleys and rails led everywhere. Trains connected the airport to Downtown to a suburb called Beaverton, their version of Germantown. I saw a future for Memphis’ public transportation.
Instead, the Memphis City Government has decided to, on November 3rd, eliminate five major routes. One of those routes is to and from the airport (Route 28). When I was a tutor, I took Route 50 to and from the sessions. Seeing that that route was not on the chopping block was a slight relief. But my heart goes out to the people who need the Southeast Circulator (16) and Winchester Route (69) to get from the Greyhound station to Downtown. Or those who live along the Perkins Route (37) who use it to get to and from their jobs like I once did. And then there’s the sister route to 50 along Central that I’m sure a lot of Cooper-Young residents and university students could rely on to get to and fro.
I am home, yet trapped in my town. So many of my fellow citizens are. It was agreeable with the bus routes (when buses would come) at the very least, but not ideal. I have only seen my city go backwards when it comes to how well it treats its citizens and especially its pedestrians, us unlucky few who simply want a good life. No matter what our reason to stroll, whether its to go to the store, get to work, or even to enjoy the day, we should be able to do it comfortably and safely.
William Smythe is a local writer and poet. He writes for Focus Mid-South, an LGBT+ magazine.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is undergoing significant change following the release of a draft report from TransPro, a transportation consulting organization.
MATA has replaced its entire board of commissioners under the direction of Memphis Mayor Paul Young, and the mayor is also urging the agency to delay service changes and cuts. While these measures are taking place in order to ensure the viability of the agency, transportation advocates are unsure that MATA can implement these changes without proper funding.
Better Transit For A Better Memphis (BTBM), a coalition founded by Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) and Sierra Club Chickasaw Group, said these changes are a “temporary win” but found the decision to continue current service is “unrealistic.”
“Years of underfunding have left MATA without enough buses to meet even the existing, limited schedule. Interim MATA CEO Bacarra Mauldin has been scrambling to secure more buses, but 151 of the fleet’s vehicles require repairs and the wait time for a new bus can be up to a year,” BTBM said in a statement. “Regardless, MATA lacks the funds to purchase parts and supplies or to place an order for new buses.”
The previous MATA board voted to cut six bus routes, including Route 16 Southeast Circulator, Route 28 Airport, Route 34 Central and Walnut Grove, Route 37 Perkins, Route 69 Winchester, and Zone 3 Cordova Ready! On Demand. The cuts were slated to go into effect November 3rd. However, during last week’s City Council meeting, Young said he wanted to halt these changes after TransPro released its report.
Prior to those changes being passed, the agency held 19 public meetings prior to the board meeting to discuss the changes. After hearing from the community, the agency said many had a desire to maintain the current bus service, and they wanted service to last longer and an improved on-time performance.
“The public hasn’t changed in what they want and what they need. It’s just our ability to deliver these services,” John Lancaster, MATA’s chief development officer said during a previous board meeting.
In addition to route suspensions, the board also decided to raise fares for MATA’s fixed-route buses. Adult base fare will be $1.75 compared to the current fare of $1.00. The increases also affect fares for students, senior citizens, and individuals with disabilities. Fares for FastPasses were also increased.
TransPro said these cuts would make it harder for MATA to deliver reliable service, which they argued should be the primary goal of the agency. However, BTBM said TransPro failed to consider that the agency is not able to provide these services consistently due to their lack of buses in the fleet.
“How can the report recommend maintaining service levels when the system doesn’t even have the buses to run those routes reliably?” BTBM co-chair Dorothy Conner asked. “ It’s not supported by data or resources, and it contradicts its own findings, which highlight that Memphians want reliable transit – not an overstretched system that can’t deliver.”
BTBM said the report also failed to show the “underfunding” from previous city councils, as the city is the primary funding source of the agency. Leo Arnoult, spokesman for BTBM said both the mayor and city council have “failed to provide inflation-adjusted budgets or release Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) funds.”
The organization said these issues were unaddressed in the report, and that replacing the entire MATA board would not fix these issues. The agency has been open about the cost of doing business as they need an additional $7.5 million for personnel costs, and $5 million for operating expenses. BTBM is urging both Mayor Young and the City Council to increase funding for the agency to resolve these issues.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young is looking to start a “clean slate” in city transit by replacing all members of the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s (MATA) board of commissioners.
Young made the announcement Friday evening following the release of a TransPro draft report which comes after months of turmoil for the agency.
The mayor is looking to replace the current board with the following members:
Brandon Arrindale
Cynthia Bailey
Emily Greer
Sandi Klink
Brian Marflak
Jackson McNeil
Anna McQuiston
Dana Pointer
Maya Siggers
“This move is more about creating a clean-slate environment,” Young said. “After months of analysis, we received Transpro’s initial draft report today, which clearly spells out the challenges facing our transit system and the need to move with expediency.
“We believe the reset will help us to move more quickly toward our goal of creating a system that better connects our residents with jobs, healthcare, and essential services.”
TransPro, a transportation consulting business, conducted their analysis from August 19 to October 11. During this time the board had passed a budget that not only included service cuts, but prompted the layoff of more than 200 employees. Board members said these cuts were made to ensure the viability of the agency, as officials had announced a $60 million deficit this summer.
“Existing MATA board fails to provide reasonable oversight,” the report said. “Just a month ago the MATA board unanimously adopted a budget with no questions…for a fiscal year that started more than 100 days prior.”
MATA’s board has been criticized by not only bus riders and community advocates, but city leaders as well. During a September Memphis City Council meeting, Council member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton condemned the board for not speaking up about a problem that had been 10 years in the making.
“No one knew there was a deficiency coming down the pipeline? No one?” Cooper-Sutton said. “I’m going to tell you what my spirit is discerning — someone is lying and not telling the truth. You’re not going to tell me that the educated board with all those alphabets behind their name that no one knew and saw this coming for 10 years? It’s unbelievable.”
The analysis notes that public transportation has its share of financial challenges. MATA officials have continuously made note of this citing lack of funding contributing to their budget woes. However, TransPro said MATAs challenges “are further amplified by a lack of focus on the daily needs of customers, poor financial management and oversight, and the pursuit of major projects that are straining the limited staff and fiscal resources of the authority.”
The organization found only 26 percent of the community believed in the agency’s ability to efficiently handle public funds. In order to gain the public’s trust regarding management of funds, they recommend the entire board be replaced.
“The MATA board as currently constituted should be replaced with new members who will take seriously their responsibility to act as the policy and oversight entity of the agency,” the report said. “New board members should be trained on the expectations and responsibilities that membership on this board entails.
“Furthermore, performance metrics should be established on the operations, finances, and customer satisfaction of the agency for the leadership team to be held accountable to and provide true transparency to the community.”
TransPro’s 117-page recommendation thoroughly summarizes recommendations for the agency, analyzes bus usage and ridership, and on-time performance amongst other things. They said a comprehensive financial review “is currently underway.”
Memphis City Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton said that the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s (MATA) interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin had been “gifted an issue” and criticized the agency for not asking for help in their budget crisis.
These comments came after officials noted that the agency had been operating in an unrestricted budget deficit for the last 10 years.
“To hear that this is a 10-year-long thing that you all have known about — that you didn’t have enough money and never said anything to anyone is very disturbing,” Cooper-Sutton said. “I don’t think you would run your household for 10 years and no one would say anything.”
Cooper-Sutton went on to call out the organization’s Board of Commissioners for not speaking up as well, and that they should share in accountability for the agency’s financial burdens.
“No one knew there was a deficiency coming down the pipeline? No one?” Cooper-Sutton said. “I’m going to tell you what my spirit is discerning — someone is lying and not telling the truth. You’re not going to tell me that the educated board with all those alphabets behind their name that no one knew and saw this coming for 10 years? It’s unbelievable.”
Mauldin responded saying she remembers being two doors down from her predecessor and had no idea that the agency was facing financial hardship.
“The board didn’t know,” Mauldin said. “From the moment that we gave full visibility over what was happening with the finances, I shared that information with the board and we have as governance partners to try to right this ship. I know that it’s unbelievable, I know that it’s unacceptable but we have done everything in our power to bring this in-line so that we could provide the service this city needs and deserves.”
Today’s meeting follows the passage of the transit authority’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025 which resulted in more than 200 layoffs and the suspension of routes. Riders and community members have openly called on the council to intervene in the agency’s problems. The council had also requested that MATA appear before them every two weeks to provide updates in hopes of increasing transparency.
Mauldin said that her team was “beaten down” and that all they want is to make things right.
“Our goal is to develop a robust transit system that positions Memphis to compete nationally,” Mauldin said. “The city deserves that and we want to give it to the city. We’re committed to providing insights and context necessary to be a part of the solution and help drive the city towards a successful future.”
MATA’s presentation covered their financials, staff optimization, and the steps they plan to take moving forward. Mauldin was joined by external chief financial officer Hamish Davidson, chief of strategic partnerships and programs Erik Stevenson, and chief development officer John Lancaster.
Davidson highlighted that MATAs debt has grown over time due to increased costs and a decrease in ridership and flat funding. He added that the budget affects on-time performance and they are currently operating at a $85 million budget, with a proposed balanced budget of $67.8 million.
“This is not something that occurred in one year,” Davidson said. “This is something that has been continuing for many years.”
According to Davidson, this is something that the media and others had been “lambasting” the agency about, and wanted to note that their deficit wasn’t an annual loss.
The approved budget shows that a majority of MATA’s funding comes through grant revenue ($64 million) with the City of Memphis being its primary funding source at $30 million. The rest of their budget is supplemented by their operating revenue of $3.7 million from passenger fares, advertising, and charters.
Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker noted that the council’s assessment of MATA’s troubles stemmed from lack of on-going information and updates, as opposed to understanding of finances.
In hopes of adding context to the operational side, Lancaster explained that their problems also stem from their density and size of their service area. MATA covers nearly 300 square miles with a fleet of less than 100 buses. For comparison, Lancaster said they operated more than 300 buses in a little over 100 square miles in the 1970s.
Stevenson said they had to reduce their workforce in order to stay in line with their budget. As a result 18 trolley workers, 29 administrative personnel, and 52 unionized personnel were laid off with 75 eliminated positions.
While the agency presented a PowerPoint in hopes of providing answers, the council was still not pleased with their presentation, prompting several questions and comments from council members. Walker noted that the presentation was very “general.”
Councilwoman Rhonda Logan questioned if employee perks such as employee vehicles had been reduced as the company works to cut down on spending. Mauldin said she would provide the council with a detailed list of these things, including the context in which they exist.
Riders and citizens are calling on city leaders to intervene regarding the effects of the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s(MATA) newest budget.
These comments come days after the $67 million budget was approved unanimously by the agency’s Board of Commissioners. Prior to the approval, interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin and her team had been open about how the budget would affect both riders and personnel with routes being suspended and more than 200 employees being laid off.
While MATA had been vocal about these proposed changes, this didn’t make it easier for the public to accept, and are calling on the city to intervene. In a statement released by the Moral Budget Coalition, Bennett Foster, executive director for Memphis For All said these changes will affect “tens of thousands of Memphians,” and the city “has the power to prevent that.”
“Chronic underfunding has already led to reduced transit services, hitting hardest in majority Black neighborhoods that depend on public transportation the most,” Foster said in a statement. “This situation jeopardizes public safety, economic mobility, and racial justice. Enhancing MATA is not only vital for connecting residents to jobs, healthcare, and education–it is also crucial for the economic growth and overall quality of life in Memphis.”
The Moral Budget Coalition has asked for Mayor Paul Young and the Memphis City Council to allocate at least $20 million to MATA. They have several recommendations such as increasing property taxes, re-allocating portions of rainy day funds, and increasing vehicle registration.
MATA officials have noted that the city has historically been their primary funding source. During this year’s budget season, Memphis City Council allocated $30 million for Fiscal Year 2025.It was also during this budget season that officials said they would be more involved in MATA’s budget moving forward.
Members of the coalition spoke about how citizens are dependent on public transit for their transportation needs. Foster said the city is primarily responsible for maintaining transit service, and that he felt MATA had not been a priority in current and previous administrations.
“We are here to make sure that cycle of chronic disinvestment in public transit and public services –it begins and ends here,” Foster said. “If we don’t take action now – it’ll be too late. If MATA is cutting their employees in half, cutting their service by 30 percent we’re gonna lose access to federal funds, we could lose formula funds that match our budget and we’re gonna get into a debt spiral.”
The public also made comments during this month’s meeting. One attendee said they didn’t agree that the agency was out of options for revenue and suggested that the city tax airplane passengers, real estate transactions, football and basketball tickets, as well as offering Beale Street transportation.
“If you don’t think this is a desperate situation, I’m telling you it is,” the attendee said.
Funding has long been an issue for MATA since the pandemic. During Tuesday’s board meeting, Mauldin stressed this saying that the agency struggled to receive consistent funding as CARES funds ran out.
“MATA has operated for a number of years without any increases in the amount operating funds made available to it,” Hamish Davidson, external CFO of J.S. Held LLC said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It has managed to survive and indeed grow beyond its means through the provision of the CARES Act funds made available post Covid.”
Davidson said MATA cannot sustain itself without the increase of funds, and they receive 95 percent of their funding from federal,state, and local funds. The other 5 percent comes from advertising and farebox revenue. Davidson said that historically funding had not stayed static, but it has reduced with no regard to inflation, and that the last two budgets were deficit budgets.
In addition to rising operating costs a majority of MATA’s costs stem from employee compensation and benefit packages. Davidson also said they have reached a new collective bargaining agreement for union members.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority’s board of commissioners have unanimously approved a budget that will lead to more than 200 employees being laid off.
During the Tuesday’s monthly board of commissioners meeting, the board approved its budget for Fiscal Year 2025, with the board having requested officials present a balanced budget. In addition to staffing cuts, the budget also affects ridership routes.
Interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin has been vocal about potential changes as the organization worked to address its financial instability. Last week, the organization suspended its trolley service as it worked to scale back spending, since repairing a brake issue proved to be a “costly” expenditure.
“If we were to keep operating the way we’re operating today, our budget would be $85 million,” Mauldin said during a city hall presentation last week. “We have committed to our board that we were going to present a balanced budget. We presented a draft budget of $67 million for FY25.”
MATA board chairman Michael Fulton echoed these sentiments during the meeting, as he recognized these budget cuts as being tough decisions, but necessary for the organization’s future.
The agency has faced difficulties in procuring funding, unable to identify consistent sources. Earlier this month Mauldin said not only had ridership plummeted as a result of the pandemic, but relief funds had also run out.
As a result, the agency opted to streamline staffing and vendor costs. Mauldin said the agency’s debt has been growing due to the increased cost of doing business, decreased ridership, and flat funding. She added that their budget holds have resulted in slower on-time performance.
Last week the organization said that it planned to have the budget approved during Tuesday’s meeting, and to send notices to affected employees today.
“Every affected employee will be notified in the coming weeks and receive support securing alternate employment,” MATA said in a statement. “In addition, vendor contracts have been discontinued and/or dramatically scaled back.”
While these measures have been put in place in order to save the agency, this doesn’t soften the blow for riders and advocacy groups. Sammie Hunter, co-chair of the Memphis Bus Rider Union, urged the board to vote no on the measure as it seemed like the “blame” fell on riders “who had nothing to do with the $60 million deficit.”
“The proposed budget by the MATA administration is an example why Mayor Paul Young should clean house at MATA,” Hunter said in a statement prior to the meeting.
Both the Memphis Bus Rider Union and Citizens for Better Service have long voiced their opposition to these changes. The groups feel that these cuts send the wrong messages to riders and drivers, and that it “sends a message that [the board] is in favor of service cuts and layoffs.”
Photo: Memphis Area Transit Authority via Facebook
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is working to improve the safety experience for both passengers and drivers, while also working to engage with local law enforcement on safety preventions.
Keith Watson, chief safety and security officer, presented his first safety assessment at the agency’s recent board of commissioners meeting, and said upon his presentation he looked at several areas within MATA such as the safety risk management combined with their “best practices.”
Watson said the organization is split into two categories: fixed route operations and rail operations. Fixed route operations are those that occur on the “surface” on roadways of the city, while rail operations are “more regulated” than the fixed routes.
When looking at the rail operations, Watson concluded there were 31 corrective action plans (CAPS) from 2020 to 2023 for MATA. He said these are plans to address risk factors identified as a result of accidents or other safety incidents. Watson and his team were able to address these plans and reduce the number to 11 for August 2024.
In terms of fixed route operations, some of the areas that MATA identified for extra inspection were the GPS reporting and radio systems that are on each bus called “EQUANS.” Watson said these provide location reporting and time point placement.
“We talk about on-time performance, and I’ve heard many of my colleagues mention that some of the time points were not properly reporting to EQUAN. We’ve been working through that,” Watson said.
He added that they plan to invite EQUAN to their meeting so they can have a “grassroot understanding of the things that are happening for their overall safety and locating of [their] buses.”
Some other observations made to evaluate fixed route operations were facility and infrastructure inspections, route assessment, fire safety and evacuation practices, and safety prevention campaigns.
“We must remain consistent on those particular programs and engaging with our employees to have a safety culture over the overall system,” Watson said.
This ushered in a conversation on crime activity at their transit centers located on Main Street (William Hudson Transit Center), American Way, and Airways. Larceny and simple assault were the only crimes reported at all three locations and accounted for many of the offenses compared to disorderly conduct, robbery, and trespassing to name a few.
“Hudson Center, for the year, is reported with most incidents with Airways coming in at a close second,” Watson said.
He added that only some crimes make it to “paper” via their reporting center. Watson said he believed there were 94 reports made, with operator and passenger disputes accounting for 40 of those.
“Those disputes usually stem from bus arrival/departure times, location of the bus pickups, and some personal preferences on where a passenger would like to get off outside of the revenue lane,” Watson said.
MATA has also been reviewing security footage to look for individuals that could pose a threat to the transit experience by committing crimes that are “punishable by state or federal law.” They’ve begun the process of placing “Be On The Look Out” flyers while also engaging with security contractors and local law enforcement.
The presentation closed with an overview of their safety performance in crashes where 51 percent were non-preventable, and 49 percent were preventable. A majority of these crashes involved fixed objects, with sideswiping coming in second.
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) has authorized an insurance plan nearing $1 million during their July 30th board of commissioners meeting. This decision comes as questions still surround the organization’s financial status.
MATA recommended the global insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for their plan starting through August 1, 2024, through July 31, 2025. Officials said the premium is an excess of $992,000. They said this is reasonable “based on today’s market” and is “very important for the company.”
“It’s an expense that MATA incurs every year,” an official said. “Obviously the amount differs each year. In view of MATA’s current cash flow circumstances, this is a very significant expenditure — just as any expenditure close to $1 million would be.”
Board chairman Michael Fulton expressed his concern with a policy totaling almost $1 million given the agency’s $60 million deficit.
Hamish Davidson of J.S. Held LLC, MATA’s external CFO, said as recently as Tuesday, he consulted with the city of Memphis and said MATA expected to raise an invoice against the city to “draw down against the operational grant funding” up to $1 million to cover the plan.
Shortly after gaining approval for the insurance plan, the agency informed its board that they are preparing to present one of its “most consequential budgets of MATA’s history.”
Officials decided to forego a traditional finance report as their finance team is working on the year-end closeout which they plan to present in August. They said this will show how the organization fared for the year.
The board of commissioners were presented with a draft of the budget, but it was not available to the public for review.
“We felt as though it would be important to put a draft of this budget in front of you,” interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin said to the organization’s board of commissioners. “We’re not going to discuss it in any detail today because we plan to have a very robust finance committee meeting, and we want to make sure you are armed with as much information as possible going into that process.”
Mauldin said they have the opportunity to balance their budget for the first time in a “considerable” amount of years. She said she is honoring her commitment to present a balanced budget to the board.
In June, the city of Memphis allocated $30 million to the organization for FY25. Shelby County gave MATA $1.2 million, which Mauldin previously said was “consistent with where they’ve been for the past few years.”
At the end of budget season, Davidson told commissioners that he would present a timetable that addresses the current and future state of their budget.
