Transportation CEO Steps In Front of Train to His Death

The CEO and general manager of MARTA, Atlanta's transportation service, has died by suicide, per CNN. Jeffrey Parker, who'd led the agency since 2018, stepped in front of an oncoming train in Decatur on Friday, according to local outlet Decaturish. Parker's death was confirmed in a statement from MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott on Saturday. "The MARTA Board of Directors grieves the shocking death of our GM/CEO Jeff Parker who has died by suicide," Scott tweeted. "He was an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken."

Parker, a well-respected former VP of a leading architecture and engineering, was tapped to head Atlanta's primary transportation service in March 2018 and had since led MARTA through a time of major growth and through the pandemic. MARTA's website says Parker is a recognized "national leader in transportation and transit" with "more than 35 years of experience in both the private and public sectors of the transportation industry." The site notes Parker was named among Atlanta Magazine’s Most Powerful People of 2020 and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans of 2020. He was also named Atlanta's "Man of the Year" in 2019 by the local chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar for his record of hiring and promoting women in the transportation industry. (More Jeffrey Parker stories.)