Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, doing business as Marta, is a U.S. local government transit authority headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia that receives federal grants as the prime recipient to fund capital improvements, vehicle acquisition, transit-oriented development planning, and operational support for its bus and rail systems serving Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton counties, and the City of Atlanta. Marta operates exclusively as a grant recipient; it does not hold federal contracts as a prime contractor or subcontractor, though it executed a single definitive contract with the U.S. Census Bureau in June 2026 for pre-paid transit subsidy cards.

The vast majority of Marta's federal footprint consists of grants from the Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which accounts for 158 of 259 total awards (76% of recent award count). FTA funding supports formula grants under CFDA 20.507 (Federal Transit Formula Grants), CFDA 20.525 (State of Good Repair), CFDA 20.526 (Buses and Bus Facilities), and CFDA 20.500 (Federal Transit Capital Investment Grants), as well as congressionally directed spending under CFDA 20.534. The FTA portfolio funds core capital and preventive maintenance activities—bus and rail fleet replacements, rail station and transitway rehabilitation, fare collection system improvements, and security infrastructure. Representative recent examples include a $155.4 million formula grant (January 2025, CFDA 20.933, RAISE program) for Phase 2 of the Five Points Station improvement project including a new arched timber roof canopy and plaza redesign; a $89 million formula grant (August 2025, CFDA 20.525) for preventive maintenance and state of good repair across bus and rail systems; a $31.68 million formula grant (August 2025, CFDA 20.526) for replacement of 40 aging 40-foot transit buses with clean-fuel, low-floor urban buses; and a $5.2 million congressionally directed grant (September 2025, CFDA 20.534) for the Safe Routes to Transit program implementing pedestrian infrastructure improvements at prioritized MARTA bus stops. Secondary customers include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (10 awards), which funds transit security enhancement initiatives under the Rail and Transit Security Grant Program (CFDA 97.075) with three project grants totaling roughly $7.4 million awarded between 2021 and 2025, and the Environmental Protection Agency (12 awards). Marta also received an $851,677 project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (September 2021) to support the Fresh MARTA Markets program, a food distribution initiative using transit infrastructure to serve food desert communities in Georgia.

Recent activity shows moderate award volume with 7–8 awards per year from 2022 through 2025 and 2 awards in 2026 year-to-date. Combined potential value across all awards in the source totals $25.9 million, though obligated funding across the portfolio reaches $3.77 billion, indicating substantial prior execution. Only five awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, with negligible recompete exposure ($13 thousand combined potential value). Marta's grant portfolio spans transit infrastructure modernization, bus fleet electrification, station rehabilitation, bus rapid transit planning, and security enhancement across the Atlanta metropolitan service area, with completion dates extending through 2035 on major capital projects.