First question, do you know what “the ATL” is? Operating somewhat behind the scenes since its creation in 2018, the ATL stands for the Atlanta-region Transit Link Authority. They just appointed a new executive director and any behind-the-scenes period is quickly coming to an end. You might think of them as the Atlanta Regional Commission but only for transit. They operate in close cooperation with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the State Road and Tollway Authority and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.
Jannine Miller was elected as the new executive director, effective next week. For one more week, she is the Director of Planning at GDOT after being appointed to the position by Governor Brian Kemp and confirmed by the General Assembly’s Transportation Committees.
“The ATL Board is pleased to welcome Jannine Miller as Executive Director,” said Charlie Sutlive, ATL Board Chair. “Jannine’s extensive experience as a planner and an executive in the transportation mobility industry at the regional, state and federal levels well positions her to lead the ATL in its continuing work to build a seamless transit network of the future.”
Before coming to GDOT, Miller worked at the national level under former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as deputy assistant secretary. She has also served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Agriculture Secretary, the former Executive Director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Transportation Policy Advisor for the Governor’s Office and Senior Transportation Planner with the Atlanta Regional Commission. Miller received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State and graduate degrees from both Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
Leading the ATL, Miller is charged with coordinating transit planning for the metro Atlanta region. The entity was created in the last year of the Nathan Deal administration as one of his signature legislative achievements. Prior to the ATL’s creation, 11 different transit agencies roamed across metro Atlanta – each county had some form of their own, with some inter-county cooperation, as well as MARTA and the state of Georgia. The state’s Xpress regional commuter transit system and the regional vanpool system are now both housed underneath the ATL. In 2022, those 11 different operators under the ATL provided more than 57 million trips, with nearly 30 million on buses and 26 million on MARTA.
With a projected population increase in the region of 2.5 million by 2040, and famously bad traffic already, the ATL is responsible for more effective and efficient transit to help move us all around. Miller has her work cut out for her to garner the political support and resources to increase the existing transit options, including coordinating with and supporting the long-discussed MARTA expansion.
