The dispute that has held up the overhaul of downtown's busiest transit hub just moved decisively in MARTA's favor.
The MARTA Oversight Committee released the findings of an independent audit of the More MARTA Atlanta Program conducted by global accounting firm KPMG. MARTA's summary of the result: the agency operated ethically, transparently and above board.
$865,000, not $70 million
The audit did not find a clean sheet. KPMG determined MARTA shortchanged the program's capital fund and overcharged operating expenses by $865,000.
That figure is the story. City of Atlanta auditors had claimed in a separate review last summer that MARTA shorted the half-penny More MARTA program by $70 million, an allegation that touched off open hostility between the city and its transit authority. MARTA responded in August by attacking the city's flawed methodology, particularly around bus service calculations between 2017 and 2019. KPMG's findings back that objection.
How the fight started
Atlanta voters approved the More MARTA sales tax in 2016. In March 2023, some City Council members demanded an audit, arguing taxpayers were not getting the transit expansions they were paying for. Three months later the city hired independent auditor Mauldin and Jenkins to perform an operational review, eventually with MARTA's blessing. The second audit, by KPMG, is the one now on the table.
What MARTA wants next
The agency called the results a clear win for MARTA, its customers and the future of transit improvement and expansion, then immediately made the ask: it urged city officials to expedite approval of permits for the Five Points Station Transformation Project.
MARTA also renewed its push to restructure the intergovernmental agreement that governs More MARTA, seeking clear deadlines and defined decision makers so that starting construction on new transit projects is less procedurally burdensome.
Five Points is the reason any of this matters to downtown. The station is the intersection of MARTA's entire rail network and sits at the center of the district preparing to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The transformation project, which would open up the hub and reconnect it to the streets around it, has been delayed largely by the standoff this audit was meant to settle.
Original reporting by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta, published March 2025.