Memphis Mayor Fires Entire Transit Board After Third-Party Report Exposed ‘Culture of Poor Accountability’

Memphis Mayor Paul Young

Memphis Mayor Paul Young on Friday fired all nine members of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) Board of Commissioners following the release of a third-party report that claimed the members were responsible for creating a “culture of poor accountability” for the troubled transit service.

Young reportedly called his decision an effort to create “a clean-slate environment,” according to NewsChannel 3, who revealed the mayor directly cited the third-party report completed by TransPro and sent to the city last week.

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Transit Ridership Slightly Climbing but Still 22 Percent Short of Pre-COVID Levels

Bus Riders

Transit ridership has seen a significant decline across the U.S. since the beginning of COVID-19. Although now rising slowly, transit agencies are still seeing a 22% drop from peak pre-COVID ridership.

Overall weekly ridership went from 196.3 million the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2020 to 152.7 million the week of Feb. 4-10, 2024. That’s according to reports from the American Public Transportation Association.

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