The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Board of Directors has selected Keith T. Parker as its next general manager and chief executive officer. He will succeed Dr. Beverly A. Scott, who is taking on the top job with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston.

“We strongly believe that Keith Parker is the best choice for MARTA,” said MARTA Board Chairman Frederick L. Daniels Jr. “We are extremely proud of the work we have done to this point, and we are very confident that we have picked the right man for the right job at the right time.”

Since 2009, Parker has been president/chief executive officer of VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, TX. Earlier he was chief executive officer of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) in Charlotte, NC, also serving as CATS chief operating officer and as assistant city manager for the city of Charlotte. He also has held executive posts with the Clark County Transit Authority in Vancouver, WA, and GRTC Transit System in Richmond, VA.

MARTA is the nation’s ninth largest public transit system.

VIA has named Jeff Arndt, deputy chief executive officer and chief of business support services, to serve as interim CEO. Arndt spent 25 years with Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County in several leadership positions, including responsibility for the operation of more than 100 miles of transit priority lanes (in cooperation with Texas DOT) and directing the operation of Houston’s light rail line.