Rukiya S. (Eaddy) Thomas
Chief of Staff
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
- Alma Mater: Clark Atlanta University and Pennsylvania State University
- Fun Fact: Thomas loves to cycle the Atlanta Beltline in the morning
- Favorite Book: "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren
- Favorite TV Show: "Scandal"
- Favorite Movie: “The Fast and the Furious” series
- Favorite Hobbies: Biking and journaling
Rukiya Thomas didn’t plan on a career in public transportation but after moving to Washington, D.C. and discovered the way of life of riding transit, she fell in love pretty quickly. Born and raised in the south and never having rode before, she drove to her first job in D.C., where she said they all laughed at her assumption of having a parking place at work.
She wanted the culture of Atlanta and the life of transit so she moved back to Atlanta and today is chief of staff at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) where she is part of the C-Team, the senior-most executive group, which oversees the 9th largest agency at the nation, providing more than 420,000 passenger trips daily.
As chief of staff, she supervises a variety of authority-wide programs and initiatives. Thomas helped to create and now manages the Office of TOD, which creates a long-term sustainable revenue source for the authority by leveraging under-utilized and inactive real estate assets. MARTA has received national attention from the Wall Street Journal and other publications for its Office of Transit Oriented Development and Real Estate.
Thomas is also leading the effort to improve the agency’s unsustainable absenteeism practices. She directed the research as well as the recommended solution of a new centralized leave management program that positions the authority to recoup more than $2.7 million upon implementation. Her innovative solutions in workforce development have helped in transforming MARTA’s culture into one of accountability and routine excellence. She led the launch of a performance-based management system to better align, track and measure employees’ performance against the authority’s organizational goals.
At the direction of the CEO, Thomas sets the agenda, assigns responsibilities and monitors progress of the agency’s most vital initiatives. She helped to solidify the labor union contract negotiations and worked to ratify the first new contract with MARTA since 2010. Additionally, with much anticipation of its opening and pressure at every level, Thomas skillfully managed the partnership with the city of Atlanta and the business community, while carefully steering MARTA’s role in the implementation of the Atlanta Streetcar line by 2014.
Thomas' prior experience leading external affairs for the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. as an instrumental part of its start-up phase has served her well as chief of staff in terms of partnerships. There she managed a citywide public engagement program by partnering with thousands of community, business and political leaders throughout 45 neighborhoods in order to shape and implement public policy to advance the Atlanta Beltline, the most comprehensive redevelopment and mobility effort undertaken in the city of Atlanta that will provide a 22-mile network of transit, trails and parks.
Her community involvement includes the Atlanta Business League’s Board of Directors and vice chair of the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections. Recent acknowledgments include being selected for Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under 40 and Urban Land Institute’s Global 40 under 40.
“We service the entire region. There’s a lot of stakeholders involved, a lot of feedback and opinions to consider as we plan. That challenge is finding the right balance between vision and execution of that vision that serves the most.”
“What we’re all excited about is being able to expand into Clayton County and that expansion is the first of its size in 40 years. With that, everything we’re doing to improve MARTA, even before we went into Clayton, now it will take it to a whole other level.”
“I enjoy being a part of Atlanta’s integration of transportation solutions and being a part of a transportation solution … you can’t think about where you live without thinking about transportation. Being a part of something that touches the lives of people every day.”
“[I would like to see] funding not being an option for the state and federal politics. It is a mandatory.”
