MTA Administrator Holly Arnold stepping down after 5 years leading agency

Maryland Transit Administration chief Holly Arnold is stepping down, the agency confirmed to The Banner Tuesday morning.

Arnold, who has held several roles with the state transit agency over 14 years, was named its administrator by then-Gov. Larry Hogan in 2021 and continued in the role under Gov. Wes Moore.

In an emailed statement, Arnold called the job the “highlight of my career,” praising her staff for system improvements done under her tenure.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together and am confident the employees and leadership team at MTA will continue to advance the critical projects that will move transit in Maryland forward,” Arnold wrote.

Her last day in the role is Sept. 1. A replacement or interim administrator has yet to be named.

The MTA is a division of the state Department of Transportation and is responsible for running one of the country’s largest multimodal transit systems. It includes Baltimore’s sprawling bus network, subway and light rail, as well as regional commuter lines like the MARC train and the Mobility program for people with disabilities.

A hands-on administrator and well-liked by agency staff, Arnold oversaw gradual operational improvements and championed major new investments. But her tenure was also marked by frequent disruptions, even periodic shutdowns, of certain routes that revealed a transit network in need of more investment.

Her time at the MTA began in 2012 overseeing the agency’s capital investment program. She has said one of the most depressing days of her career came in 2015 when Hogan canceled the Red Line, a proposed east-west light rail connecting western Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center through downtown.

Later, when she became the agency’s chief, she’d go on to oversee Moore’s still-undefined revival of the project.

As the agency’s leader, Arnold also helped steer the Purple Line, a 14-mile light rail project spanning Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, back on track after its builder walked off the job in 2020.

Under her tenure, vehicle operator vacancy rates have dropped and the MTA has implemented new initiatives, such as free fare days, better bus tracking and a rider safety reporting tool. Funding for system rehabilitation projects has increased significantly, and the agency even hopped on a fun transit trend: selling merch.

In an emailed statement, Maryland Transportation Secretary Katie Thomson thanked Arnold for her service as “a tireless champion for transit, advancing initiatives such as modernizing the light rail, implementing transformative upgrades to the metro subway system, building the Purple Line and infusing a can-do spirit in her work and support of our phenomenal transit employees.”

But the system has also endured its share of struggles the past five years.

In 2021, the agency’s contracted Mobility service struggled to arrive on time so often that, two years later, the U.S. Department of Justice found it had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In 2023, both the Baltimore subway and light rail lines endured multiday shutdowns, forcing riders to hop onto temporary shuttle bus services. Maryland has announced major investments in each line since.

In June, bus routes that have historically struggled to get students to school in time for the first bell and workers to their jobs quickly arrived at just 71% of stops on time across the network. That’s just below the on-time rate for the same month the previous two years.

But Arnold didn’t just run Baltimore’s transit network; she was a daily rider and devoted booster.

She’s been a regular on the LocalLink 54 as part of her commute to the MTA’s offices, and frequently posts to social media to show off fast rides on the MARC trains and other transport.

In a previous interview with The Banner, she said using the system wasn’t just about being a “true believer” in the benefits of public transit, but a way to connect with her staff and understand the system from a critical perspective — of those who depend on it.