A few days in Atlanta wasn’t enough to see everything going on at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, but I did get the opportunity of a whirlwind tour to see many of the things the staff has been focused on.
The half-cent sales tax referendum that passed in Atlanta can be used to expand MARTA bus and rail services, both capital and operating. With a list of projects tied to that referendum bigger than the available funding, MARTA will be looking to the public preferences as to how they utilize that money.
While MARTA has implemented a suite of bus service enhancements earlier this year, they’ve also been working on a regional expansion program over the past few years that has four primary projects: extending the Red Line to the north, the Blue Line to the east, commuter rail to the south, and an 8-mile light rail line, the Clifton Corridor. Those four projects
And while there’s been a lot of new projects underway, MARTA still faces its share of challenges. They were at the forefront of developing their transit asset management plan in compliance with the Federal Transit Administration’s ruling requiring TAM Plan documentation and have a clear picture of where their assets lie, including which ones are facing critical challenges.
As thousands of transit professionals will be heading to Atlanta in October for the American Public Transportation Association’s Expo, we’ll be featuring details on the operations, technologies, safety programs and services MARTA has going on. To kick it off, this issue has an overview of the change of direction it’s seen in the past several years and how the public’s perception of MARTA has evolved.
