A new article on Atlantic’s CityLab site titled “The Remarkable Turnaround of Atlanta Public Transit“, is an interview with MARTA CEO Keith Parker looking back at how the agency got its house in order in 2014 and what lies ahead.
We’ve discussed MARTA’s money troubles for years around here, so the continuing struggle MARTA faces with its unique sales tax funding model shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. However many of the potential concepts on the horizon sound pretty interesting. They include…
- The Development of Avondale and other MARTA park-and-ride stations into mixed-use developments. Check out the new-to-me Avondale development rendering above! (Read CL’s recent profile of Amanda Rhein: “MARTA’s Parking Lot Nemesis”)
- “Blowing up the bus routes” – CEO Keith Parker tells the Atlantic, “We have a study underway called the Comprehensive Operations Analysis—COA for short—that reexamines every single route in the service. The goal is to come up with a bus network that’s faster, that requires fewer transfers, and that’s more commonsense. So that people can get from Point A to Point B in a much more customer-friendly manner than now.”
- Potential system expansion along GA 400 and the Clifton Corridor
- A push for public art at MARTA Stations
- Going “all in on the smartphone” with WiFi access and mobile fare payment. – Wifi access is a big deal for Decatur Station train riders. If you’ve ever tried to use a smartphone at Decatur Station, you know what I’m talking about.
Avondale MARTA Station rendering courtesy of MARTA via CityLab
I’m excited about this rendering. From what I’ve read, it was generated after MARTA entered into negotiations with the DDA and Columbia Ventures, the recommended development partner, so it’s probably the most recent depiction we have of what might materialize. Another image, described elsewhere on the web as the “proposed central plaza at Avondale Station” can be found here: columbiaven [dot] com/projects/
A small thing that helps, and that they’ve done at some stations, is having real train arrival signs outside of the station, before a rider enters a station with no internet signal.
Has anyone discovered what big announcement Mayor Basket referenced last night yet? I believe it was coming from the Atlanta Regional Commission, but did not see anything on their site yet.
http://www.decaturmetro.com/2015/01/28/decatur-is-first-to-receive-platinum-sustainability-certification-from-arc/
It would be great to see something done about the bus routes. I don’t understand why many of them snake through residential neighborhoods with stops at every corner. It amazes me how often I see a bus with only one or two riders on it, if any.
Marta leadership has been really impressive lately. Imagine if they could find a way to make bus routes really practical…
Looking at the rendering above, note the bus stops on Sams St.
Assuming most buses would be both coming and going from College Ave, where would they turn around? Would they go around that very long block? Would there be some other kind of turn-around? Will New St ever connect to Talley St? Maybe there is an alley around the whole development?