Leigh wrote in yesterday with an alert she was sending out to her building’s listserv about the impact of potential cutbacks of MARTA’s bus service in light of an $120 million deficit in its operating budget.

Of particular concern to Leigh is the future of MARTA’s #2 bus route.  Instead of operating from Avondale Station to North Avenue Station along Ponce de Leon Ave., the new #2 would only operate between Inman Park Station and North Avenue Station, leaving Decatur behind entirely.

However, that’s only one of MANY bus routes modified or eliminated by the proposed service cuts that run through, begin or end, inside the Decatur city limits.  You can access the full list of proposed changes here (Excel), but I’ve also compiled a condensed list of those that directly affect Decatur’s three MARTA stations, which you can peruse after the jump.

MARTA will next meet to discuss the proposed changes on Saturday, February 20th from 10a-12p or 3p-5p at MARTA Headquarters at  2424 Piedmont Road NE Atlanta, GA 30324 (across from the MARTA Lindbergh Train Station).

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Inman Park isn’t mincing words about gubenatorial candidate John Oxendine’s proposal of building more bypasses and highways around Atlanta.  CL’s Thomas Wheatley has the note to the candidate from Inman Park President Lisa Burnette.

The idea has obviously picked open the old scab that Inman Park has worn since a coalition of in-town neighborhoods defeated the plan of connecting the road with the most laughable 35mph speed limit sign in the city (Freedom Parkway) with Highway 78.

Now in politics, pissing people off is kind of inevitable.  But pissing off people with money?  Oh, that’s bad.  Very bad.

These Atlanta neighborhoods, including Inman Park, most soundly defeated this highway proposal decades ago, at a time when they had little organization and little resources. Today, we are highly organized and closely networked. We have neighbors and friends in many high places, and we have a lot of money, set aside specifically to protect ourselves against these kinds of proposals.

The Inman Park Neighborhood Association demands that you immediately retract your statements that you would consider building a Stone Mountain Freeway through intown Atlanta.

Hells yes.

Hey Inman Park, let Decatur know if you need help.  We don’t have quite the wealth-hoards, but we’re feisty and we’ll volunteer for near about anything.

Looks like my hunch was right.

Its not just rail-smooching socialists that are upset about the GA legislature’s blatant disregard for MARTA.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that CAP and other Atlanta business leaders are also very unhappy with the Gold Dome crew.

And if you think that doesn’t matter, you aren’t a politician.

In case you missed the front page of the Metro Section this morning, the AJC has compiled data for all of the alternative commutes in a single article.

The gist? With ever rising gas prices, most alternative forms of transportation, with the exception of one bus service, have seen impressive increases in ridership vs. last year. And while MARTA ridership is among the gainers, it registered the smallest increase of the gainers; perhaps a reflection of its limited reach to the outer-suburbs. This also could be changing. Gwinnett residents will vote next month on allowing MARTA into the county.

Enough of my babbling…here’s the data!

MARTA: Train ridership is up 15% in April and May vs. same period year-ago. However, Bus AND Train ridership is up only 7%. (Which explains the discrepancy Thomas and I encountered earlier this month)

Carpooling: Up 221% vs. year-ago according to RideSmart

GRTA Express Bus: Up 67% May ‘08 to May ‘07

Douglas County Van Pool: Up 160% May ‘08 to May ‘07

Telecommuting Clean Air Commuter Reward Registrations: Up 23% vs. last year.

The only service down is Gwinnett County Transit. It’s ridership has declined 20% vs. last-year.

I wonder if the Clean Air Campaign also has a biking-to-work number. Would be a bit more reflective of the changes made by some intown commuters.

See the full article for all the details.