Stalking the Cliff Bus
Decatur Metro | May 6, 2008JKGA reminds us of the free Emory Cliff bus in response to my recent “In case you didn’t know, Atlanta traffic sux” post. My issue with actually using the Cliff bus has always been its limited range. Other than to commute daily to Emory, I have to be honest in saying that I don’t think I would ever use it.
However, for those of you that do make frequent trips to Emory and up North Decatur, did you know that you can track the position of every Cliff Bus live online (each bus is a little moving blob) and on your mobile phone (text only)? It’s a pretty great feature.
But be careful, I quickly found myself wishing that MARTA had a similar service. It might actually make riding the buses a viable (a.ka. smarta) option once again!
One of the coolest features I’ve ever seen. They need to have that same system to track the elusive-yet-vicious carnivorous squirrels that live in the Decatur wilds and watch our every move. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.
A helpful tip: On the bottom of the main page is a button you can click to “hide all”, and then selectively highlight the one(s) you ride (e.g., CCTMA, South Dekalb). Then you only see those blobs of interest. This makes it a little easier to see where your bus is.
Using the CCTMA bus in conjunction with the park and ride buses you can get to North Dekalb Mall and Northlake Mall pretty easily. You do have to change buses at North Decatur and Clairmont. If you work near one of the park and ride lots, commuting using the empty P&R buses heading to the mall is like having your own personally chauffeured bus all to yourself!