Atlanta Discovers It Has A Rail System
Decatur Metro | September 9, 2008According to the American Public Transportation Authority, from April to June 2008, MARTA saw the largest ridership increase (15.6%) vs. same period year-ago (21.5 million vs. 18.6 million) among all heavy rail systems nationwide. (and yes, I’m overlooking San Juan, Puerto Rico primarily because its an unincorporated territory, not a state, but also because its so freaking small that a 20% gain is much easier to accomplish).
Whether these increases will decline along with the recent drop in the price of oil is yet to be seen. But regardless, one thing seems certain..compared to other U.S. cities, we Atlantans seem to be the most motivated by the price of a gallon of gas. OR could it possibly be that we were just the most inclined to forgo riding, not because it is overly inconvenient (though that’s a favorite excuse), but because we’re just not comfortable with the idea of interacting with others on the way to work (even if its just an occasional “excuse me”) .
Thanks to Creative Loafing for paying Thomas Wheatley to scour these numerous “Association” websites to come up with this stuff. I hope they provide a good vision plan.
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Hehe. Sign up for their e-mail blasts, my good man! Wealth of info. Really good studies, too.
I gave up my car almost 10 years ago after commuting from Decatur to Alpharetta I changed my job and said “Enough”. I moved to Seattle for a few years, then London, then Boston and swore I would never own a car in a place like Atlanta again. I am lucky since I am able to telecommute. I take MARTA to the airport and to Piedmont Park. I get a zipcar for my jaunts to Whole Foods and to visit friends off the transport network. Occasionally I take the bus down Ponce but this is rare. MARTA needs to be more advanced in terms of letting people know how long buses will be.
I much prefer being out on the street face to face with people. I find that people walking around are much more civil than people sheltered in their cars (or should I call them divisive cocoons). I just wish MARTA was more progressive…the stations in better shape, the trains went to more places…etc.