Comments on: ATL Still Loving Transit

By: lumpintheroad

lumpintheroad — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:40:38 +0000

I’ve found that out of towners from cities with established mass transit are pretty disparaging of MARTA, while those without mass transit are generally impressed. Natives ITP are appreciative, while OTP’ers still labor under the delusion that if MARTA was extended up 75 or 85, criminals would use it to come steal their TVs (and ride back with them in their laps, presumably). But they’ll still ride it down from Alpharetta for the Braves game or Celine Dion concert.

I love living within walking distance of MARTA, but it’s not feasible for me to take it to my office in Smyrna (and driving against traffic means my commute is relatively stress free anyway). But I often use it recreationally and it’s a Godsend going to the airport. I’ve gotten used to scenes of public urination/defecation (that was fun to explain to my nieces during a trip to the aquarium), proselytizers, junkies, etc. It’s just local color.

Speaking of which, they dropped the charges against Soulja Girl today.

By: jkga

jkga — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:17:15 +0000

Let me again put in a plug for the FREE Emory/CDC-sponsored “Cliff” shuttles.
The CCTMA line runs between downtown Decatur and the CDC, while the South DeKalb Mall Park&Ride shuttle also has a few stops on Clairmont and on S. Candler. These are all seeing increased ridership, although not quite as heavy as when gas prices were at their peak.

http://transportation.emory.edu/shuttles.html

They are fairly reliable, and you can even check where they are online in real time.

By: Robbie C

Robbie C — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:49:13 +0000

Glad (?) to see Harpua & Steve’s comment. I thought I was going crazy with that new, absurdly limited light at Moreland. The drive downtown now involves sitting through a minimum of 5 light changes every morning just to get through the light.

I hadn’t thought of going down McLendon, but might use that as an alternative going forward (apologies to any CP friends for the increased traffic!).

By: Oakie

Oakie — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:39:14 +0000

MARTA is wonderful. We’ve had several out-of-towners use it to get to Decatur from the airport and to get around town. They rave about the train (and the service) and universally lament that their own cities lack such a system.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:32:02 +0000

Since Moreland is on the DeKalb/Fulton (Atlanta) line, it may take some research to figure out whose traffic engineering operation is responsible. My guess goes to DeKalb, whose traffic engineering department, IMHO, barely knows red from green and is in way over their heads when it comes to traffic management and associated technology.