MARTA Service Cuts Coming…Tomorrow!
Decatur Metro | September 24, 2010 | 3:51 pm
Ready or not MARTA riders: Numerous service cuts go into effect tomorrow.
Among the most impactful changes taking place tomorrow:
- MARTA buses: 2,700 of 11,500 bus stops will be eliminated. (There are many MARTA bus signs in Decatur plastered with notices saying that the stop is being eliminated)
- MARTA trains: Wait times for trains will increase up to 5 minutes. Also Final train runs start at 1am
- MARTA restrooms: Will be closed permanently at all stations EXCEPT: Five Points, Bankhead, College Park, Doraville, Hamilton E. Holmes, Indian Creek, North Springs, Lindbergh and Edgewood/Candler Park.
The Braves shuttle will not be eliminated until next year. For a complete list of the cutbacks going into effect tomorrow, along with fare-related changes beginning in October, click over to MARTA’s webpage on the subject.
This is such a bummer. The #2 was a big reason why I chose to live on Ponce in downtown Decatur. Another was train access, which will be significantly less awesome. Sigh!
Is there any viable alternative to #2 anymore?
A bike when courageous. A car when available. A taxi when intoxicated.
I’ve walked from Peachtree & 14th before just for fun. It only took two hours surprisingly enough, but that’s not exactly ideal unless you’ve got nothing better to do.
I’m glad my job doesn’t rely on the #2, but I’m disappointed that seeing movies at the Plaza won’t be nearly so easy. Nor visiting friends in Midtown; seeing a show at the Fox; getting Krispy Kreme doughnuts; stumbling home from Manuel’s, and so forth.
I am trying to think positive thoughts but I find this incredibly discouraging
Yes, very discouraging indeed. Put on your walking shoes and get ready to hike. Luckily, I am retired, so I don’t have to catch a bus/train to get to/from work these days, but absence of the #2 on Ponce and the #36 on North Decatur Road will definitely change my shopping and social habits. The impact of these cuts in service will be much larger than MARTA is figuring — it is obvious to me that the people who make these decisions do not ride MARTA and are not dependent on it and don’t much care what the consequences will be.
#36 was not cut. It was combined with #45 (formerly Candler Park to Midtown, via Poncey-Highland and Virginia-Highlands). The new 36 travels from Midtown Station to Avondale, via 10th St, Virginia Avenue, North Highland, North Decatur Road, and East Ponce. Almost all of the route that was on North Decatur Road will still be there. A few major destinations: YDFM, Suburban Plaza, Emory (of course), Virginia-Highlands, and Piedmont Park. It won’t go through Morningside or by Ansley Mall anymore.
Yesterday I caught the tail end of interview on NPR with one of the planning people who figured what routes were cut, and he said something to the effect that here and there people should be prepared for overcrowded buses that may actually pass by waiting customers at stops. And they have emergency plans put in place. How reassuring…
I’m sure it’s on their site somewhere (they said it would be)
Pass by waiting customers at stops! So what good is a schedule? And what about timing to arrive at a job or an appointment? How “overcrowded” would it have to be for a driver to pass by waiting riders? I can just see myself standing on Clairmont to catch #19 in bad weather and being passed by – another 30 minute or hour wait? And maybe the next one would be overcrowded too… Discouraging, very discouraging for potential riders. Since I would have to walk several blocks from home to reach the bus stop, it wouldn’t really be an option to go back home and then come back. Funny how few cablecars in SF refuse boarders, and they are packed to the gills on the popular routes — people just scrunch together and hang off the sides. Not advocating hanging off the outsides of MARTA buses, but … When I was in DC for Obama’s inauguration, the METRO trains and buses had people sitting in each other’s laps in order to expedite their trip to the mall. I wouldn’t have missed that for the world, the crowd atmosphere, the natural sharing, etc. It made the day even more fun than it already would have been. Same atmosphere and crowding on my way back to Silver Spring, where I was staying overnight…