West Ponce de Leon Ave. Decatur, GA (photo courtesy of DM)
June 7, 2011 Eye on the Street (11)
May 2, 2013 Eye on the Street (1)
May 28, 2012 Eye on the Street (0)
FMFats
Siv
Siv
Ben
WP
Gnatsandants
MedievalistinDecatur
DecaturWalker
PeavineObserver
Iteral Not Literal
Chadwick Stogner
Moderate
Principal Greg Wiseman Canoes Through Decatur
Sad…
I feel like I am in one of the apocalypse movies where there’s lot of signs of impending doom, lack of recognition, and foolish actions by greedy and blind humans, ….until finally it’s too late, the world has passed a certian tipping point…
I’m going to deal with this by getting a latte, hugging the children, and keeping my eye out for potential bunkers.
Foreboding feeling to this kind of “winding down” in the great city. What’s the next move we’ll be aware of?
Hopfully MARTA will be responsible enought to remove these useless signs.
Will CLIF fill-in where MARTA has withdrawn service? Maybe those orange busses they have on Buford Highway will move in to provide service.
If you are a frequent bus rider, the sign isn’t so useless now is it?
It may be twenty years since I last traveled on a Marta bus, maybe thirty. My wife just told me that her last trip was on a bus run by the Atlanta Transit Authority. I wonder how many people living in Decatur have the same experience.
Therein lies part of MARTA’s problem.
No use it–you lose it.
I remember last Tuesday like it was only a week ago… good by, fair #123. But I guess the good side is now I’ll have to walk my own lazy butt to the station.
But what’s your ultimate point? That major metro areas don’t require public transportation?
Chris:
Chris: I have been here long enough to have used bus service in the before MARTA days. I still take transit to work daily. There are many bus riders in Decatur (even some who ride by choice, like me) and this adversely effects all of us.
Because Decatur is so well-served by the train, I haven’t had many opportunities to use the bus, usually when I’ve travelled downtown by train and then need to get somewhere in the midtown, Buckhead, or Grant Park areas that are not reached by the train. The bus rides I’ve had in those cases have been quite comfortable and pleasant, actually more pleasant than the train because I find the area right outside of the Five Points station a little grungy. I think the complaints about MARTA aesthetics are more about fear than ambience. My one complaint would be the infrequency of the service, which has now gotten much worse, which will set into motion a downward spiral because less service will result in less ridership which then prompts the bureaucrats to cut service even more.
I used the #2 almost daily, and it’s a shame they had to cut this route instead of considering altering service around peak times – not just for this route, but for all of their bus routes. And with the combined increase in fares, seems like service should actually improve, rather than lower their level of service.
Is the whole #2 line stopping?
I think it still runs from North Ave to the Candler Park.
Yup. It now travels along Ponce de Leon from North Avenue Station to North Highland, through Poncey-Highlands to Freedom Parkway, down Moreland through Little Five, and then through the Edgewood Retail District to the Edgewood/Candler Park Station.
I will miss the #2. I always prefer to take the bus all the way to the North Avenue station and take the #13 to my office. Yeah, I can get there by walking to the Eastlake station, switching at 5Points to the North line. One of the advantages of living in Decatur – there are always alternatives. But it’s more relaxing in the morning not to be running around in the stations. And the bus people are so much more interesting.
Report from East-West train line: New schedule in place. East Lake station seemed more crowded this morning, probably because of accumulation of folks over 15 minutes rather than 10 minutes but maybe some former #2 bus folks were also there. They are running longer trains, ours was two cars longer and extended all the way to the front of the platform. Given that, the train wasn’t crowded and all had a seat. Until everyone catches on, the way to go is wait at the end of the platform to get in the less crowded front car.
New rail schedules are on-line. For me, the less frequent rail schedule means no more just showing up at the station and catching whatever the next train is, like I’m on the NY subway. I’m going to have to plan and catch the right train. No more responding to “Mom, could you just……” as I leave the house or “Would you just look at this…” as I leave work.
Bummer situation. I predict it will get a whole lot worse before it turns around. Hope I live in this area long enough to see the upswing.