Transport wonks and kids under six years old, do I have news for you!

MARTA just announced that it will be adding 18 articulated buses to its fleet in 2016!  A bit of background from the ol’ FB…

New Flyer brought one of their XN60 Xcelsior CNG articulated buses to Atlanta so MARTA could take them for test runs on various routes to check for turning, etc. and make sure they fit into our station bus loops. The final decision on which routes and stations will receive the 18 new buses will be announced at a later date. The buses will begin arriving in early 2016 and will be put into service later next year.

I wonder if you’ll be able to rent them out for children’s birthday parties.

Always a favorite topic here: MARTA’s plans for the future!

And in this case, the plans are very large according to a Sunday piece on the AJC.  Here’s the gist of it…

The future of metro Atlanta could become startlingly linear — a single file of major economic development up and down what is now Georgia 400, built along a rail line that would link Alpharetta with downtown Atlanta and its airport beyond.

The biggest public works package in decades would have other elements as well. In DeKalb County, there would be a rail link to Emory University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plus another line shooting eastward along I-20. Within the city of Atlanta, the Beltline awaits.

Wow, that’s a big project.

The AJC describes that northern expansion as a rail line “thrust between Cobb and Gwinnett counties”, who we know have resisted MARTA since it’s inception.

So that’s the basic plan.  How will we pay for it?

Basically, MARTA is trying to tweak the 1/2 cent sales tax that County’s could levy for transportation projects that was approved during the last legislative session. They just need the legislature to remove the five-set sunset currently attached to the sales tax bill and the additional $175-$200 million in new revenue could translate into $4 billion in loans.

And if you’re still a MARTA doubter, this quote in the article from MARTA’s Chairman of the Board, Robert Ashe, is perhaps worth considering…

“Corporations are increasingly demanding immediate proximity to transit stations. State Farm did it when they came here. Mercedes did it. Worldpay did it when it relocated. Kaiser is going to be located two blocks from here because of the Arts Center Station,” Ashe said. The trend will only continue.

Ever think to yourself — which unfunded Decatur streetscape improvement projects are the most important to the city right now?

No?

Well, because the Atlanta Regional Commission is asking for 4 years worth of grant applications for its Livable Centers Initiative, you will now be made aware.  A note from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon to City Manager Peggy Merriss as part of tonight’s City Commission meeting, recommends the top 4 projects to be submitted.

Remember, these are currently unfunded projects. Don’t go asking about McDonough streetscape improvements or some such nonsense.

1. Avondale MARTA Station Streetscape Improvements- Resolution R-15-AA

For the first time in Georgia’s history, a proposed transportation plan in the legislature includes dedicated funding for transit.

The AJC reports this morning that Georgia House Republicans will unveil a $1 billion transportation plan, with a focus on “critical road and bridge improvements”, but also $100 million annually dedicated to transit.  Details as to how the funding will be allocated have yet to be unveiled.

Up until the present day, the state’s largest transit agency – MARTA – has subsisted solely on a gas tax, which ebbs and flows with the price of gasoline.  It is the only large city transit system in the country with no dedicated funding.

The plan also moves Georgia completely away from a gas sales tax model to fund transportation. The AJC states…

The plan, which will be introduced as legislation Thursday, would shift the state completely away from a sales tax on gas to a 29.2 cents per gallon excise tax. It would eventually end the local sales tax on gas, while allowing counties and cities to levy their own excise tax.

One detail of the plan revealed is that electric and alternative-fuel vehicles would pay an annual $200 “user fee”, which will be set aside to fund public transit.

More details as we learn them.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

A new article on Atlantic’s CityLab site titled “The Remarkable Turnaround of Atlanta Public Transit“, is an interview with MARTA CEO Keith Parker looking back at how the agency got its house in order in 2014 and what lies ahead.

We’ve discussed MARTA’s money troubles for years around here, so the continuing struggle MARTA faces with its unique sales tax funding model shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.  However many of the potential concepts on the horizon sound pretty interesting.  They include…

1. The Development of Avondale and other MARTA park-and-ride stations into mixed-use developments.  Check out the new-to-me Avondale development rendering above!  (Read CL’s recent profile of Amanda Rhein: “MARTA’s Parking Lot Nemesis”)
2. “Blowing up the bus routes” – CEO Keith Parker tells the Atlantic, “We have a study underway called the Comprehensive Operations Analysis—COA for short—that reexamines every single route in the service. The goal is to come up with a bus network that’s faster, that requires fewer transfers, and that’s more commonsense. So that people can get from Point A to Point B in a much more customer-friendly manner than now.”
3. Potential system expansion along GA 400 and the Clifton Corridor 
4. A push for public art at MARTA Stations
5. Going “all in on the smartphone” with WiFi access and mobile fare payment.  – Wifi access is a big deal for Decatur Station train riders.  If you’ve ever tried to use a smartphone at Decatur Station, you know what I’m talking about.

Avondale MARTA Station rendering courtesy of MARTA via CityLab

Decaturish is reporting this morning that a CSX train operator who hit a MARTA bus stuck on the tracks back in May 2013 has filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit argues that the steep grade of the intersection was a known safety hazard, noting that a collision occurred at that intersection 3 months prior to the MARTA bus accident.

CSX, the City of Decatur, MARTA and GDOT are all listed as defendants in the suit, which is posted in full on Decaturish.

City Manager Peggy Merriss told Decaturish, ““The litigation should have no effect on the North McDonough Streetscapes project or the South Candler/South McDonough/Howard railroad crossing project either,”.

Improving that intersection has long been a goal of Decatur’s 2008 Transportation Plan.  The city held a public input meeting on improvements back in 2013, however getting design approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation usually takes years and there haven’t been any public statements about the status of this project lately.

Photo of 2013 incident courtesy of Lee

From a recent post on the Saporta Report detailing the upcoming December MARTA meetings to discuss the proposed routes and funding options to reinvigorate the Clifton Corridor rail project between Lindbergh and Avondale MARTA stations via Emory…

The state Legislature is expected to revisit in the transportation funding issue during the 2015 session. Any measure is likely to take two years to win approval, which means a funding mechanism could be in place with the environmental impact study of the Clifton Road route is complete, in 2015 or 2016.

Some lawmakers are discussing an increase in the statewide motor fuel tax. Another proposal would enable a few counties to unite to propose a transportation referendum, rather than the 10 counties that were involved in the 2012 referendum.

There are two meetings scheduled to discuss.  Details below:

Thursday, December 4, 2014, 6-8 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1438 Sheridan Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30324

Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 6-8 pm
Emory Student Activity & Academic Center
Room 316
1946 Starvine Way, Decatur, GA 30033

Map courtesy of MARTA