Dear Transit Rider,

I bet that long walk to MARTA this morning made you somethin’ hungry, huh?

I bet as you stepped onto that brown-tiled platform you were mighty jealous of all those car commuters who could just pull up to a window, hand over a couple dollars, and graze freely from that brown paper bag, huh?

Well drool-jealous no more hapless rail commuter/untapped consumer!  McDonald’s has heard your cries of hunger pain and wishes to level the commuter playing field!

The fast-food chain’s “Try Free, Ride Free” event, which rewards public transit riders in six U.S. cities with free transit rides and free Angus Third-Pounders, starts September 13th!

Still no word on McDonald’s opening locations in rail stations, so for now after your first free taste, I guess you’ll still need to hoof it across that freeway on-ramp to get your grease fix.

But hey at least in the future, when you think “transit”, you’ll also think “beef”.

Along with the GA legislature’s failure to pass a transportation bill for the second straight year, the body also failed to pass legislation that would allow MARTA to use more of its 1 cent sales tax money toward operational costs.

MARTA has threatened canceling service on Fridays or the weekend to make up the deficit it now faces. If and when this happens, I’m sure we’ll hear the public outcry.

Too bad its too late.

Decatur Heights Dad forwards the announcement of a public hearing about moving MARTA bus route 125 off of residential Sycamore Drive and moving it to Ponce, Arcadia and Winn Way.   Here are the details fit to print…

January 5, 2009
Community Exchange: 6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. – Hearing begins at 7:00pm

Maloof Auditorium
1300 Commerce Drive
Decatur, GA 30030
Walk one block west of the Decatur Rail Station
Bus Routes: 15, 18, 19 and 123

So, the AJC has an article up on their website entitled “Riders Swarm to Mass Transit“. This headline peaked piqued my interest, since I’ve been waiting for weeks to hear how much MARTA ridership has risen since gas prices rushed towards and past $4.

But, as so often is the case with our local daily reader, I was sorely disappointed. Its actually just an AP article. Well, I thought, maybe there is an Atlanta mention at least. Nope. The article, while no doubt interesting, cites cities like San Fran, Boston and L.A. NOTHING about Atlanta.

So, I did what so many desperate Americans do when they want something they don’t have. I Googled it. And what an odd result. I found two links posted today (one and two) from news radio stations in Detroit that cite MARTA’s ridership up 60%. Here’s one…

In bustling Atlanta, transit authorities boosted their MARTA bus routes by 40 percent this year. But it wasn’t enough. Ridership is up 60 percent.

So the question remains…does the Detroit media market know something we do not? Is this just the first trickle? Or is this just shotty journalism? I can’t find any MARTA press releases on the subject, but if its truly up 60%, that’s pretty unbelievable.

Regardless of the accuracy of this particular number, I hope someone…ANYONE with a wider distribution than ME is on top of this story whenever it comes out, so Atlantans aren’t confined to reading a national AP story about public transportation, while the state of Georgia gets away scott-free with looking like heroes for suspending a 2 cent gas tax while still being the ONLY state in the country that doesn’t finance public transportation in its largest city.

Kick some butt MARTA. I don’t care about your past accusations of mismanagement. You’ve got a clean slate with me starting today. Increased ridership means money and attention. Something you sorely lacked up until now.

Please make the most of it.

BTW…did anyone else realize that Gwinnett is voting on MARTA again this summer? Kinda historic considering the hoohah the last time Gwinnetians faced that choice. Somehow it had completely evaded my (admittedly limited) radar. However, the Atlanta Business Chronicle has a good write up if you’re interested.