ATLANTA TRANSIT (Marta, Beltline, Peachtree Streetcar, LovJoy Commuter, etc...)

[smArTaLlone]

Originally Posted by Street Advocate

FWIW, the plans from the actual company proposed a route from GICC in College Park, not GWCC Downtown.

Also lol at only being able move 1-4 people. How impractical.

Click the media kit and ATL
https://www.glydways.com/press.html
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XRo...TdKetqxeW/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aPv...76Fv1vO1d/view

Thanks for the info. GWCC to the airport didn't make any sense but I didn't take the time to look into it.

[Julien]

Not a big deal but Bird bought Spin.

[Julien]

Originally Posted by testarossa50

Makes much more sense from a practicality perspective. (I even double checked the article to make sure it said convention center downtown before posting!)

But there’s already ridiculously good train service between the airport and GICC too!

I too was confused and now this project makes a looooooooot more practical sense. So actually a smallish local project. Strange that I had never even heard of the GICC. Couldn't imagine anyway of getting this downtown/GWCC for under $3B and 10 years.

So I eat crow pie and take back all the criticism in my previous post.

EDIT: Also this is a light rail substitute.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by Julien

I too was confused and now this project makes a looooooooot more practical sense. So actually a smallish local project. Strange that I had never even heard of the GICC. Couldn't imagine anyway of getting this downtown/GWCC for under $3B and 10 years.

GICC is College Park's eternal pet project. My impression is that it's not as prominent or successful as they would like. The only two events on their calendar for the rest of the year are The Reptile Expo and The Music Makers Summit. So they keep on throwing everything they have at GICC to make it more successful.

[tinyslam]

The GICC is already connected to the airport via the SkyTrain. Why would an alternative be necessary?

Edit: From looking at the plans Phase 1 is just a shuttle around the parking lots from the SkyTrain station. Phase 2 looks like it connects more including a parallel route of the international terminal bus shuttle.

[mohaas05]

The first new CQ400 train is out of the shop.

[700]

These look fantastic, I can't wait for them to start being put into service!


On a side note, has it been announced if they're keeping the current Michelle Torres on-board announcements for these new trains?

[Sojourner_Terminus]

Originally Posted by 700

These look fantastic, I can't wait for them to start being put into service!


On a side note, has it been announced if they're keeping the current Michelle Torres on-board announcements for these new trains?

Yeah these trains look so good. We are going to ride like kings once these hit the rails. I also really hope they keep the old voice announcements.

[Julien]

Happy days and great news for the ATL. Waymo just announced today it is coming to ATL next year. So we will actually have Waymo service by the World Cup games.




https://waymo.com/blog/2024/09/waymo...d-partnership/

https://www.ajc.com/news/business/wa...CVUYNRU5VHXEM/

[Metrophile]

Serisouly, NOT asking in a snide way: Why is this a great thing?

[Julien]

Originally Posted by Metrophile

Serisouly, NOT asking in a snide way: Why is this a great thing?

This is likely the future of individual transpertation. While we won't (or at least me) live to see it come to full fruition probably in 50 years owning cars will be like owning horses and ride hailing autonomous cars will be the standard for individual transpertation. Parking lots can be moved to the outskirts of cities freeing up >30% more land. Cities will become so much quieter, little to no traffic congestion, pollution and safer more livable for humans. Some Autonomous cars can be at the ready all the time by parking in the streets since they all coordinate, communicate and ready to move instantly. Lanes, traffic lights, signs all become irrelevant (traffic lights are a HUGE expense).

Also this is great for ATL in the short run since it will be here to "show off the future" for the World Cup and this is likely Uber's evolution to its next phase of no drivers, awkward conversations, ratings or tips.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by Julien

This is likely the future of individual transpertation. While we won't (or at least me) live to see it come to full fruition probably in 50 years owning cars will be like owning horses and ride hailing autonomous cars will be the standard for individual transpertation. Parking lots can be moved to the outskirts of cities freeing up >30% more land. Cities will become so much quieter, little to no traffic congestion, pollution and safer more livable for humans. Some Autonomous cars can be at the ready all the time by parking in the streets since they all coordinate, communicate and ready to move instantly. Lanes, traffic lights, signs all become irrelevant (traffic lights are a HUGE expense).

Also this is great for ATL in the short run since it will be here to "show off the future" for the World Cup and this is likely Uber's evolution to its next phase of no drivers, awkward conversations, ratings or tips.

Agreed that it has massive transformative potential, and I generally hail this as a good thing.. However, I’m reminded of how TVs were hailed as a technology whose main application would be education, and look how that turned out.

[Julien]

Originally Posted by testarossa50

Agreed that it has massive transformative potential, and I generally hail this as a good thing.. However, I’m reminded of how TVs were hailed as a technology whose main application would be education, and look how that turned out.

True and making predictions can be tricky. However here are a few trajectory points.

• Gen Z and likely Alpha don't have the love of car affair we have
• Cars are become prohibitively expensive and requiring a higher percentage of our income
• Cars are getting so complex in materials, parts and construction technique that even minor accidents cause them to be totaled (like TVs did, remember TV repair shops)
• Insurance is increasing mostly because of the above and more minor accidents from distracted driving

[Julien]

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/ax...nta&stream=top


Just a couple of corrections to Axios article:

"Catch up quick: Uber deployed Waymo's self-driving vehicles in the Phoenix area last year, which it said has racked up tens of thousands of riders."

Uber didn't deploy Waymo's in Phoenix. Waymo does it themself and has its own App.

"Context: Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, tested self-driving taxis in Atlanta last year, Thomas previously reported."

Cruse was just about to start testing in ATL when they passed operations. So they never actually started testing here.

Waymo testing Saturday morning (9/14) on Peachtree (actually saw 3 on my run):

[bryantm3]

I am skeptical they could navigate the railroad tracks and potholed roads on the southside. Or the ones where suddenly the street becomes half-sized. Maybe I can be proven wrong.

[Julien]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

I am skeptical they could navigate the railroad tracks and potholed roads on the southside. Or the ones where suddenly the street becomes half-sized. Maybe I can be proven wrong.

Waymo is already in customer service in Phoenix and San Fransisco with 15.5 Million miles and 6.5 Million miles (22 million miles total) of customer "rider only" miles. They are dealing with just about every edge case situation you can imagine. Also they do what is called HD mapping. As they drive around they are always mapping the street dynamically and this data is sent back and then used to update the maps to the fleet every day.

The Waymo's in ATL have already completed the preliminary driver HD mapping and while the cars still have a safety "backup" driver in the seat the cars are now operating in L4 mode (full autonomy).

Here is a decent video a Waymo in LA showing some good situations (there are MNAY on Youtube) and the Waymo Safety Impact Study and contains interesting info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXTGx2-1MlY&t=2s

https://waymo.com/safety/impact/

[RocketSurgeon]

I've seen so much pessimism and negativity around them. "It will never work in Atlanta because potholes/crime/drivers/construction/whatever." Even ignoring that those problems also happen in the other cities they've been operating in, they've already been driving around Atlanta for months

[Labtec]

Originally Posted by RocketSurgeon

I've seen so much pessimism and negativity around them. "It will never work in Atlanta because potholes/crime/drivers/construction/whatever." Even ignoring that those problems also happen in the other cities they've been operating in, they've already been driving around Atlanta for months

Yeah when I visited San Francisco, Waymo's were everywhere.

[Julien]

Coincidently this Youtube video just came out today and even has a teeny tiny bit of ATL info (blink and you miss ATL info ). This person does a good job of explaining the car, sensors and even has some examples and all in a 10 minute watch. This is a well worth a watch and an almost educational fun watch.

Also had a Waymo on Monroe siting this morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_DpSPgThnI