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

[Libertarian]

BRT should be the pitch and LRT would be wild. My opinion. I don't pay MARTA tax but I do pay state & federal.

[shivtim]

How is the cost per rider cheaper for center-running BRT even though the construction cost is more than curb-running BRT?

[montydawg]

Originally Posted by shivtim

How is the cost per rider cheaper for center-running BRT even though the construction cost is more than curb-running BRT?

Looks like curb running costs $100,000 more per year to operate, hence higher costs per rider. Perhaps they look at crash statistics for busses in curb vs center lane, or perhaps the time differences factor in the different schedule required for different modes. I imagine center running is better for fewer disruptions. I think the issue with LRT is there just isn’t the ridership in this area currently to support LRT. At least this project will preserve the right of way in case they ever want to convert to rail in the future, like the Orange line in LA. For context, the Emory line is expected to host 30,000 riders, whereas this route is only forecast for 6000 riders.

[DirectionNorth]

Originally Posted by shivtim

How is the cost per rider cheaper for center-running BRT even though the construction cost is more than curb-running BRT?

Center running is marginally faster, which means you need less buses and drivers for the same frequencies. Those costs per rider are operational costs, which doesn't include the cost to build the system.

[shivtim]

^Ah, I see. That's a really confusing graphic then. I assumed "cost per rider" would be based on the overall construction cost, since almost the entire chart is talking about specifics of design and construction.

[smArTaLlone]

https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-new...AXXOPH7UJNOJU/

MARTA would build a bus rapid transit line instead of light rail along Campbellton Road in southwest Atlanta under a proposal unveiled Thursday night.

The line would run in the middle of a 6-mile stretch of Campbellton Road between MARTA’s Oakland City station and the Barge Road park-and-ride lot. It would operate mostly in exclusive bus lanes with limited stops, transit stations and other features designed to mimic a rail line and keep buses moving.

If the MARTA board approves the plan in March, it would become part of a proposed network of bus rapid transit lines crisscrossing metro Atlanta.

[shivtim]

What's a dedicated "tranist" lane?

[ATLMidcity]

Originally Posted by shivtim

What's a dedicated "tranist" lane?

It's s special lane where you can board the bus as one sex, and deboard the bus as the opposite sex and nobody will notice your transition - except the far right, of course.

Tranist can be both an adjective and a noun at the same time. Here's how you use it in a sentence.

Winston boarded MARTA new BRT because his bra and panties were all wadded up, so he adjusted his junk and then tranist the bus as Wendy.

[Username123]

Originally Posted by ATLMidcity

It's s special lane where you can board the bus as one sex, and deboard the bus as the opposite sex and nobody will notice your transition - except the far right, of course.

Tranist can be both an adjective and a noun at the same time. Here's how you use it in a sentence.

Winston boarded MARTA new BRT because his bra and panties were all wadded up, so he adjusted his junk and then tranist the bus as Wendy.

Transphobia has no place here. Atlanta has a large lgbt community. Please be respectful.

[bryantm3]

I think BRT was the right choice here too... if you are familiar with Campbellton Rd it has some spots that are pretty wooded and LRT wouldn't have been appropriate.

Now, on the other hand, Greenbriar or Barge Rd. would be a good place for an LRT station. I think running a south fulton LRT line out of Hamilton E. Holmes would be a good idea. Have it hit Adamsville, Cascade Rd., Greenbriar, Camp Creek somewhere around the CSX line, and head southwest along 29 towards Union City. A spur from the airport could hit Sullivan or Riverdale Rd., Old National, and join the line down there.

I know a lot of people think we need a top end perimeter line, but doing so would require Cobb (and maybe Gwinnett) to join MARTA. But MARTA could do this without expanding to other counties, if it were able to raise the funds.

[Terminus]

I just read this quote from Tim Keane on Axios about MARTA's back-tracking at the Five Points redesign. Does anyone know what's up?

Transit investments – Central to Atlanta City Design is building a city that by its composition makes all forms of mobility desirable for Atlantans. This requires a much more active role by the City of Atlanta. What is happening at the Five Points MARTA station is just one example of why this is so.

In the summer of 2019, we proposed to MARTA an approach to improvement of Five Points which was first and foremost about the public’s contribution to city building. Our proposal for Five Points is to use this generational investment to repair the city in the process of making a more subtle, functional station and enabling dense development in the station block. Broad Street would be reconnected between Marietta Street and Alabama Street as a standard urban
street. When the station was originally built, it cut Broad Street in two – an action which contributed to the decline of South Broad and South Downtown in general. Repairing this part of the city’s grid and enabling dense, urban development around the station is fundamental to the approach we have been pursuing with MARTA ever since.

MARTA has recently unilaterally decided to either make the Broad Street connection a bus terminal or abandon the Broad Street reconnection entirely and spend all this City funding to create a new version of what we already have. This is a shocking turn of events as we have been working for two years on the original proposal. It jeopardizes the entire project as certainly Atlanta will not support further diminishing this place through an enormous investment of public money.

What’s happening at Five Points will be repeated throughout the city if there is there is not clear direction to MARTA that this investment is first and foremost about making a city for walking and transit usage; not internal operational challenges.

[atlantaguy]

Originally Posted by Terminus

I just read this quote from Tim Keane on Axios about MARTA's back-tracking at the Five Points redesign. Does anyone know what's up?

Transit investments – Central to Atlanta City Design is building a city that by its composition makes all forms of mobility desirable for Atlantans. This requires a much more active role by the City of Atlanta. What is happening at the Five Points MARTA station is just one example of why this is so.

In the summer of 2019, we proposed to MARTA an approach to improvement of Five Points which was first and foremost about the public’s contribution to city building. Our proposal for Five Points is to use this generational investment to repair the city in the process of making a more subtle, functional station and enabling dense development in the station block. Broad Street would be reconnected between Marietta Street and Alabama Street as a standard urban
street. When the station was originally built, it cut Broad Street in two – an action which contributed to the decline of South Broad and South Downtown in general. Repairing this part of the city’s grid and enabling dense, urban development around the station is fundamental to the approach we have been pursuing with MARTA ever since.

MARTA has recently unilaterally decided to either make the Broad Street connection a bus terminal or abandon the Broad Street reconnection entirely and spend all this City funding to create a new version of what we already have. This is a shocking turn of events as we have been working for two years on the original proposal. It jeopardizes the entire project as certainly Atlanta will not support further diminishing this place through an enormous investment of public money.

What’s happening at Five Points will be repeated throughout the city if there is there is not clear direction to MARTA that this investment is first and foremost about making a city for walking and transit usage; not internal operational challenges.

This is pretty distressing. This might be his primary reason for resigning...

[bryantm3]

Ugh. So they are going to tear down the historic brutalist station and not reconnect the street or allow anything to be built above? I am just so tired of MARTA doing this crap.

[Street Advocate]

I’d rather Broad street not be extended, presuming that means opening up to cars. If they just want a cut through for people, then I’d support it. Five Points should not be opened up to personally owned vehicles.

[L41A]

I would like to see Broad Street extended to re-connect the two sides. Especially if the connection aligns to what is currently on both sides of Broad Street. Currently, both sides of Broad Street allows cars but both are definitely more conducive to walking than driving or cars. AND a re-connection would be more pedestrian-friendly or interesting than what's there now.

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by Street Advocate

I’d rather Broad street not be extended, presuming that means opening up to cars. If they just want a cut through for people, then I’d support it. Five Points should not be opened up to personally owned vehicles.

I lived on Broad Street and Marietta for several years and viewed its operations at all hours. I would like to see the current, narrow roadway reconnected for all users across Five Points, especially or public safety reasons. Nobody walks on the Broad Street Plaza at night because the lack of visibility from passing vehicles makes it very uncomfortable.

I'm also generally opposed to single-purpose spaces. I value narrow, traditional urban streets where cars have to drive 15-20 mph over pedestrian zones. And I say this as somebody who hasn't owned a car since the 1990s.

[Libertarian]

A friend from out of town used MARTA this evening from the airport. He says the coach was full of homeless people wrapped up in blankets.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Libertarian

A friend from out of town used MARTA this evening from the airport. He says the coach was full of homeless people wrapped up in blankets.

The capitol building now has a tent city, too. Times are tough out there. A lot of financial media out there trying to make it seem like everything's going swimmingly, maybe to keep the bubble going, or just trying to convince themselves everything's ok. But right now, America is just rudderless. All of us just getting up and doing the same thing every day, hoping and praying. Wash, rinse, repeat. And watching those beside us fall and hoping we won't be next. We need big change but I don't think anyone knows what to do.

[Libertarian]

A Billionaire tax for the homeless? Probably just a short-term fix though and neither side would go for it.

[ATLMidcity]

Originally Posted by Libertarian

A friend from out of town used MARTA this evening from the airport. He says the coach was full of homeless people wrapped up in blankets.

Did he switch "coaches", or settled down and blended right in?