Posts

MARTA hack-a-thon

For MARTA’s future, culture is everything

September 11, 2017, 8:50 pm/0 Comments
Lyle Harris

MARTA recently hosted its latest hack-a-thon, a high-tech competition inviting participants to create their own “hacks” or improvements to make the transit agency more effective, efficient and customer friendly. 

Hack-a-thons aren’t new; large companies have been holding them for years. But for MARTA, they’re a really big deal. As the agency starts searching for its next CEO, that person should understand how such events foster a culture of openness and innovation that’s critical to MARTA’s forward trajectory.

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Transit politics: MARTA vows commitment to SW ATL; mayoral candidate retorts

July 27, 2017, 9:55 am/3 Comments
David Pendered

Either MARTA intends to expand transit service in Southwest Atlanta, or MARTA and Atlanta are collaborating to bury Southwest Atlanta in favor of building a rail line to Emory University and its gridlocked Clifton Road corridor. At Atlanta City Hall on Wednesday, MARTA talked about its commitment to Southwest, and mayoral candidate Vincent Fort raised the Clifton corridor issue.

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Relay ribbon-cutting

MARTA, City of Atlanta and Relay Bikes seek to close ‘last mile’ gap

July 16, 2017, 11:45 pm/0 Comments
Maria Saporta

MARTA and the City of Atlanta are teaming up to provide the elusive “last mile” for people seeking alternative ways to get around.

MARTA and the city’s Relay bike sharing program launched their partnership on July 14 with an actual bike relay from the Colony Square bike station to MARTA’s Arts Center Station. MARTA and city employees “competed” in an effort to “win” the relay.

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MARTA art

MARTA aims for better transit experience through art

June 19, 2017, 7:50 pm/1 Comment
Maggie Lee

When Jenn Cornell cranked up her cello at the top of the Northbound train escalator at MARTA’s Five Points Station Monday afternoon, maybe a dozen or so passengers gathered round to watch or listen or take videos. Atlanta transit riders can expect more moments worth stopping for – be it music, dance, painting or other art – as the transit system kicks off a reinvigorated arts program.

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MARTA passageway

Time has arrived for politicians to step up and fund transit, mobility

April 2, 2017, 7:38 pm/4 Comments
Mark P:endergrast

By Guest Columnist PAUL MCLENNAN, a retired member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732, co-host of WRFG’s Labor Forum and human rights activist

With the closing of a major interstate in the heart of the city, Atlanta is facing a major transportation crisis. Traffic came to a standstill. Some parked their cars on side streets and chose to walk miles to get home. Schools have been closed. Workers must spend longer hours in their commute. Businesses and productivity will take a huge hit.

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MARTA train

Better late then never: ‘A path forward’ for Ga. transit funding

January 3, 2017, 4:50 pm/1 Comment
Lyle Harris

No more flying pigs?

Georgia’s Legislature has suffered a failure to launch on the issue of public transportation for years, but that may finally be changing. A legislative study committee report released last month recommends that the state provide operating funds to local transit agencies all across Georgia – including MARTA.

Yes, it’s only a study committee and waaay to early to start celebrating. But this promising and long overdue development has implications that are too important for even the most cynical among us (me) to dismiss. While flying pigs exist only in fantasy, a serious discussion about dedicated transit funding in Georgia is already taking flight.

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support MARTA

Commentary: The transit divide widens with election

November 19, 2016, 9:20 am/1 Comment

Original Story on WABE by Maria Saporta

The Nov. 8 election produced a major win for MARTA.  Nearly 130,000 Atlanta voters, or 71.34 percent, approved a half-penny sales tax to expand MARTA within the city limits.

At the same time, the city voted to increase overall transportation funding by a .4 of a penny sales tax.

This is in addition to the one-cent sales tax that the city of Atlanta has been investing in the MARTA system since 1971 – when Fulton and DeKalb counties also voted in favor of the regional transit system.

Since then, only one new county has joined the system – Clayton County in 2014.

Atlanta’s vote will create a wider divide in our region between the transit rich and the transit poor – the communities with a robust rail and bus system and the communities without.

The city has been enjoying the benefits from its investment in MARTA in recent years. Most of the major economic development announcements have been located near MARTA stations, and most of those have been within the city limits. Think NCR Corporation, GE, Kaiser Permanente, among many others.

The counties without a rail transit system are seeing several of their top companies relocating to places served by MARTA, reversing the decades-long trend of businesses moving to the suburbs.

So why are companies moving near MARTA stations?

Simple. They want to employ the best and the brightest college graduates, and that demographic wants to be able to live, work, learn and play in places where they do not need to own a car.

There are few areas in our region that provide the transportation alternatives that Atlanta offers. And that divide will only become more apparent as MARTA and the City of Atlanta begin to invest their new half-penny in expanded bus service and light rail lines.

This parallels continued investments in sidewalks, bicycle lanes and multipurpose trails – all key ingredients in creating a more walkable and livable city.

Meanwhile, the rest of Fulton County, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett passed local sales taxes to invest in transportation – primarily roads – which will only deepen the transit divide.

The longer Atlanta’s neighbors hesitate in joining our regional transit system, the more we will become a tale of two cities.

Michael Thurmond

CEO-Elect Michael Thurmond offers “new vision” for DeKalb County

November 14, 2016, 8:43 pm/4 Comments
Lyle Harris

For local voters suffering from PESD – Post-Election Stress Disorder – DeKalb County CEO-elect Michael Thurmond provided just what the doctor ordered.

Flush from an election night victory, Thurmond delivered a thoughtful and inspiring speech last Thursday that hinted at his “new vision” for repairing the county long beset by racial divisiveness, bureaucratic mismanagement and political scandal.

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Photo Pick: DeKalb Ave Complete Street by Carl Holt

November 11, 2016, 3:14 pm/1 Comment

Please read this message from Carl Holt & consider attending a meeting on the issue Thursday, November 17, 6pm-8pm at Liberty Baptist Church:

“DeKalb Ave connects Downtown Decatur to Downtown Atlanta, serving many Eastside neighborhoods.  For much of its history it was lined with commercial and industrial zoning, but now has single family homes, multifamily home developments as well.  

DeKalb Ave’s current situation is dangerous for all modes of transportation. The roadway is full of potholes, patches, etc. making driving and cycling a difficult.  Drivers are constantly dodging potholes and left turning vehicles that creates dangerous weaving.

Congestion on DeKalb Ave, from a MARTA train by Carl Holt

Congestion on DeKalb Ave, from a MARTA train by Carl Holt

Cyclists are trying to dodge potholes and gapping catch basins all while vehicles pass them with the less than 3 feet of room required under Georgia Law (40-6-56).  Sidewalks are narrow; provide no barrier (street trees) between pedestrians and vehicle traffic. All around traveling on DeKalb Ave is unpleasant. There is hope on the horizon, under the ReNew Atlanta Bond (http://renewatlantabond.com/), passed by City of Atlanta voters in 2015, there is plan to upgrade DeKalb Ave to a Complete Street.  What this would ‘ensure streets are safe for people of all ages and abilities, balance the needs of different modes, and support local land uses, economies, cultures, and natural environments.’

From an article in Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, they mention the Complete Street project would ‘potentially removing the reversible “suicide” lane (a long overdue safety improvement) and replacing it with turn lanes at key intersections, as well as repaving the street, and adding bike lanes or a multi-use path, and safer crossings.’ The city is even exploring the possibility to create a separate PATH along DeKalb, extending the current mutli-use path that ends at Rocky Ford Rd, and connecting to the Atlanta BeltLine.

Upgrading DeKalb Ave to Complete Street should not be viewed as ‘taking away a vehicle lane for a bike lane’ but instead improving safety for all.  The contraflow lanes are outdated and dangerous, as anyone who has driven the corridor knows. Providing safe and equal infrastructure for all modes of transportation will encourage more people to walk, bike, skate, etc. along this important transportation corridor.

For those who are interested in hearing more, there is a public meeting Thursday, November 17, 6pm-8pm at Liberty Baptist Church, 395 Chamberlain St SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. This location is conveniently accessible via MARTA (King Memorial Station), Atlanta Streetcar, bicycle, or car.

Hope to see you there,

Carl Holt, GISP”

simon berrebi

With MARTA, ownership has its privileges and responsibilities

October 24, 2016, 4:51 pm/0 Comments
Lyle Harris

Quick question: When’s the last time you washed a rental car? If the answer is “never,” you’re hardly alone. The timeworn adage that most people take better care of physical assets that they own outright has been confirmed by scientific research and just plain common sense.

However, the innate human impulse to be a good custodian of one’s possessions is attenuated (or disappears) when it comes to public goods such as our transit infrastructure, including MARTA.

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