How would more rail transit affect metro Atlanta? (Marietta, East Point: sales tax, live in)

[RoslynHolcomb]

I know nothing about rail and only ride the train occasionally, however, I had a job interview in Marietta and I swear getting there was damned near impossible. We also have relatives and a good friend in Marietta whom we never see because it's so complicated. I'm not sure what's entailed in the East-West line to which y'all refer (I know you guys are all well-informed on all of this, but perhaps you might expound a bit in your posts for us newbies who are often left bewildered and befuddled by your posts), but I would like to see something that makes it easier to get to Marietta.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

These figures don't seem right to me or even close. I am often at Midtown and its busy thru-out the day and way busier than Arts station yet its not on the list. Same with Dunwoody and North Springs. I would say these numbers are under estimated by a good bit. Hasn't ridership gone up a lot in the past 5 years as well (50% ?)

Well, those are MARTA's figures. So I'd assume they are based on actual counts and are not estimates.

[testa50]

re: accuracy of the figures, I think they are more or less correct for inbound gate movements; perhaps low by 10-20%. The list sums to 104,000. If you assume the 20 other stations have 5,000 people on average, that would be 244,000--roughly MARTA's rail ridership.

However, I think the 28 other stations aren't going to average quite at 5,000. Some, like Midtown and East Point, are pretty busy. Others, like Garnett and Civic Center, are relative ghost towns, where I'd be surprised if they got 2,000 people per day. So I think the figures might be slightly higher for the top 10.


I really wish MARTA would be more open about this sort of stuff. MARTA should try to make people excited about the system. Tweet stuff like "ridership is up 25% at Lindbergh" or "A record number of people took MARTA to last night's Braves game" or "Food trucks near to Arts Center Station today". There's no shortage of transit advocates in Atlanta who would retweet this sort of stuff and repeat these things to friends/coworkers. MARTA really doesn't do itself any favors when it comes to PR.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cityfilms

marietta is a completely culturally diff. city than atlanta. They don't deserve transit here, and nobody in Atlanta wants to ride up there. Cumberland is a joke, it's mostly an overdeveloped office park with tons of empty lots and sidewalks leading to nowhere.

Let's stop rewarding stupidity.

That line of argument isn't going to win any supporters. Even if it were factually correct, which it isn't.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by testa50

I really wish MARTA would be more open about this sort of stuff. MARTA should try to make people excited about the system. Tweet stuff like "ridership is up 25% at Lindbergh" or "A record number of people took MARTA to last night's Braves game" or "Food trucks near to Arts Center Station today". There's no shortage of transit advocates in Atlanta who would retweet this sort of stuff and repeat these things to friends/coworkers. MARTA really doesn't do itself any favors when it comes to PR.

Couldn't agree more, testa. I've never understood MARTA's close the vest approach. They need to lay out the facts and sell themselves to the public. If there are problems (and I'm not saying there are or are not) they need to address them rather than hiding them.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Couldn't agree more, testa. I've never understood MARTA's close the vest approach. They need to lay out the facts and sell themselves to the public. If there are problems (and I'm not saying there are or are not) they need to address them rather than hiding them.

If there's a problem tweet this:

"Robbery on Northbound Gold Line Train near Five Points. No serious injuries reported."
"xyz suspects seen wearing xyz"
"Please contact MARTA police at ######## with any info"

A day later, ideally:

"Suspects apprehended in last night's robbery. Thank you for your tips & helping to keep MARTA safe"

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

I know nothing about rail and only ride the train occasionally, however, I had a job interview in Marietta and I swear getting there was damned near impossible. We also have relatives and a good friend in Marietta whom we never see because it's so complicated. I'm not sure what's entailed in the East-West line to which y'all refer (I know you guys are all well-informed on all of this, but perhaps you might expound a bit in your posts for us newbies who are often left bewildered and befuddled by your posts), but I would like to see something that makes it easier to get to Marietta.

"Marietta" addresses cover half of Cobb County, almost literally. Where was your interview? Much of Marietta proper is just off I-75.

[Caleb Longstreet]

Arj,

Probably going to get blasted for this but, the gains are exponential, not linear. Freeing up 20% of the road traffic alone would improve it across the board for all those that drive....people who live closer in never really face a terrible commute (45 minutes or more, let's say), so relieving the OUTLYING areas is a big help....I have been trying the Windward Park N' Ride down to North Springs, then the rail to downtown....about 28 miles of normal driving.....time? 1:15 to 1:30......

I almost believe it would be eaiser if there were express buses from Dunwoody, Roswell, Alpharetta, Forsyth straight to downtown. I think people would buy that....riding the shoulder keeps them moving and the elimination of the stop would put them in downtown in about 45 minutes assuming there were good lanes for the final 2 to 3 miles of egress from a highway...the point is to stay on the vehicle (Rail or bus) and not have to switch.....the rail works, just not enough of it as we all know....I read somewhere the MARTA station for Windward is tentatively planned to be there by 2025....yikes! We built the Alaskan Higway, during WWII, without all the machinery of today, in about what, 6-12 months? Certainly we can build 20 miles of light rail in say, 2-3 years????

TAX me....it would cost less than the commute does today...relieve the suburbs and the highways for those closer in would ease up....it's that simple.....install some express bussing (the cost to do this is relatively cheap???)...run them at rush hour...say, 6 to 9......and from 4 to 7? Everything else remains the same......some people lose sight of the fact that there are 6 really bad hours, not 24.....ease those with quick fixes (CCT has the idea as does GWCT)....run some express shuttles....heck, you could almost do it on MARTA rail if you timed it correctly.....skip a few stations....

My experience has been pretty pleasant but, the value for the time is in question....probably explains why I see all those cars on 400 still....go figure.....it's cheap, reliable.....the rail is the best part but, the express bus from Windward to North Springs is 20 mins....give or take.....timing to the rail is the challenge...miss it and there goes another 10-15 mins.....

Again, this is an exponential benefit....imagine some distant stops at say, Forsyth.....1 hour rail commute to all points ISP, and you have a winner....most people can do the math....the cost for tolls, gas, and parking will be more than offset by some consistent rail.....and who knows? Maybe I could finally find a good used Honda Civic with reasonable miles on it instead of the usual fare (2008 Honda, Icy Cold Air, only 120K miles...all highway!!!.....sigh)....another nice thing, you don't need 10 stops in as many miles up North.....At this point, one at Holcomb, Old Milton, McFarland, Cumming, and North Forsyth/South Dawson would wipe out 20 percent or more of the commute traffic which would work as a force mutliplier for all those that remain on 400??? Notice the even spacing.....Haynes, Windward, Peachtree Pkwy, and Northridge each have two options depending on where you live.....not just one....5 more stations, 35 more miles....soooooo, the station costs go way down, the reach goes way up, and the overall loading on the highways drops dramatically???

Repeat this process for all the Hwys surrounding Atlanta and the bypass surgery would be complete.....

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

"Marietta" addresses cover half of Cobb County, almost literally. Where was your interview? Much of Marietta proper is just off I-75.

Off Windy Hill Road. I know it's a ridiculously long road, but that's all I remember. As for my relatives and girlfriend I know they both live in Marietta proper, not sure about the job interview, though it was with Cobb County DFCS. My problem is with the fact that I have to take both 285 and 75. There was an accident right off the exit ramp. My interview began at 11:00, I was out by 12:30, but with the accident I was actually late picking my kid up from school at 2:30.

[LynnHarris]

Even some of my co-workers who live in north Georgia are becoming more open to mass transit.



Metro Atlanta voters warm to mass transit, poll shows

"...Joe Howard, a senior executive with Manhattan Associates -- a tech company headquartered in the Cumberland area with 1,000 local employees -- reinforced that view in August when he wrote a letter to Cobb officials saying his company was looking at sites in north Fulton with close access to MARTA. "The absence of rail," Howard wrote in part, "is one of Cobb’s greatest unfulfilled needs and puts Cobb and its businesses at an extreme disadvantage, not only in comparison to our nearest counties, but nationally as well..."

Metro Atlanta voters warm to mass transit, poll shows *| ajc.com