Marta (Rome: snake)

[Sandybottomsands]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

I just heard on the news that ridership has increase for the first time in 6 years and that 4 stations have reopened restrooms

Restrooms? I normally don't have time to go to the restroom when I'm waiting on the train. Unless if I'm having a category 5 stomach ache.

[LynnHarris]

MARTA is looking at a budget surplus for the first time in years, but service improvements the extra funds are set to cover could be delayed due to a lack of bus and rail operators, reports WABE...

Lack of workers could delay MARTA improvements - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris

MARTA is looking at a budget surplus for the first time in years, but service improvements the extra funds are set to cover could be delayed due to a lack of bus and rail operators, reports WABE...

Lack of workers could delay MARTA improvements - Atlanta Business Chronicle

This is why they delayed the roll out of increased frequency till April 2014. Train operators are moved up from bus operators, so they need to train bus operators to replace those going to the trains. I guess I need to sign up for a position.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris

MARTA is looking at a budget surplus for the first time in years, but service improvements the extra funds are set to cover could be delayed due to a lack of bus and rail operators, reports WABE...

Lack of workers could delay MARTA improvements - Atlanta Business Chronicle

What a great problem to have. They NEED more employees!

[LynnHarris]

Keith Parker: MARTA’s rail system ideally would be double its size | SaportaReport

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris

Keith Parker: MARTA’s rail system ideally would be double its size | SaportaReport

Parker is such a good fit for MARTA and its republican overlord, Georgia.

[scobby]

They need to open stores in the station and lease them to generate revenues instead of increasing the fare,that impact poor people and employees.
All europeans train stations have stores inside the stations,they create jobs and generate revenues for the train companies.
They can also be creative by having a first class wagon which cost little more but give touristes and business travelers a peace of mind.

[Listennow32]

Originally Posted by scobby

They need to open stores in the station and lease them to generate revenues instead of increasing the fare,that impact poor people and employees.
All europeans train stations have stores inside the stations,they create jobs and generate revenues for the train companies.
They can also be creative by having a first class wagon which cost little more but give touristes and business travelers a peace of mind.

I'm not sure if you are aware, however, the system is currently working to develop a concessions program that will do just that. However, they needed to test the viability of such a program so they launched the vending machines that you see in stations today. This is only the first step and there are plans to develop shops and food vendors in stations such as Five Points and North Springs station. Slowly, but surely, MARTA is on the move.

[scobby]

Originally Posted by Listennow32

I'm not sure if you are aware, however, the system is currently working to develop a concessions program that will do just that. However, they needed to test the viability of such a program so they launched the vending machines that you see in stations today. This is only the first step and there are plans to develop shops and food vendors in stations such as Five Points and North Springs station. Slowly, but surely, MARTA is on the move.

Yes,i read something about it a year ago,it's just too slow,they also have so many properties around the stations they can lease,adding a first class wagon would not require years of thinking

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by scobby

They need to open stores in the station and lease them to generate revenues instead of increasing the fare,that impact poor people and employees.
All europeans train stations have stores inside the stations,they create jobs and generate revenues for the train companies.
They can also be creative by having a first class wagon which cost little more but give touristes and business travelers a peace of mind.

Originally Posted by Listennow32

I'm not sure if you are aware, however, the system is currently working to develop a concessions program that will do just that. However, they needed to test the viability of such a program so they launched the vending machines that you see in stations today. This is only the first step and there are plans to develop shops and food vendors in stations such as Five Points and North Springs station. Slowly, but surely, MARTA is on the move.

Not only does MARTA need to continue on the shorter-term path of developing shops and food vendors and leasing-out spaces inside of existing station structures to generate new revenues, but over the long-term MARTA absolutely needs to rebuild existing stations and construct future stations into large high-density multi-leveled mixed-use pedestrian-friendly transit-oriented developments with shops, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, offices, apartments, condos and townhomes above and around stations that will generate very-high ridership across the entire socioeconomic spectrum (from filthy rich to dirt poor and everything in-between, excluding criminals, of course) and will generate very-large amounts of operating revenues (from more riders paying fares, high-volume real estate sales, and property tax revenues) that don't presently exist in MARTA's nearly-depleted organizational coffers.

MARTA also eventually needs to end its current flat-rate fare structure of $2.50 per one-way trip and adopt an inflation-indexed distance-based fare-structure of about $0.20 per-mile in 2014 dollars (discounted to $0.10 per-mile in 2014 dollars for low-income, disadvantaged and special groups).

Adopting a distance-based fare structure will incentivize shorter-distance trips while enabling the system to better and more adequately fund longer-distance service and system and service expansions as needed.

For example, under a distance-based fare structure, one would have to ride almost 13 miles before paying the current flat-rate one-way fare of $2.50 which is entirely too-much for shorter transit trips (under 12.5 miles) and too-little for longer transit trips (over 12.5 miles).

MARTA also needs to over the long-run phase-out funding from county-wide sales tax revenues and switch to receiving funding from Tax Increment Financing (revenues from property taxes from new development that goes up along transit lines) and Tax Allocation Districts (revenues from property taxes and/or sales taxes from both new and existing development along major transit lines).

MARTA urgently and critically needs to harness these new revenue streams so that the system becomes flush with cash and will always have cash on hand to adequately fund all of its operating needs and will not have to beg a highly-dysfunctional and often-indifferent state government and highly-skeptical surrounding county governments (Clayton, Cobb, Gwinnett, etc) for additional operating revenues.

Originally Posted by cqholt

Parker is such a good fit for MARTA and its republican overlord, Georgia.

With the way that the State of Georgia severely-neglects and wildly-mismanages a mode of transportation that it claims to absolutely adore in the road network, the state's approach to a mode of transportation that it dislikes in transit should come as no surprise to anyone.