Cobb Pkwy BRT line included in Cobb County's Comprehensive Plan (Atlanta: neighborhood, live)

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Route 21 is a few blocks away, with direct service to Five Points.

Cool. A few blocks away, I have route 1, which goes to North Ave. Station; Route 37 which goes to Arts Center Station; and route 60, which goes to Hamilton E. Holmes station.

[Datdudebrah]

Originally Posted by primaltech

The 10 is definitely decent as a normal bus route, but the main problem is it's having to be the transit backbone and the only connection for the main corridor of Cobb County with Atlanta and the rest of the metro. It's a standard length bus that hold like maybe 40 passengers, and Cobb has over 750,000 people.

Putting CRT/LRT/HRT aside, and assuming we never get those nice things in the Cumberland area, I would like to see a real, quality MARTA BRT-type link between the Galleria and Arts Center. Way better than now.

From my nearby condo in Vinings I want to be able to drive (or Lyft) a short distance, park somewhere in the core of the mall/Galleria/Akers Mill area as a free, abundant MARTA park&ride right off I-75, I tap my Breeze card and then within like 5 minutes I board the next bus, which would be a high capacity, articulated (maybe even bi-articulated that looks like a light rail), then from the station it directly accesses (what should be) the managed Peach Pass lane system on I-75 ITP, with no traffic lights or delays.

Then on the other end, same thing, as direct and fast and efficient access to Arts Center station from I-75 as possible. Even if that meant some kind of new flyover or tunnel or something.

And ideally I think that bus should be just a shuttle, with no other stops or intermediate stops. Just shuttles between a new, robust and nice Cumberland Transit Center, and Arts Center rail station in Midtown, where you connect either direction from there. At Cumberland you would connect to other buses.

And yes, absolutely, put it on the main MARTA rail map in the trains. Show that it's a direct MARTA link.

I would be using the train system a lot more, because I would be more conveniently connected to it. As it stands the regular 10 bus, even with the 10x changes, is not going to be all that convenient or exciting or advantageous vs the experience of driving or hailing a ride to the Midtown area. Especially since it's an awkwardly long and very hilly walk for me to the current bus stop area and there's no park&ride there.

Man at the very least, they should allow for commuter parking at that Macy's lot out front, and set up some kind of shared system that way. With like a pedestrian bridge or tunnel, or hugely improved crossing.

I agree with you overall, just seemed like people in this thread were focused on Cobb dropping the BRT project which seemed to mainly exist to connect Kennesaw and other areas North with the Cumberland area while keeping service between midtown and Cumberland as it stands today.

Overall I think moving the transit center to allow for a quicker connection to the highway and park & ride, which I believe is in their transit plan, and building the 16th Street bridge to allow for a direct connection from the connector HOV lanes to Arts Center would give us 75% of what's needed on that route. The remaining would just be to improve frequency and capacity as needed. I just overall wish more awareness existed about what if currently available.

[walker1962]

This thread started over FOUR years ago and from what I can see, nothings been done! In that time in Dallas/Fort Worth, two additional light rail lines have opened, several have been extended and a streetcar line started service. I know in Denver, D.C. and hell even in NYC, expansion has occurred. It's ridiculous the greater ATL area remains so disjointed in its plans to expand public transit!

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by walker1962

This thread started over FOUR years ago and from what I can see, nothings been done! In that time in Dallas/Fort Worth, two additional light rail lines have opened, several have been extended and a streetcar line started service. I know in Denver, D.C. and hell even in NYC, expansion has occurred. It's ridiculous the greater ATL area remains so disjointed in its plans to expand public transit!

It's a money issue. The taxpayer here is already carrying a heavy burden on public transit and it just went up again.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It's a money issue. The taxpayer here is already carrying a heavy burden on public transit and it just went up again.

Meh. From what I'm reading in it, even if they did it at this point it would still not go very far in the affect of alleviating traffic or even providing feasible transit if they had no intention on connecting it to midtown or downtown. I wouldn't be willing to pay for it without those links.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by arjay57

The taxpayer here is already carrying a heavy burden on public transit and it just went up again.

One freaking penny? In only 3 counties, out of like 20 in the area?

I say, how about we implement a mandatory 2% sales tax in the entire 10-county ATL area. Then actually have good transit, or great transit. That tons of people would use all the time, or every day. Trains and stuff.

[primaltech]

I feel like we need a collective reminder that the reason Atlanta is noteworthy and not some small southern town like most of the South, the reason Georgia is not Alabama or Mississippi economically, is because WE INVESTED IN STUFF. We implemented taxes, and built out progressive infrastructure and public projects (MARTA, airport, major highway projects, skyscraper-friendly zoning, etc). And then, after about the early 90's, we basically stopped. And look what happened, lots of other cities started to catch up to Atlanta, particularly along the Sun Belt.

We should go back to the ambitious Atlanta. That's what made this city and area great.

Doesn't mean New York or Chicago style taxes. But we can't have not enough taxes to the point that it cripples the ability to have great expansion projects. The city and metro is growing. We need to think big.

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It's a money issue. The taxpayer here is already carrying a heavy burden on public transit and it just went up again.

That's only part of it. It's a money issue as well as an "I don't want those people in my area issue" which is why Marta is so inept to begin with. If people didn't have the latter mentality Marta would already be much more mature than what it is. Let's be real here.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

That's only part of it. It's a money issue as well as an "I don't want those people in my area issue" which is why Marta is so inept to begin with. If people didn't have the latter mentality Marta would already be much more mature than what it is. Let's be real here.

"Inept" would not be the word I would use here (since it isn't MARTA's fault).

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by Gulch

"Inept" would not be the word I would use here (since it isn't MARTA's fault).

But it is inept when it comes to consumers. I live and Cobb and had nothing to do with the racist mentality that people had here years ago when marta was coming to life. But because of that mentality back then, we have no options really other than to drive or use that absolutely horrible cobb county bus system where you're sitting there for 45 minutes waiting on a bus. Same goes for Gwinnett, Clayton back then, so on and so forth. Supremacist mentalities didn't even give this area a chance to have ample transportation. And the state won't even assist in mass transit here. Honest question, how many large metro areas in this country have absolutely NO commuter rail? Pretty much all of the northeast, most major cities in California, Chicago,Dallas, Miami, Charlotte is in the process of building theirs, DC, Detroit, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, Austin, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, even freakin Nashville man. And we don't have a single commuter rail line...that is pathetic to me. And if I were to include to northeast cities and Californian cities, it would add Boston, Philadelphia, New York, San Fran, San Jose, LA, Sacramento, Boston, NYC, Baltimore, Atlantic City, and New Haven.

The only thing we even have planned is commuter rail to Clayton County. I mean no one else sees how sad this is??? We are literally the only large metro nearly in the country with no type of commuter rail. But we're sitting on here debating about rapid buses.