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They're both bad. Atlanta actually has a better rail system, given the population. Atlanta's traffic only seems to be bad going north of dowtown, to the more popular suburbs. Heading east or west doesn't seem to be AS bad.
The problem is that, of Atlanta's numerous counties, the popular northerly counties of Cobb and Gwinnett have voted NOT to be included in the MARTA system, which would essentially only require continuation of existing lines, at least up into Gwinnett County, which has 700,000+ people. Only Fulton, DeKalb (and maybe Clayton) have voted for it. If MARTA doesn't keep up with the growth, it will get uglier.
And, I know ATL has some public transportation, but nowhere close to LA's. Not only do we have busy rail lines with even more on the way in upcoming years, but one of the most advanced bus systems in the country. LA is often considered the bus-ridership capitol. More probably take them in NYC, but compared to ATL, tons of people in LA public transportation, helping to cut down on traffic.
And, I know ATL has some public transportation, but nowhere close to LA's. Not only do we have busy rail lines with even more on the way in upcoming years, but one of the most advanced bus systems in the country. LA is often considered the bus-ridership capitol. More probably take them in NYC, but compared to ATL, tons of people in LA public transportation, helping to cut down on traffic.
he was talking about Rail Atlanta has higher rail ridership than LA
I found the LA rail system much more extensive than Atlanta's. It goes to the coast, several suburbs and even Long Beach. Marta barely goes out of the city limits, let alone the suburbs, and some counties (Fayette and Forsyth) in metro Atlanta don't have public transportation of any kind (heck, not even taxi service)!!!
Every time they do traffic studies, L.A. comes in at # 1 and Atlanta overall comes in around # 2. It'll be a while before Atlanta overtakes L.A., but eventually if our growth patterns continue the way they have since the late 70s, it will. At current growth trends, our traffic *might* overtake L.A. in about 20 years, but L.A. is still growing too (at a slower rate), so you never really know. There are areas of the city where it's relatively easy to get around, even during rush hour, but then there are other areas of the city that literally stay semi-clogged to clogged all day long. The top end of the beltway is especially notorious for causing people to have to go on antidepressants.
Three summers ago, we did surpass L.A. in the number of Federal rated "smog days" during the summer due to car exhaust. I'm not sure if we have since, but it's getting up there.
Atlanta was leading many cities in expanding rail for a while, but then it pretty much stalled out as far as future expansion plans go. L.A. is expanding/planning at a much faster pace than we are. Georgia also does not contribute anything financially to Atlanta's transit system. Maybe the Obama White House will change that with some Federal money boosting, but for now, most of Atlanta's transit/rail stuff is dead in the water regarding any expansions at all.
Traffic in Atlanta is bad, but Im sure LA's traffic is much worse. Personally I have no problem with traffic, I work and live intown, the only time I see it is when I drive over I-75 on Howell Mill Rd. I can get to Peachtree in 6 minutes, and Northside Dr. (my main artery for anywhere) in 3 minutes. And I have a trick for the bottleneck at Howell Mill and Chattahoochee, I just cut up Huff Rd and come around until I get to the back end of Collier. And if there is traffic on Collier, I just cut up thru Springlake. I know this area better than some of the locals. Traffic, what traffic??
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