Atlanta transit riders aren’t thrilled with scaled-down More MARTA projects

by Fulton Watch News Feed


Almost three out of every four Atlanta voters agreed to a half-penny sales tax in 2016 to generate $2.7 billion over 40 years for an ambitious public transit expansion plan, known as More MARTA. Seven years later, some local elected officials and members of the public seem less than enthused with the transit agency’s pared down, bus-heavy agenda, which one observer nicknamed “Just a Bit More MARTA,” at a public update meeting April 20.

The mood was ‘meh’ at All Saints Episcopal Church in Midtown on Thursday evening—one of  three public meetings that the Atlanta transit agency convened in April to discuss More MARTA’s revised project list. After what transit agency management has called a “resequencing” process, More MARTA is down to nine new projects from the original 17, and it is more bus-centric than the prior project list, which called for 26 miles of light rail, along with new rapid bus lines, new streetcar extensions, and new stations.

Many residents expressed frustration at the scaled-down version of MARTA’s expansion plan, which, among other economies, substitutes bus rapid transit (BRT) for light rail on the congested Clifton Corridor and Campbellton Road–and the lack of progress made on existing ones. So far, no BRT projects have broken ground. 

“In December 2000, the newest section of MARTA’s North Line opened and there hasn’t been anything significant since. What’s the reason for the gap?” asked one of about two dozen Atlanta residents who spoke at the meeting. 

A little of everything, according to Carrie Rocha, who became MARTA’s interim chief capital officer in February.

“I haven’t been around long and I don’t have all that history … I would just say that projects take time,” said Rocha. “We do a lot to engage the public. We have a lot of voices at the table for some of these projects [and] we want to make sure that they’re…

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