Design Your Own MARTA Expansion (Atlanta, Columbus: purchasing, to work, worth)

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Where do you see that? MARTA's schedule online says 4 minutes.

On the map fourthwarden posted. Note the 0:20 and 0:10 rings and how tight they are on the west line.

And WTF, that map also says that trip fare is dependent on trip length, something that has never been a thing for MARTA!

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

On the map fourthwarden posted. Note the 0:20 and 0:10 rings and how tight they are on the west line.

And WTF, that map also says that trip fare is dependent on trip length, something that has never been a thing for MARTA!

I know right!? It seemed really useful as a map for local hotels, but it's got information that's simply wrong on it...
The description at the bottom has it mostly right (if not just out dated) though.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Interesting map.

One oddity on it--it takes more than ten minutes to ride from West Lake to Vine City (two stops apart)??

The distance between Ashby and West Lake is a good bit.

[afdinatl]

I wish I had some design skills

[toll_booth]

It's as good a time as any to propose my ideas, version 2.0. Commuter rail first, heavy rail later.

Note that this is a conceptual map only and not any sort of final or absolute proposal.



Stations aside, this is pretty much the map that one would expect for the overall plan, as it uses many of the existing rail lines. The MMPT near Five Points is indicated with the large blue marker. A few thoughts:

-Note that three of the lines extend farther south than this map shows. These would be part of a regional network if built that far.
-Two lines run through Gwinnett County, one with a stop at the Doraville MARTA station. Note that this implies commuter rail rather than heavy rail expansion into Gwinnett, although again, this is merely a proposal.
-A similar proposal is made for Clayton County--something that coincides with the current proposal. This route would run at least as far north as the East Point MARTA station and perhaps all the way to the future MMPT.
-One line runs through southeast Atlanta to McDonough, a route not generally considered, but I think there may be enough commuter traffic in DeKalb and Clayton counties to justify it.
-Several oddities exist on the proposed routes. For instance, the Carrollton would run north-northwest to Bremen and then east to Atlanta. And a Columbus-Atlanta line would be an extension of the line through Peachtree City, not Newnan--detailed more in a later map. The reason for this is simply the existence of current rail lines, or in Carrollton's and Columbus's cases, a lack thereof. But that is the advantage of commuter and regional rail: It does not build brand-new corridors; it uses the ones already existing.
-The heaviest traffic on any of the existing freight rail lines is through both lines running through Cobb County, which could put a damper on commuter rail expansion there. One option is to run heavy rail part on these corridors to the point where a large amount of the traffic branches off. In particular, heavy rail could run to the proposed station north of downtown Marietta and build a commuter rail line from there to Canton. The rail traffic on that line is extremely low, but that is because the tracks are in bad shape; the line would probably have to be rebuilt in its entirety, something that would skyrocket construction costs.
-Note that there is a proposed station very near the domestic terminal of the airport. This would be within walking distance of an existing people-mover station (the one between the domestic terminal, GICC, and the rental car area; not the Plane Train in the secure area). This would allow commuters from the southwest to get to the airport without having to make a heavy rail transfer at East Point and then travel in the opposite direction.
-The planned HRT expansion in South DeKalb would connect to the proposed commuter rail station southeast of Lithonia.

[toll_booth]

Here is the rest of the map with the proposed regional rail. Note that it includes a proposed Columbus-Macon line.



-Again, there really isn't a straightforward route from Atlanta to Columbus. There used to be a more nearly direct connection between Columbus and LaGrange, but the line would have to be completely rebuilt, not to mention that it's not a very straight line. But this is a regional rail proposal, so the Atlanta area commuter rail system would have to be up and running first.
-Columbus includes two stations: One for a downtown transit center, and one designed more for commuters. Macon includes several stations for similar reasons.

[toll_booth]

One last post for now. Here is one of several options, and it concerns the city of Athens.



-A careful observation of the overall plan reveals that this proposal has two, not one, stations in Athens. Instead of making the existing Athens MMPT the terminus (yes, they have an MMPT up and running, with space for regional rail), this would add a station next to UGA's main campus, literally right across the street from Sanford Stadium. The tracks along this stretch are not in good shape, but this would only be an extension of about one mile.
-Also note the proposed station west of town, again, for commuters.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

It's as good a time as any to propose my ideas, version 2.0. Commuter rail first, heavy rail later.

Note that this is a conceptual map only and not any sort of final or absolute proposal.



Stations aside, this is pretty much the map that one would expect for the overall plan, as it uses many of the existing rail lines. The MMPT near Five Points is indicated with the large blue marker. A few thoughts:

-Note that three of the lines extend farther south than this map shows. These would be part of a regional network if built that far.
-Two lines run through Gwinnett County, one with a stop at the Doraville MARTA station. Note that this implies commuter rail rather than heavy rail expansion into Gwinnett, although again, this is merely a proposal.
-A similar proposal is made for Clayton County--something that coincides with the current proposal. This route would run at least as far north as the East Point MARTA station and perhaps all the way to the future MMPT.
-One line runs through southeast Atlanta to McDonough, a route not generally considered, but I think there may be enough commuter traffic in DeKalb and Clayton counties to justify it.
-Several oddities exist on the proposed routes. For instance, the Carrollton would run north-northwest to Bremen and then east to Atlanta. And a Columbus-Atlanta line would be an extension of the line through Peachtree City, not Newnan--detailed more in a later map. The reason for this is simply the existence of current rail lines, or in Carrollton's and Columbus's cases, a lack thereof. But that is the advantage of commuter and regional rail: It does not build brand-new corridors; it uses the ones already existing.
-The heaviest traffic on any of the existing freight rail lines is through both lines running through Cobb County, which could put a damper on commuter rail expansion there. One option is to run heavy rail part on these corridors to the point where a large amount of the traffic branches off. In particular, heavy rail could run to the proposed station north of downtown Marietta and build a commuter rail line from there to Canton. The rail traffic on that line is extremely low, but that is because the tracks are in bad shape; the line would probably have to be rebuilt in its entirety, something that would skyrocket construction costs.
-Note that there is a proposed station very near the domestic terminal of the airport. This would be within walking distance of an existing people-mover station (the one between the domestic terminal, GICC, and the rental car area; not the Plane Train in the secure area). This would allow commuters from the southwest to get to the airport without having to make a heavy rail transfer at East Point and then travel in the opposite direction.
-The planned HRT expansion in South DeKalb would connect to the proposed commuter rail station southeast of Lithonia.

I notice there are stations missing at 2 major employment centers, Cumberland and Buckhead. A station could be built close to existing Lenox station for NE commuters who want to get to Buckhead without transferring at Doraville.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I notice there are stations missing at 2 major employment centers, Cumberland and Buckhead. A station could be built close to existing Lenox station for NE commuters who want to get to Buckhead without transferring at Doraville.

Perhaps, but there could be some ROW acquisition and NIMBY issues with a commuter rail station at Lenox.

As for Cumberland, stay tuned--I'll post my HRT plan soon.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

It's as good a time as any to propose my ideas, version 2.0. Commuter rail first, heavy rail later.

Note that this is a conceptual map only and not any sort of final or absolute proposal.



Stations aside, this is pretty much the map that one would expect for the overall plan, as it uses many of the existing rail lines. The MMPT near Five Points is indicated with the large blue marker. A few thoughts:

-Note that three of the lines extend farther south than this map shows. These would be part of a regional network if built that far.
-Two lines run through Gwinnett County, one with a stop at the Doraville MARTA station. Note that this implies commuter rail rather than heavy rail expansion into Gwinnett, although again, this is merely a proposal.
-A similar proposal is made for Clayton County--something that coincides with the current proposal. This route would run at least as far north as the East Point MARTA station and perhaps all the way to the future MMPT.
-One line runs through southeast Atlanta to McDonough, a route not generally considered, but I think there may be enough commuter traffic in DeKalb and Clayton counties to justify it.
-Several oddities exist on the proposed routes. For instance, the Carrollton would run north-northwest to Bremen and then east to Atlanta. And a Columbus-Atlanta line would be an extension of the line through Peachtree City, not Newnan--detailed more in a later map. The reason for this is simply the existence of current rail lines, or in Carrollton's and Columbus's cases, a lack thereof. But that is the advantage of commuter and regional rail: It does not build brand-new corridors; it uses the ones already existing.
-The heaviest traffic on any of the existing freight rail lines is through both lines running through Cobb County, which could put a damper on commuter rail expansion there. One option is to run heavy rail part on these corridors to the point where a large amount of the traffic branches off. In particular, heavy rail could run to the proposed station north of downtown Marietta and build a commuter rail line from there to Canton. The rail traffic on that line is extremely low, but that is because the tracks are in bad shape; the line would probably have to be rebuilt in its entirety, something that would skyrocket construction costs.
-Note that there is a proposed station very near the domestic terminal of the airport. This would be within walking distance of an existing people-mover station (the one between the domestic terminal, GICC, and the rental car area; not the Plane Train in the secure area). This would allow commuters from the southwest to get to the airport without having to make a heavy rail transfer at East Point and then travel in the opposite direction.
-The planned HRT expansion in South DeKalb would connect to the proposed commuter rail station southeast of Lithonia.

So basically the GDOT rail plan with extra lines to Covington, La Grange, and Columbus? I always did like the State plan, so I like yours!

I would say that there would still, as always, be the issue of getting the freight railroads to let all the passenger trains in.

As a side note, what did you use to make your maps?