MARTA reliability is job #1 (home, buying, live)

[magnetar]

Hundreds force open doors on MARTA during heavy delays

Hundreds of people forced open the doors on a MARTA train between Lindbergh and Arts Center stations Wednesday evening after delays left passengers exasperated and angry.

After about an hour stuck on the train, the air-conditioning and lights had cut out. Few people had cell service.

They walked single-file along a concrete ledge that hugged the wall of a tunnel on one side. That ledge was about 2 feet wide and dropped off to the tracks several feet below.

I was stuck on a MARTA train for 30 minutes coming home from a game at the Mercedes-Benz stadium just a few weeks ago. Now it's happened again with a train full of people trying to get to a United game.

I am as big of a MARTA booster as anyone in this city, you can look at my post history if you don't believe me.

But this is bad. Like really, really bad. It's the kind of thing that makes infrequent users stop trusting the system, and it's the kind of thing that frequent users clearly have to deal with more often than they should.

For a transit system, nothing is more important than reliability -- not the number of destinations served, or the frequency of trains, or anything else. If you don't have a reasonable expectation that when you get on a train or bus, that you'll get where you're going in the amount of time you expect, nothing else matters. MARTA could expand to cover every county in the region and it wouldn't make any difference if they can't keep the trains running on time.

I know MARTA is in the process of buying new trains, but that's a years-long process. They've got to find a way to stop these problems from happening so often. But when I emailed them after being stuck on the train two weeks ago, it took them over a week to email me back with a boilerplate apology that gave zero detail about what had happened and why it happened. This is the #1 thing I'm worried about in terms of the system's future. Not whether or not it will expand, or whether Keith Parker's replacement will be good enough... but what are the chances that I'll get stuck on a train in the middle of a tunnel again? Right now those chances are not looking promising.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by magnetar

Hundreds force open doors on MARTA during heavy delays



I was stuck on a MARTA train for 30 minutes coming home from a game at the Mercedes-Benz stadium just a few weeks ago. Now it's happened again with a train full of people trying to get to a United game.

I am as big of a MARTA booster as anyone in this city, you can look at my post history if you don't believe me.

But this is bad. Like really, really bad. It's the kind of thing that makes infrequent users stop trusting the system, and it's the kind of thing that frequent users clearly have to deal with more often than they should.

For a transit system, nothing is more important than reliability -- not the number of destinations served, or the frequency of trains, or anything else. If you don't have a reasonable expectation that when you get on a train or bus, that you'll get where you're going in the amount of time you expect, nothing else matters. MARTA could expand to cover every county in the region and it wouldn't make any difference if they can't keep the trains running on time.

I know MARTA is in the process of buying new trains, but that's a years-long process. They've got to find a way to stop these problems from happening so often. But when I emailed them after being stuck on the train two weeks ago, it took them over a week to email me back with a boilerplate apology that gave zero detail about what had happened and why it happened. This is the #1 thing I'm worried about in terms of the system's future. Not whether or not it will expand, or whether Keith Parker's replacement will be good enough... but what are the chances that I'll get stuck on a train in the middle of a tunnel again? Right now those chances are not looking promising.

No excuses for these issues. Communicate to the passengers what the issues are. Nothing worst than being stuck on a train, in a tunnel, with no communication.

[ATLTJL]

Did they ever even admit what that smoke was, that a lot of people said was more like a vapor mist several months ago?

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Did they ever even admit what that smoke was, that a lot of people said was more like a vapor mist several months ago?

Yes, there was a small electrical fire in the tunnel. It was fixed pretty quick.

[tikigod311]

Terrible timing for an incident like this too. Those trains were chock full of choice riders at the time. I think a lot of choices were made last night....and I don't blame them.

[0nyxStation]

I didnt go to the match but was watching the #ATLUTD feed on twitter and I noticed the @martaservice tweets as well. This sounds like a total nightmare to be stuck in a train while under a tunnel.

This story sounds scary, maybe more scary than it actually was. This sounds like some end of world type of movie.

http://www.ajc.com/news/local/marta-...yuizBBqlYKeXK/

[cqholt]

Red/Gold Delays on Sept. 27th
Yesterday evening, MARTA experienced a malfunction of our automatic train control system which caused significant delays throughout the system. A bus bridge was established to assist passengers at Arts Center and Lindbergh Stations. However, during the extensive delays, a number of passengers self-evacuated which led to additional delays in our ability to restore power. MARTA Police Department performed the required security sweeps of both Arts Center and Lindbergh tunnels before restoring power to the rail lines. Service was restored at approximately 9 p.m.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this disruption in service caused our patrons last night. We encourage those affected by the delays to call our customer service line at 404-848-5000 so we can hear directly from our patrons and improve our service delivery.
We are actively investigating the initial cause of the incident and performing an extensive internal review. Again, we regret the interruption our service delays may have caused our valued customers

https://www.facebook.com/MARTAtransi...UOapCg&fref=nf

[whodean]

What a nightmare experience for those people.

Another advantage for drivers over MARTA riders: Complete personal control over your situation.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by whodean

What a nightmare experience for those people.

Another advantage for drivers over MARTA riders: Complete personal control over your situation.

Like when you have when stuck in stand-still traffic between exits on the interstate?

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Like when you have when stuck in stand-still traffic between exits on the interstate?

Yeah, it's definitely easy to have control while in this: