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I just looked at the train map. It looks like there is a whole line missing that should go northwest out to East Cobb. A train line that runs northwest and goes to Marietta would be great. I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse, but what is the deal with public transportation? Atlanta is a large metropolitan city. I am possibly moving here from DC. While our metro system is expensive, it runs pretty well to the different suburbs. I am trying to find a good subdivision near Atlanta and my husband would be working downtown. I heard that Marietta schools are really good if you are going to public school. Yet, there is no MARTA out that way.
I think once you start riding it you wont find it so limited. It hits all the major parts in the city and goes to the major airport of the region unlike the D.C. area (METRO doesn't go to BWI, the largest in the region, or Dulles... yet). There is National but it's small, limited and expensive.
Not that MARTA can't use expansion improvement but so can METRO. You have to understand that Atlanta is 128 sq/mi vs DC 68 sq/mi. At least North/South you would already be in Silver Spring or Arlington if you traveled some of that distance in Atlanta. Sandy Springs/Dunwoody is the equivalent to Tysons Corner/Mclean/Vienna and even larger, yet it has had several MARTA stations for a while, Tysons is just about to open it's first station.
DC is also comprised of 3 jurisdictions acting like 3 states that compete with each other, u have duplicate cities and urban areas outside the city proper cause each is competing with the other (Alexandria and Arlington vs Silver Spring and Bethesda etc). One of the jurisdictions also happens to be the nations capital. METRO gets funding from all three. And all three want their fair share of the METRO system. These are states battling not counties and they compete too. In Atlanta it's one state and one metro, whatever competition and squabbles go on here pale in comparison to the DC area.
MARTA is also cleaner (no carpets and newer cars overall) than METRO and you can understand what they are saying on the intercom system. METRO also has a horrible performance record, 9 people died in a crash in 2009 with numerous track jumps since then and TODAY a train got stuck between the Prince George's Plaza and College Park stations and passengers had to wait an hour in hot cars with no air conditioning, then evacuate and walk a half mile through a field of electrified tracks to get to the nearest stations then ride a nasty, crowded, hot, steamy bus to their final destination. Just like clock work and almost on the anniversary of the crash that killed 9 people. I'm so glad I don't have to ride METRO anymore, what a horrible experience.
I agree with you though about the cobb line, it's the biggest missing piece to the MARTA system imo. It would be the equivalent to no left leg of the red line going through Montgomery County. If they would add that line it would be neck and neck with D.C. Metro as far as coverage. If the TSPLOT passes MARTA will build a newline from Lindbergh station and go through Emory University and the Beltline will start as well. Atlanta always seems to have some kind of surprise up it's sleeve and they move fast. In many areas they are right up there with D.C. metro.
I thought Clayton County had a vote to be a part of MARTA recently. The demographics definitely supports the county's inclusion into the system.
It was non binding. A binding vote hasn't been brought by the Commissioners to the voters.
Quote:
bdul-Salaam pointed out, however, that she got legislation passed in 2010 that would allow the county commission to call for a referendum on paying a one-cent sales tax to join MARTA. It would have generated $49 million per year in Clayton County for MARTA, and gone past the regional tax’s 10-year window, she pointed out, but she added the county commission has not yet called for a binding MARTA referendum.
READY SET that's good information about MARTA's reach DESPITE it being limited to just two metro counties. I had never thought about that distance to North Springs being the same as Silver Spring. One thing that makes MARTA appear smaller on a route map is the small number of stations -- 38 and they are spaced too far apart IMO. Mileage wise, DC Metro only has about twice as much track as MARTA but three times the stations. If MARTA ever gets funding to finish the North, NW/Cumerland and East lines I'm sure the systems will measure up more closely.
The problem is that mass transit is in the hands of government and tax payers, and not private companies. That is why Atlanta's system is nothing like Tokyo's. The UK has privatized transit as well. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think here are any privatized systems in the US.
I just looked at the train map. It looks like there is a whole line missing that should go northwest out to East Cobb. A train line that runs northwest and goes to Marietta would be great. I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse, but what is the deal with public transportation? Atlanta is a large metropolitan city. I am possibly moving here from DC. While our metro system is expensive, it runs pretty well to the different suburbs. I am trying to find a good subdivision near Atlanta and my husband would be working downtown. I heard that Marietta schools are really good if you are going to public school. Yet, there is no MARTA out that way.
the main problems are lack of funding and lack of cooperation. marta is only funded by dekalb and fulton counties, and the other counties historically have been extremely opposed to marta rail— it's a race issue. nowadays, there is moderate support for marta in cobb and gwinnett, and a lot of support in clayton, but marta's hands are tied by the state legislature, which does not fund them, but regulates their every activity.
plans include a CCT (cobb county transit) light rail or street car running all the way from kennesaw to the arts centre station in midtown, but i don't know how they're going to work it out since cobb county doesn't have jurisdiction in atlanta and fulton county.
on the t-splost there is funding allocated for a streetcar going along the northeast side of the beltline, from piedmont park to north avenue, the southwest side of the beltline, going from bankhead highway to west end, and across town either on north avenue or tenth street.
another project funded by T-SPLOST is for the 'clifton corridor' project which will go from lindbergh station to avondale station, connecting sage hill, CDC, emory, dekalb medical centre and dekalb industrial. it will be light rail/street car.
finally, two other expansion projects that have not been allocated funding yet, are extending the north line up to alpharetta, and extending the east line down I-285 and down I-20 to stonecrest mall.
Too many local Goverments involement, and small minded mentality of some people. Also the State of Georgia has the lowest financial support of any state in USA for transit.
I think once you start riding it you wont find it so limited. It hits all the major parts in the city and goes to the major airport of the region unlike the D.C. area (METRO doesn't go to BWI, the largest in the region, or Dulles... yet). There is National but it's small, limited and expensive.
Not that MARTA can't use expansion improvement but so can METRO. You have to understand that Atlanta is 128 sq/mi vs DC 68 sq/mi. At least North/South you would already be in Silver Spring or Arlington if you traveled some of that distance in Atlanta. Sandy Springs/Dunwoody is the equivalent to Tysons Corner/Mclean/Vienna and even larger, yet it has had several MARTA stations for a while, Tysons is just about to open it's first station.
DC is also comprised of 3 jurisdictions acting like 3 states that compete with each other, u have duplicate cities and urban areas outside the city proper cause each is competing with the other (Alexandria and Arlington vs Silver Spring and Bethesda etc). One of the jurisdictions also happens to be the nations capital. METRO gets funding from all three. And all three want their fair share of the METRO system. These are states battling not counties and they compete too. In Atlanta it's one state and one metro, whatever competition and squabbles go on here pale in comparison to the DC area.
MARTA is also cleaner (no carpets and newer cars overall) than METRO and you can understand what they are saying on the intercom system. METRO also has a horrible performance record, 9 people died in a crash in 2009 with numerous track jumps since then and TODAY a train got stuck between the Prince George's Plaza and College Park stations and passengers had to wait an hour in hot cars with no air conditioning, then evacuate and walk a half mile through a field of electrified tracks to get to the nearest stations then ride a nasty, crowded, hot, steamy bus to their final destination. Just like clock work and almost on the anniversary of the crash that killed 9 people. I'm so glad I don't have to ride METRO anymore, what a horrible experience.
I agree with you though about the cobb line, it's the biggest missing piece to the MARTA system imo. It would be the equivalent to no left leg of the red line going through Montgomery County. If they would add that line it would be neck and neck with D.C. Metro as far as coverage. If the TSPLOT passes MARTA will build a newline from Lindbergh station and go through Emory University and the Beltline will start as well. Atlanta always seems to have some kind of surprise up it's sleeve and they move fast. In many areas they are right up there with D.C. metro.
I don't really know how you are trying to compare Washington D.C.'s rapid transit network to Atlanta's rapid transit network. There is absolutely no comparison and it's an apples and oranges debate. Washington D.C.'s transit coverage is in a completely different league than Atlanta's. Washington D.C has 11 rail lines spanning 383.3 miles with 147 stations. DC is currently building a 6 billion dollar Metro expansion that equals half of Marta's entire system to put it into perspective. That will put D.C's total rail coverage at 406.3 miles and 158 stations. How is DC paying for this expansion? Almost completely by tolls on the Dulles Toll Road which is exactly how it should be.
Washington D.C:
WMATA Metro Rail:
-Milage: 106.3 miles (23 miles under construction)
-Stations: 86 (11 stations under construction)
MARC Commuter Rail:
-Milage: 187 miles
-Stations: 43
VRE Commuter Rail:
-Milage: 90 miles
-Stations: 18
You are pretty misinformed about the appropriate use of mass transit in a metro area when it comes to far outlying area's metro wide by the way. Couple things.....
The DC/Balt. region has a population of close to 9 million people in the same amount of land as Atlanta's whole region basically. It is served by three international airports that give each part of the region access to an airport close to where they live. BWI is too far away to be served by metro at 35 miles from Washington D.C. BWI is served by MARC commuter rail from DC and Baltimore's Light Rail system since Baltimore is only 9 miles from BWI. The following serve as connections to BWI International Airport from DC:
-MARC Penn Line (one of DC's 5 Commuter Rail Lines)
-201 MTA Commuter Bus from Shady Grove Metro Station (Charter Bus Style) to BWI Airport
-Metro Bus B30
The argument about Metro to Dulles Airport is pointless now because Metro will reach Dulles in a few years whether commuter rail would have been a better mode that far from DC or not. I think in this particular instance, Tyson's Corner in between Dulles and DC makes the new Silver Metro Line viable. Always remember, one of the main reason's the Atlanta area is suffering is because many people don't accept rapid transit.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 07-04-2012 at 10:52 AM..
I just looked at the train map. It looks like there is a whole line missing that should go northwest out to East Cobb. A train line that runs northwest and goes to Marietta would be great. I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse, but what is the deal with public transportation? Atlanta is a large metropolitan city. I am possibly moving here from DC. While our metro system is expensive, it runs pretty well to the different suburbs. I am trying to find a good subdivision near Atlanta and my husband would be working downtown. I heard that Marietta schools are really good if you are going to public school. Yet, there is no MARTA out that way.
Plenty of suburban-type neighborhoods inside the 285 beltway and close to MARTA, check it out
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