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Apparently, there were problems at Inman park today so when I was going East from Indian creek, we had massive delays sitting at a station for over 10 minutes and constantly stopping en route between 2 stations.
Apparently, there were problems at Inman park today so when I was going East from Indian creek, we had massive delays sitting at a station for over 10 minutes and constantly stopping en route between 2 stations.
See I never take east west line .. I go from midtown to sandy springs
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CCATL
If you are going to continue to feel the need to compare MARTA and NYC subway (MTA by the way), they do not run their service much better. The MTA is in MASSIVE debt that would put MARTA's to shame (imagine paying a $15 dollar toll on 400 that entirely went to MARTA, you don't, but the MTA does that on their bridges). Also, they have a huge number of delays on a daily basis. I can't tell you the number of times I was late to work because the express train stopped running and we had to take local trains, or because the train was delayed sitting in the tunnel for 10 minutes, or because they were doing scheduled maintenance on the line every weekend. If you are going to consistently compare Atlanta to NYC, at least know what you are talking about. It's public transit, things happen. No system is going to run perfectly 100% of the time, regardless of if it's in NYC, Atlanta, or Chicago. I don't think I've ever been on a MARTA train that has stopped and has an announcement that "there is a delay due to train traffic", while on the MTA, that is almost guaranteed to happen during your trip. MARTA is nowhere close to perfect, but neither is the other system you think so highly of.
Totally agree and I just have to LOL. As someone who was a straphanger for years in NYC, I can verify what you are saying. There are many things about the MTA we as Atlantans should be envious of. The 24 hour service, the 34 lines crisscrossing the city, the hundreds of stations, the express tracks...and that is it. While we may not have the most robust system in the world, MARTA has a lot going for it that New Yorkers could only dream of. For one it is clean (which can almost make you forget how many stations or lines MARTA doesn't have) and it is efficient.
For example, I used to take the F all the time from Queens to Bryant Park which covers a distance of 10 miles with 14 stations in between. On a good day/off rush hour, the trip would take about 45 minutes and on not so good days over an hour. Compare that with the 30 minutes it takes to on the Red Line from Sandy Springs to Downtown (which covers about the about the same distance and number of stations as the F from Queens to the City) on the heaviest used line in the city. The automatic train control system that MARTA uses means that barring unforeseen delays all transit systems have, MARTA trains are built for efficient travel and reach speeds the NY Subway could only dream of. Despite it's shortcomings, MARTA is a marvel of modern engineering. Hell, the fact we even have a subway is a miracle in itself.
Of course, I'm not trying to say that MARTA is better than MTA aside from the two reasons I listed above. Every metro system has it's problems in one way or another, with the most common one being delays. We are after all talking about systems developed and operated by man. It is guaranteed to be imperfect. Likewise, the same complaints you hear about MARTA (delays, coverage, etc) are the same exact complaints you hear everywhere. Even in NYC, just ask a real New Yorker about how they feel about the subway. Especially one who lives in an area with no coverage or has to commute from the boroughs each day.
Perhaps MARTA gets even more flack about this problem since for many people from the South it is their first experience using a "real" public transit system on a daily basis. They look longingly on at the transit systems in other cities and suppose that "It's obviously better there since it's bigger", which is true in a way, but they still have all the same problems.
Talking about MTA delays, here's an article about the most common reason for delays for the Subway in New York:
Totally agree and I just have to LOL. As someone who was a straphanger for years in NYC, I can verify what you are saying. There are many things about the MTA we as Atlantans should be envious of. The 24 hour service, the 34 lines crisscrossing the city, the hundreds of stations, the express tracks...and that is it. While we may not have the most robust system in the world, MARTA has a lot going for it that New Yorkers could only dream of. For one it is clean (which can almost make you forget how many stations or lines MARTA doesn't have) and it is efficient.
For example, I used to take the F all the time from Queens to Bryant Park which covers a distance of 10 miles with 14 stations in between. On a good day/off rush hour, the trip would take about 45 minutes and on not so good days over an hour. Compare that with the 30 minutes it takes to on the Red Line from Sandy Springs to Downtown (which covers about the about the same distance and number of stations as the F from Queens to the City) on the heaviest used line in the city. The automatic train control system that MARTA uses means that barring unforeseen delays all transit systems have, MARTA trains are built for efficient travel and reach speeds the NY Subway could only dream of. Despite it's shortcomings, MARTA is a marvel of modern engineering. Hell, the fact we even have a subway is a miracle in itself.
Of course, I'm not trying to say that MARTA is better than MTA aside from the two reasons I listed above. Every metro system has it's problems in one way or another, with the most common one being delays. We are after all talking about systems developed and operated by man. It is guaranteed to be imperfect. Likewise, the same complaints you hear about MARTA (delays, coverage, etc) are the same exact complaints you hear everywhere. Even in NYC, just ask a real New Yorker about how they feel about the subway. Especially one who lives in an area with no coverage or has to commute from the boroughs each day.
Talking about MTA delays, here's an article about the most common reason for delays for the Subway in New York:
At least MARTA has the ability to institute a bus bridge between stations if there is an issue. They are quick to implement a bus bridge between stations if there are problems.
When my wife and I visited NYC last Labor Day weekend, we used MTA. Being familiar with mass transit eased the transition into the madness of MTA. The stations and trains are old and outdated. The station platforms are tiny, I can see why so many people fall into the tracks or are hit by trains. The trains are narrow, short, and have very little seating. MARTA is fast, smooth, and clean compared to MTA. MTA goes a lot of places in NYC and is 24 hours, but even then schedules change, much like MARTA's Red Line terminating at Lindbergh Center, and the user must pay close attention to what train runs where during late night hours.
Great article on Keith Parker. He really seems to understand what needs to be done to get MARTA to be the best it can be. I can't wait to finish my master's because this is the kind of guy I would love to work for and aspire to be like as a leader. Keep up the good work Mr. Parker!
The delays are continuing. Over 20 minutes now and we can barely go 2 stops. This is ridiculous. Ugh. Going to be late to classes now. Done.
This one of the reasons why I stopped riding MARTA about bought a car. I would have loved to have kept riding MARTA and not have a car but it was just too inconvenient.
When I was in college, the trains would always stop. Delays would be 20 minutes or longer. This was every single week I had my Algebra class without fail. I was always late to class, including on exam days, so I ended up failing all my exams, as I didn’t have enough time to complete them for being late because of the constant train delays on a weekly basis
I ended up dropping the class.
I think MARTA is great to use for going to events in downtown or midtown, but other than that, it can be pretty inconvenient trying to use are your sole source of transportation. After riding MARTA for 5 years straight, it couldn't take it anymore. I had to break down and buy a car. I don't know how I did it for 5 years.
Great article on Keith Parker. He really seems to understand what needs to be done to get MARTA to be the best it can be. I can't wait to finish my master's because this is the kind of guy I would love to work for and aspire to be like as a leader. Keep up the good work Mr. Parker!
This is a great line:
Quote:
More and more companies interested in locating their operations in the Atlanta region are interested in the region’s transit options. Williams went on to say that Atlanta would not have been able to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, two Super Bowls, the Final Four or any number of major events without MARTA.
I can tell you that there is no way the Final Four could be successful without having MARTA help transport hundreds of thousands of people. Fans visiting complemented how fast, clean, and easy it was to use MARTA to get downtown for the events. Large events like these are times for MARTA to shine and show the region how important it is to the continued advancement of the region.
I am sure MARTA access is one of the reason many companies are looking into locating into the Perimeter Center business district.
I can tell you that there is no way the Final Four could be successful without having MARTA help transport hundreds of thousands of people. Fans visiting complemented how fast, clean, and easy it was to use MARTA to get downtown for the events. Large events like these are times for MARTA to shine and show the region how important it is to the continued advancement of the region.
MARTA was great for the Final Four events. I went to one of the concerts on MARTA. It went smooth. Everything was fine. Got there with no problems. Got back to our car with no problems.
But the question then becomes do we want MARTA to be great just for tourists or transporting lots of people to events or does it need to be more efficient for all around daily use? It's one thing to use MARTA just to go to events in the city center. It's something else entirely different when you have to depend on MARTA 100% if you don't have a car or your car breaks down. That's when using MARTA is a problem.
When I had to put my car in the shop a few months back, I could not get to work for a week, therefore losing a week of pay, because the while the bus goes near my job, it still doesn't go close enough for me to get to work. I still would have to walk many miles to get to work or take a taxi had I taken MARTA to the end of the line. I would have to also incur the expense of renting a car, or taking a taxi (which would've been also VERY expensive).
This is the problem people have with MARTA. When you have to rely completely on MARTA (especially if you don't live in town or very close to the rail) to get to work, school, pick up and drop off kids, do your shopping, run errands etc., it becomes more and more of a problem to use.
I use MARTA all the time to park my car go to events and it's great. When it was it was my only source of transportation, it was very difficult and stressful because it's not expansive with long waits and frequent train delays.
When I first moved to the Atlanta area, the first job I had, I had to rely on others to give me rides and when I had some issues with my transportation, I ended up getting fired because I had no way to get to work. My next job, I had to take a taxi to get to the nearest bus stop for my home, then take two buses and two trains in order to get to work. I had to do this every day going to and from work. I did this until I found a better place to move with better access to MARTA. Even then it was still difficult to get around.
The fact that TSPLOST was voted down shows that people still don't understand how important transit is the to region and its growth.
Last edited by Atlanta_BD; 04-08-2013 at 10:38 AM..
When I had to put my car in the shop a few months back, I could not get to work for a week, therefore losing a week of pay, because the while the bus goes near my job, it still doesn't go close enough for me to get to work. I still would have to walk many miles to get to work or take a taxi had I taken MARTA to the end of the line. I would have to also incur the expense of renting a car, or taking a taxi (which would've been also VERY expensive).
Ride a bike? MARTA trains and buses allow bikes.
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