MARTA Improvements in May 2014 (Atlanta: train, estimated, station)

[Ant131531]

I rode MARTA a couple of weeks to go to see if I noticed any changes since it was like 6-7 months since I last rode MARTA. Wow. The service was fast. NO DELAYS. Peaceful. Was very easy to get around the city. The train was HARDLY packed going back Eastward towards Indian Creek. They really are making strides to become a better transit organization. If we can get back to 2010 levels of service(Amazing), I'll be riding MARTA a lot more in the future.

[cqholt]

This morning had monsterious delays on all northbound service. The platforms at five points was overflowing, but MARTA ran 4 northbound trains back to back to relieve the congestion and get back to normal service. The announcements were clear and informative.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bfarley30

MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

This is great news for MARTA! And most of the improvements are frequencies being lowered on trains AND BUSES!! Maybe reinstated bus routes or even new routes? Maybe even later service or even 24 hour service? Dare I say it, RAIL EXTENSIONS in the near future?

24 hours is the longest shot. Only NYCMTA, PATH, and 2 limes on CTA run 24/7. Rail extensions into north fulton, south dekalb, and clifton corridor are most important at this point. Its been way too long since there was an extension.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by cqholt

This morning had monsterious delays on all northbound service. The platforms at five points was overflowing, but MARTA ran 4 northbound trains back to back to relieve the congestion and get back to normal service. The announcements were clear and informative.

I was on that platform at 5 points also, along with the other 800 people. I don't care how often or clear their announcements were, after 35 min of being patient on the platform, I was getting pissed (along with everybody around me). That was a LONG time to wait, and made a lot of people late to work. While I am always a MARTA supporter and use it often with rarely an issue, they need a better contingency plan for mornings like today. I don't understand why they couldn't turn a southbound train around to go northbound before the Oakland City station (where the mechanical issues were happening). If that wasn't possible, they should have found another solution.

They didn't run 4 northbound trains back to back to relieve congestion, 35 min of no trains during rush hour=4 trains arriving back to back that were all stuck behind the mechanical problem. They did absolutely nothing to relieve congestion this morning - no MARTA police on my side of the platform, no estimated time for when trains will arrive, etc. The announcements told me nothing, except that there was a delay, to be patient, and what the current time was. They should have given estimates for how long the wait would be. Somebody in leadership needs to address these issues in the event of a train malfunction to avoid a 35 min wait and very angry people.

That's the end of my rant - still a supporter of MARTA and happy about all of the changes they are making, but they definitely lost a few riders this morning. Contingency plans are needed for this type of delay.

[gtcorndog]

Perhaps MARTA should do something about the hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance.

Years of horrible management is to blame for this.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by CCATL

I was on that platform at 5 points also, along with the other 800 people. I don't care how often or clear their announcements were, after 35 min of being patient on the platform, I was getting pissed (along with everybody around me). That was a LONG time to wait, and made a lot of people late to work. While I am always a MARTA supporter and use it often with rarely an issue, they need a better contingency plan for mornings like today. I don't understand why they couldn't turn a southbound train around to go northbound before the Oakland City station (where the mechanical issues were happening). If that wasn't possible, they should have found another solution.

They didn't run 4 northbound trains back to back to relieve congestion, 35 min of no trains during rush hour=4 trains arriving back to back that were all stuck behind the mechanical problem. They did absolutely nothing to relieve congestion this morning - no MARTA police on my side of the platform, no estimated time for when trains will arrive, etc. The announcements told me nothing, except that there was a delay, to be patient, and what the current time was. They should have given estimates for how long the wait would be. Somebody in leadership needs to address these issues in the event of a train malfunction to avoid a 35 min wait and very angry people.

That's the end of my rant - still a supporter of MARTA and happy about all of the changes they are making, but they definitely lost a few riders this morning. Contingency plans are needed for this type of delay.

I guess nothing's changed.

[0nyxStation]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

Between Airport and Lindbergh there will probably end up being a train every 5 minutes....now that is a GREAT service!

Nice to see the bus service to Cobb County Cumberland transit station is being reduced...obviously getting ready for the Braves stadium move haha

marta should stop ALL service to Cobb & let cct deal with Braves support.

[0nyxStation]

Originally Posted by cqholt

24 hours is the longest shot. Only NYCMTA, PATH, and 2 limes on CTA run 24/7. Rail extensions into north fulton, south dekalb, and clifton corridor are most important at this point. Its been way too long since there was an extension.

14 years.....

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by CCATL

I was on that platform at 5 points also, along with the other 800 people. I don't care how often or clear their announcements were, after 35 min of being patient on the platform, I was getting pissed (along with everybody around me). That was a LONG time to wait, and made a lot of people late to work. While I am always a MARTA supporter and use it often with rarely an issue, they need a better contingency plan for mornings like today. I don't understand why they couldn't turn a southbound train around to go northbound before the Oakland City station (where the mechanical issues were happening). If that wasn't possible, they should have found another solution.

They didn't run 4 northbound trains back to back to relieve congestion, 35 min of no trains during rush hour=4 trains arriving back to back that were all stuck behind the mechanical problem. They did absolutely nothing to relieve congestion this morning - no MARTA police on my side of the platform, no estimated time for when trains will arrive, etc. The announcements told me nothing, except that there was a delay, to be patient, and what the current time was. They should have given estimates for how long the wait would be. Somebody in leadership needs to address these issues in the event of a train malfunction to avoid a 35 min wait and very angry people.

That's the end of my rant - still a supporter of MARTA and happy about all of the changes they are making, but they definitely lost a few riders this morning. Contingency plans are needed for this type of delay.

MARTA does not express tracks or extra side tracks, until Lindbergh, to place that train. All they can do is fix the issue on the malfunctioning train or single track. Where would they have turned a southbound train around?
It was very annoying, but still better than driving in traffic.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by cqholt

MARTA does not express tracks or extra side tracks, until Lindbergh, to place that train. All they can do is fix the issue on the malfunctioning train or single track. Where would they have turned a southbound train around?
It was very annoying, but still better than driving in traffic.

I'm not sure what they can do, but they should do something. For your commute to the perimeter, it may have been better than sitting in traffic. But for my commute to midtown, sitting in traffic would have been faster. A couple of people around me actually considered getting on a southbound train to go back and get their cars, and to drive back into the city.

All I am saying is that, even if another train wouldn't have been possible, they need some kind of contingency in the event that a delay of that magnitude happens. Some ideas that would have improved the experience:

- Shuttle buses to make up for the lack of trains (they do this in NYC when a train breaks down) that run
between the mechanical difficulty to other stations not being served
- Announcing an estimated wait time, so that people can decide what they should do to get to work on time
- STOP announcing the current time, which just made people more angry
- Using connector tracks (if there are any) to turn a southbound train around after the problem station
- MARTA police to organize the chaos that ensues when 800 people late for work are trying to get onto a
single train, almost causing fights

Just some ideas, and I'm sure the brains at MARTA who know the system better can come up with more. A plan is needed when a delay is going to exceed 20 minutes during a rush hour commute.