Transit is key for the BeltLine's success (Atlanta: apartment, school)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by afdinatl

North Ave is still basically empty near PCM compared to Ponce De Leon

Yes, but it dead ends outbound. Which is probably why it has light traffic.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, and those visitors are what is causing congestion on local roads like Krog, Irwin, Glen Iris. Roads that are designed to handle that level of traffic. Visitors could park their cars at a MARTA station and ride transit to the BeltLine's amenities.
Also, transit would allow you to enjoy the amenities as you get older and are unable to drive or walk the trail.

That's one of the most unrealistic commonly held and repeated beliefs that I see. People can't drive, but they can walk to mass transit? That's not real life. Other than the special pick-up transit services, regular mass transit is the last thing these people will take. When some of these many people are elderly or help take care of elderly parents or grandparents, they will see the light.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by bu2

That's one of the most unrealistic commonly held and repeated beliefs that I see. People can't drive, but they can walk to mass transit? That's not real life. Other than the special pick-up transit services, regular mass transit is the last thing these people will take. When some of these many people are elderly or help take care of elderly parents or grandparents, they will see the light.

Um, yes. Elderly are able to keep using transit well after they are unable to drive. That is one of the reasons so many empty-nesters have been moving back to the cities, they won't be "trapped" in their home in the suburbs without the ability to drive or get to transit.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Um, yes. Elderly are able to keep using transit well after they are unable to drive. That is one of the reasons so many empty-nesters have been moving back to the cities, they won't be "trapped" in their home in the suburbs without the ability to drive or get to transit.

Or more likely in a home with less maintenance closer to their hospitals and doctors so they don't have to drive far. Or closer to relatives who can drive them places. Or where Uber or a taxi doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I've got to ask-Do you really know anyone who has lost the ability to drive who did this?
Real life is they are vulnerable to criminals/pickpockets, etc. and have arthritis or health conditions or see poorly (ever stumble on an uneven sidewalk or misjudge a curb?), all of which make it difficult, painful or dangerous to walk. Unless they are getting paratransit, they are not using mass transit. I've known lots of friends and relatives in that state and using mass transit is the last thing they would do. And for the most part they keep driving as long as possible, just minimizing it.

[magnetar]

The BeltLine IS transit. If we don't build the transit, it's just a fancy sidewalk, nothing approaching the plan called the Atlanta BeltLine.

The comment about seniors not riding transit; I don't even know what to say. It just exposes how sheltered some people are. If you don't think there are seniors in my neighborhood walking half a mile to the MARTA station, please feel free to come take a visit. They're nice people. I moved near the BeltLine precisely because I'm counting on it to be a transportation option. It's not just some rails-to-trails jogging path for the people who live near it.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by bu2

Or more likely in a home with less maintenance closer to their hospitals and doctors so they don't have to drive far. Or closer to relatives who can drive them places. Or where Uber or a taxi doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I've got to ask-Do you really know anyone who has lost the ability to drive who did this?
Real life is they are vulnerable to criminals/pickpockets, etc. and have arthritis or health conditions or see poorly (ever stumble on an uneven sidewalk or misjudge a curb?), all of which make it difficult, painful or dangerous to walk. Unless they are getting paratransit, they are not using mass transit. I've known lots of friends and relatives in that state and using mass transit is the last thing they would do. And for the most part they keep driving as long as possible, just minimizing it.

And I've seen plenty of elderly riding transit both in Atlanta and out. I've personally known people limited to only public transit. Just because your relatives don't, or refuse to, doesn't mean others have that option. Whether it be government ordered, medically driven, personal reasons, cost reasons, etc. there are elderly who rely on mass transit just as there are high-schoolers and people of all walks of life.

As for the Beltline and transit. It might not seem as visible on the Eastside from a necessity standpoint, but it does breath fresh life into the Westside, opening up options for everyone within walking distance of the Light Rail / streetcars.

That's the thing about transit and mobility in general, it provides opportunity. That's opportunity at new places to work, new places to live, new places to visit in your free time, etc. , etc.

The Beltline started as, and always has been about this mobility, with transit as its core. Only from there were parks, trails, urban farms, development plans, and affordable housing layered on top as a complement to that original plan.

To leave the corridor as nothing but trails is to ignore the very foundation of the plan.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, they could take the bus from Inman Park but I keep forgetting that a lot of people in Atlanta don't like to do that.

Which bus is that? Because only Route 3 from Edgewood/Candler Park travel down Irwin, MARTA > Schedules & Maps > Bus Schedules or Routes > Route list (by number). But what do they do once they get to the BeltLine? Transit would allow them to travel along the BeltLine and exit at locations along the BeltLine, eg: Seeing little Gus skateboard at the O4W skatepark.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Which bus is that? Because only Route 3 from Edgewood/Candler Park travel down Irwin, MARTA > Schedules & Maps > Bus Schedules or Routes > Route list (by number). But what do they do once they get to the BeltLine? Transit would allow them to travel along the BeltLine and exit at locations along the BeltLine, eg: Seeing little Gus skateboard at the O4W skatepark.

Well, I haven't reached it but you would have thought MARTA would run a bus from one of its east Line stations over to the Beltline.

Are you saying there is no bus that goes to Krog Street market or the O4W park?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, I haven't reached it but you would have thought MARTA would run a bus from one of its east Line stations over to the Beltline.

Are you saying there is no bus that goes to Krog Street market or the O4W park?

The #3 travels by KSM, via Irwin. I linked the bus route in my comments. O4W park, bus route 16.

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Which bus is that? Because only Route 3 from Edgewood/Candler Park travel down Irwin, MARTA > Schedules & Maps > Bus Schedules or Routes > Route list (by number). But what do they do once they get to the BeltLine? Transit would allow them to travel along the BeltLine and exit at locations along the BeltLine, eg: Seeing little Gus skateboard at the O4W skatepark.

I think this highlights the difference in how people see the BeltLine—Ryan Gravel envisioned it as a route, a thoroughfare for people (not automobiles). But because of its popularity, it's becoming a place people visit from elsewhere; a destination, not a route. I think it's important that we continue to stress that the BeltLine is transportation, not a park. Lest we just decide to turn the BeltLine's transit right of way into a parking lot so people can drive to visit the BeltLine. Or just turn it into a road!