How's the public transportation in Atlanta? (Sandy Springs, Dunwoody: appliances, homes, college)

[flyonpa]

You might want to read this thread:

Living in Atlanta with no car?

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by LongNote

Is it because Atlanta's public transit isn't good enough? Or is it that you personally would never live in any city without a car?

WhT there is is good. The problems are that the train routes are very limited to two or two and half spokes and the buses are not so great. And, yes, living here without a car is quite limiting.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by LongNote

Is it feasible or practical for a person to live and work in Atlanta without a personal vehicle?

Yes. I have. See the thread above.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by LongNote

Is it because Atlanta's public transit isn't good enough? Or is it that you personally would never live in any city without a car?

you can live intown in atlanta without a car, and make it pretty well— a lot of us do. of course, the rail transit isn't anywhere near as comprehensive as new york, philadelphia, boston, or chicago, but as long as you're staying ITP it shouldn't be a huge issue. you should note, however, that MARTA closes at 1 AM and doesn't reopen until 10 AM. so if you're out drinking, make sure you can either walk back to your apartment or take uber.

[xocyll]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

MARTA closes at 1 AM and doesn't reopen until 10 AM.

During the week the trains start at 4:45 AM and on the weekends they start at 6 AM.

[waronxmas]

Ugh, you know what I hate? Whenever this topic comes up, someone will invariably say two things:

1. It doesn't go anywhere.
2. No one uses it.

Two things that are demonstrably false. Here are the facts:

-MARTA serves three counties: Fulton, Dekalb, and Clayton.
-MARTA rail has fourlines (not two like some people state) and stops in 38 different locations, including the four main job centers of the metro.
-MARTA has 96 bus lines across three counties.
-MARTA is the connection point for the major suburban transit agencies: GCT, CCT, and GRTA
-MARTA alone has 438,000 passenger trips per day. The ninth highest ridership in the country, eleventh on the continent.

For a city with supposedly such a bad transit system, it sure does a bad job of showing that based on the above.

Does it go every where it should go? No, but no transit system does. And just like every other transit system on the planet, if you want to use it as your main mode of transport you must live and work/go to school near it. This isn't rocket science.

I think a big problem with these perceptions is that some people believe that MARTA should be as direct and seemless as using a car. I have yet to use any transit system like this, including NYC. Not sure why people have that expectation for MARTA.

[Scared to Life]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Ugh, you know what I hate? Whenever this topic comes up, someone will invariably say two things:

1. It doesn't go anywhere.
2. No one uses it.

Two things that are demonstrably false. Here are the facts:

-MARTA serves three counties: Fulton, Dekalb, and Clayton.
-MARTA rail has fourlines (not two like some people state) and stops in 38 different locations, including the four main job centers of the metro.
-MARTA has 96 bus lines across three counties.
-MARTA is the connection point for the major suburban transit agencies: GCT, CCT, and GRTA
-MARTA alone has 438,000 passenger trips per day. The ninth highest ridership in the country, eleventh on the continent.

For a city with supposedly such a bad transit system, it sure does a bad job of showing that based on the above.

Does it go every where it should go? No, but no transit system does. And just like every other transit system on the planet, if you want to use it as your main mode of transport you must live and work/go to school near it. This isn't rocket science.

I think a big problem with these perceptions is that some people believe that MARTA should be as direct and seemless as using a car. I have yet to use any transit system like this, including NYC. Not sure why people have that expectation for MARTA.

Preach/

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by xocyll

During the week the trains start at 4:45 AM and on the weekends they start at 6 AM.

oh heck. i'm sorry about that. i meant 5 AM, but i wasn't aware they started later on weekends.

[AtlJan]

Are you able to ride a bike? Do you have the cash to use Uber? If the answers to these two are yes, then it will make going carless more of an option.

[Tarzanman]

Its definitely not practical to live in Atlanta without a car. Don't let any shut-ins or folks who don't venture more than 10 miles from downtown tell you differently.

Besides the fact that the mass transit system here is splintered with poor coverage, many, *many* areas in the metro area lack sidewalks.

This means that after you spend 60 minutes using mass transit to go 15 miles away, there is a fair chance that you'll have to hoof it on the shoulder of a road way to get to where you need to go.