MARTA CEO: Days of transit agency going on 'bended knee' to other counties are over (Atlanta: tax, law)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Why can't we do both? Continue to improve the transit services in Atlanta, and also reach out to Cobb and Gwinnett with awesome sales brochures of different options of transit configurations, of "FYI, here's what all we could do for you with a 1% tax". A PDF document doesn't cost a ton of money to produce. Just need some renderings and potential transit maps, and a few facts pulled straight from Wikipedia.

Everyone keeps saying, oh they'll join when they're ready. But why would they join? How can they get excited about a product that they can't see or read or get any information about? Talking about the population, not just county leaders.

It is not the document that costs money, but the planning and studies to produce those maps. MARTA cannot, responsibly, create a map and handout of some lines without doing LPA, etc.
As someone who lives in Cobb and want this, I encourage you to write Bob Ott and your leaders about this idea of joining MARTA.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Why spend Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton Counties taxpayer money on creating plans for counties that do not want the service? MARTA created a well thought out plan for North Fulton that did not go anywhere. The plans would just have to get updated every few years, costing the agency more money.

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Agreed. Use the costs of high priced studies and marketing to improve the service in the currently served jurisdictions. Other than monetary costs, these things also consume a lot of worker hours, as well. Gwinnett, Cobb and others will eventually come around. Meanwhile, work to make MARTA the best it can be in Fulton, Dekalb and Clayton.

Originally Posted by UrbanConquistador

Agreed.

Regional connectivity benefits every one in the system, not just those freshly added. There is benefit to Fulton, DeKalb, and CoA for having transit extended out into Cobb and Gwinnett, the only two counties such fact sheets are really meant for.

MARTA has both the labor and financial capabilities to pull them off without much impact into their other projects. It wouldn't be anything as specific as choosing routes for the high-capacity routes (no, East-West-East style designations), simply corridors where the high-capacity routes would most likely go.

There is zero reason why an agency as large as MARTA can't continue to improve in existing service areas and plan things for the future.

I mean, how long, how many man hours, and how much money did it take for MARTA to produce their preliminary plan for Clayton? How long, how many man hours, and how much money did it take for MARTA to produce their preliminary plan for the increased sales tax in Fulton?

I'm willing to be to terribly long, not terribly many, and not terribly much, especially when you consider that there's probably a decent amount of internal planning that has already taken place.

Originally Posted by skbl17

Unfortunately, the county commissions in question will then say, "See, MARTA's initiated an advertising push in areas they don't serve! That's an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars by an irresponsible agency!", backed up by the throngs of AJC commenters who think that MARTA brings drugs and crime. Of course, fact sheets aren't an advertising push, but opponents would see it that way.

Never mind the facts. The facts (the KSU study) didn't stop the successful push by a certain North Fulton politician to kill SB 330, and the facts won't make the Tim Lees and Charlotte Nashs of the world budge.

I agree with AnsleyPark here. Improve the service in existing jurisdictions first.

- skbl17

And while MARTA has been concentrating on its existing counties those same politicians have been calling for an agency with real, regional potential. One that's planning real regional connectivity. There is literally no way to win with the politicians, so I say screw 'em. Target the people.

The stir you'd get with well publicized regional plans would be pretty great, and it might just be enough to turn the voting tide, or at least give people a chance to think about their options. It would certainly shut down things like the Gwinnett County leaders' statements about MARTA being 'too expensive', and the like.

Again, there's no reason MARTA can't just keep moving on with what it's doing and make preliminary corridor and financial information for those counties that are not part of the system.


Better yet, make it a real part of their website, where they can have a map (in, like, Google maps) up with all the planned projects and routes up at once. Include all the bus routes and stops, with real-time arrival data if you click on one, like in the current MARTA app.

Show potential corridors, as well as the current LPAs. Show where single tracking and track repair is going on. Show how bus routes will be modified in the near future, and show where ART routes, bus centers, infill stations, etc. would go. You can use it for navigation, as well as seeing the plans, with layers to turn on and off.

Pull a Midtown and allow people to drop comments onto the map to point out broken stops, overflowing trash bins, potential art sites, where they'd like a bus stop to be, etc. Make it into as much a map as it would be an advertising piece as it would be a community input tool.

Bam, just turned the 'waste of current couties' tax payer money' into a tool for those counties.


Seriously, just because MARTA shouldn't be begging counties to join it, doesn't mean it shouldn't still show off why it's a good business partner. For the same reason that I would be okay with this, I'm okay with ad campaigns targeted at improving ridership and showing off what opportunities are available on the agency.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Regional connectivity benefits every one in the system, not just those freshly added. There is benefit to Fulton, DeKalb, and CoA for having transit extended out into Cobb and Gwinnett, the only two counties such fact sheets are really meant for.

MARTA has both the labor and financial capabilities to pull them off without much impact into their other projects. It wouldn't be anything as specific as choosing routes for the high-capacity routes (no, East-West-East style designations), simply corridors where the high-capacity routes would most likely go.

There is zero reason why an agency as large as MARTA can't continue to improve in existing service areas and plan things for the future.

I mean, how long, how many man hours, and how much money did it take for MARTA to produce their preliminary plan for Clayton? How long, how many man hours, and how much money did it take for MARTA to produce their preliminary plan for the increased sales tax in Fulton?

I'm willing to be to terribly long, not terribly many, and not terribly much, especially when you consider that there's probably a decent amount of internal planning that has already taken place.



And while MARTA has been concentrating on its existing counties those same politicians have been calling for an agency with real, regional potential. One that's planning real regional connectivity. There is literally no way to win with the politicians, so I say screw 'em. Target the people.

The stir you'd get with well publicized regional plans would be pretty great, and it might just be enough to turn the voting tide, or at least give people a chance to think about their options. It would certainly shut down things like the Gwinnett County leaders' statements about MARTA being 'too expensive', and the like.

Again, there's no reason MARTA can't just keep moving on with what it's doing and make preliminary corridor and financial information for those counties that are not part of the system.


Better yet, make it a real part of their website, where they can have a map (in, like, Google maps) up with all the planned projects and routes up at once. Include all the bus routes and stops, with real-time arrival data if you click on one, like in the current MARTA app.

Show potential corridors, as well as the current LPAs. Show where single tracking and track repair is going on. Show how bus routes will be modified in the near future, and show where ART routes, bus centers, infill stations, etc. would go. You can use it for navigation, as well as seeing the plans, with layers to turn on and off.

Pull a Midtown and allow people to drop comments onto the map to point out broken stops, overflowing trash bins, potential art sites, where they'd like a bus stop to be, etc. Make it into as much a map as it would be an advertising piece as it would be a community input tool.

Bam, just turned the 'waste of current couties' tax payer money' into a tool for those counties.


Seriously, just because MARTA shouldn't be begging counties to join it, doesn't mean it shouldn't still show off why it's a good business partner. For the same reason that I would be okay with this, I'm okay with ad campaigns targeted at improving ridership and showing off what opportunities are available on the agency.

The best way MARTA can show off it is a good business partner is to keep growing it's reserves, keep balanced budgets, and continue to improve the on-time performance while reinvesting in it's infrastructure.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The best way MARTA can show off it is a good business partner is to keep growing it's reserves, keep balanced budgets, and continue to improve the on-time performance while reinvesting in it's infrastructure.

Which can be done at the same time that an ad campaign and showcase goes on.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Which can be done at the same time that an ad campaign and showcase goes on.

Would residents and county leaders not see MARTA's 'ads' and corridor plan as a threat since they got 0 input on the plan?

[fieldm]

Begging COBB is like a man begging a female year after year and she keeps saying no

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fieldm

Begging COBB is like a man begging a female year after year and she keeps saying no

Yea, we should really break up with that fat girl. #EastSnobb

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Would residents and county leaders not see MARTA's 'ads' and corridor plan as a threat since they got 0 input on the plan?

If they bothered to talk to MARTA, then they'd have had input. If they come to talk to MARTA, they can have input. Until then, MARTA stands by its statement that it won't come to the counties, just wait until they decide to come to MARTA.

[fieldm]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yea, we should really break up with that fat girl. #EastSnobb

That guy now is in his 30s with a great job with good benefits. She on the other hand lost her job with 3 kids by 3 men. That guy will soon be looking good to her once the divorce is final next spring

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cqholt

It is not the document that costs money, but the planning and studies to produce those maps. MARTA cannot, responsibly, create a map and handout of some lines without doing LPA, etc.
As someone who lives in Cobb and want this, I encourage you to write Bob Ott and your leaders about this idea of joining MARTA.

MARTA isn't doing LPAs outside its service area. The counties or ARC are funding those sorts of things.