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View Poll Results: Will Cobb and Gwinnett get MARTA?
Yes they will fairly soon 14 28.00%
Yes but not for a very long time 22 44.00%
No they never will 14 28.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-02-2019, 06:28 PM
bu2
 
23,872 posts, read 14,652,785 times
Reputation: 12646

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And the buses were awesome in Florence. The trains were lousy in Rome and Munich. Rarely took you where you wanted to go. They were unsafe in Milan. They are filled with pickpockets in Paris. But the Tube is pretty good and the stations in Moscow are really beautiful.
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Old 05-03-2019, 12:30 AM
 
Location: Georgia
5,845 posts, read 6,118,363 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bu2 View Post
That's why so many people ride buses in Europe?

Its easy. You don't need to look at a schedule. You just stand on the corner and one will be there fairly shortly.

And park-n-ride buses work very well in other places. They will work well here with good HOV lanes.

What doesn't work well is buses that take 3 times as long as a car and only run every 30 minutes or an hour. Or is unreliable. Or isn't safe. The latter two apply to trains as well. And if you run a train out to the distant suburbs, the first does as well because you can't justify 10-15 minute headways for 10 riders.
Bus frequency is a chicken-or-the-egg problem.
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Old 05-03-2019, 06:08 AM
 
9,008 posts, read 13,973,514 times
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I guess everybody's experience is different. I've never heard anybody come back from Florence and comment on how great the buses were.

And I find the comment on pickpockets rather interesting. I rode the Metro all over Paris and never had a problem. I'm not saying pickpockets don't exist there, they definitely do. But one thing that I'd like to know is, how could you identify the pickpockets? Was your pocket picked?

I think of the opposite. Imagine a European riding MARTA. We're all pretty used to the characters that ride it, but I could easily imagine them telling their European friends, "MARTA is full of homeless people and criminals."
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Old 05-03-2019, 08:35 AM
bu2
 
23,872 posts, read 14,652,785 times
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Originally Posted by toll_booth View Post
Bus frequency is a chicken-or-the-egg problem.
You need to design the routes so you get the ridership. You can't do it everywhere, but you service key corridors.
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Old 05-03-2019, 08:41 AM
bu2
 
23,872 posts, read 14,652,785 times
Reputation: 12646
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
I guess everybody's experience is different. I've never heard anybody come back from Florence and comment on how great the buses were.

And I find the comment on pickpockets rather interesting. I rode the Metro all over Paris and never had a problem. I'm not saying pickpockets don't exist there, they definitely do. But one thing that I'd like to know is, how could you identify the pickpockets? Was your pocket picked?

I think of the opposite. Imagine a European riding MARTA. We're all pretty used to the characters that ride it, but I could easily imagine them telling their European friends, "MARTA is full of homeless people and criminals."
I have two family members that got pickpocketed on the Paris metro on different trips. Had a scam where a group tried to pickpocket me in Milan on the metro, but I had a handkerchief in my pocket making it difficult and my wife saw what was going on and tugged on me.

In case you are ever over there, this nice looking grey hair lady asked me a stupid question in a low voice so I had to lean over to hear her (she was asking where you got off to get to XYZ, which was the next stop). As I lean over two young guys come by and try to pick my pocket, just before leaving a stop. They bump a little and quickly get off the train at the last second so nobody could follow. She stays until the next stop with impunity because nobody could prove she was part of it. She asked me in Italian, so I don't know that I was targeted for being American.
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Old 05-03-2019, 08:52 AM
 
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Well, I only wear goofy travel pants with zipper pockets when I travel in Europe, so they're pretty pick proof.

But my niece, like most 16 year olds, wandered around the city for a week with her fancy iPhone half sticking out of her back pocket. Of course, any pick pocket probably realized by looking at me and my brother-in-law, who's even taller and bigger, they'd be in for a very not good time if they tried to take it.
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Old 05-03-2019, 09:10 AM
 
651 posts, read 469,211 times
Reputation: 1125
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
I guess everybody's experience is different. I've never heard anybody come back from Florence and comment on how great the buses were.

And I find the comment on pickpockets rather interesting. I rode the Metro all over Paris and never had a problem. I'm not saying pickpockets don't exist there, they definitely do. But one thing that I'd like to know is, how could you identify the pickpockets? Was your pocket picked?

I think of the opposite. Imagine a European riding MARTA. We're all pretty used to the characters that ride it, but I could easily imagine them telling their European friends, "MARTA is full of homeless people and criminals."
In the defense of buses people do highly commend the Seattle bus system because it really is efficient.

I get your point though and we at least need light rail expansions here.
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Old 05-03-2019, 09:17 AM
 
651 posts, read 469,211 times
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The Atlanta metro really needs to make rail expansion a priority because no one wants to sit in traffic on the bus. We can't cheap out on this.

We can then talk about changing the frequency and the right-of-way of buses to make them more desirable. Having routes that ran quickly and frequently to the rail stations ( maybe even with dedicated lanes) would be a good start in improving buses here.
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Old 05-03-2019, 09:19 AM
 
5,633 posts, read 5,318,094 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLTJL View Post
And I find the comment on pickpockets rather interesting. I rode the Metro all over Paris and never had a problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bu2 View Post
I have two family members that got pickpocketed on the Paris metro on different trips
I've had only two pickpocketing experiences, both with friends, during 7 years of travel around the world. One was in a desert in Israel at a camel ride place, and the other was on the Paris Metro.
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Old 02-02-2022, 08:42 PM
 
16,633 posts, read 29,310,669 times
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Will MARTA ever make to Cobb and Gwinnett?-3e95a319-938b-4ae6-b2d5-f0aef4f36698.jpeg

Former Atlanta to Marietta Trolley Line.
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