MARTA wants to enforce bus lanes (live, price, delivery)

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

Nonsense. The state is definitely behind the push, and if you put Marta out of the picture, explain CobbLinc, Gwinnett Transit, Express Lane BRT. Its a state level, region-wide push necessitated by lack of funding for anything beyond BRT.

The only state involvement is more of a "lack thereof," they're not saying "you can't build rail" or "you MUST build BRT," they're just not funding anything but express toll lanes (making rail difficult without the feds picking up most of the tab). Cobb and Gwinnett were never going to build their own rail systems anyway.

[Datdudebrah]

Originally Posted by Gulch

The only state involvement is more of a "lack thereof," they're not saying "you can't build rail" or "you MUST build BRT," they're just not funding anything but express toll lanes (making rail difficult without the feds picking up most of the tab). Cobb and Gwinnett were never going to build their own rail systems anyway.

I wouldn't say that. People at the state level know transit funding is needed. That's why they set up the transit funding and governance committee back in ~2018 which resulted in the current ATL + 30 yr Transit SPLOST structure. They know the level of funding they put out will not support a mass expansion of rail.

You think cities and counties that are working on transit plans weren't a part of the discussion?

Do you remember the state giving $100M to the 400 express lane BRT project?

Anyway decisions at the state level have made it such that BRT is the only viable high capacity transit solution in metro ATL. They are aware of this decision even if it hasn't been directly dictated to transit agencies. Given that reality, they need to follow through on supporting legislation to allow enforcement of the bus lanes.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

I wouldn't say that. People at the state level know transit funding is needed. That's why they set up the transit funding and governance committee back in ~2018 which resulted in the current ATL + 30 yr Transit SPLOST structure. They know the level of funding they put out will not support a mass expansion of rail.

You think cities and counties that are working on transit plans weren't a part of the discussion?

Do you remember the state giving $100M to the 400 express lane BRT project?

Anyway decisions at the state level have made it such that BRT is the only viable high capacity transit solution in metro ATL. They are aware of this decision even if it hasn't been directly dictated to transit agencies. Given that reality, they need to follow through on supporting legislation to allow enforcement of the bus lanes.

Seems like if the state is funding mass transit they could throw a few shekels toward adding waiting/idling areas in front of businesses.

[Datdudebrah]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Seems like if the state is funding mass transit they could throw a few shekels toward adding waiting/idling areas in front of businesses.

There will be street parking next to the bus lanes in some locations. You can see some of the typical sections here: https://www.itsmarta.com/uploadedFil...2022-03-10.pdf

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

There will be street parking next to the bus lanes in some locations. You can see some of the typical sections here: https://www.itsmarta.com/uploadedFil...2022-03-10.pdf

That makes sense.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Seems like if the state is funding mass transit they could throw a few shekels toward adding waiting/idling areas in front of businesses.

Why should there be idling spaces? Park the darn car and walk. Quit being lazy.

[ggplicks]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Why should there be idling spaces? Park the darn car and walk. Quit being lazy.

Bro this isn't up north people don't walk here. I mean just look at the marta stations here, most of them are incredibly underutilized. In northern cities like NYC, DC, Chicago, areas near transit stations are some of the most expensive in town. Nobody (for the most part) cares about living near transit or walkability here. MARTA ridership is abysmal and has been for years. Atlanta is a car city and the city needs to cater to that.


And don't bring up the Beltline, 95% of people on there are there for recreational purposes.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Why should there be idling spaces? Park the darn car and walk. Quit being lazy.

We're not talking about a full on drive thru or anything like that. A lot of folks simply want to grab their coffee and sausage biscuit and keep rolling.

And then there's the aforementioned situation where you need to drop off a senior so they can run in and do some quick shopping. They may not be capable of walking several blocks.

I would also imagine the typical small business owner is in favor of making their business as accessible as possible.

I know people want fast buses but let's not lose sight of inclusivity.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by arjay57

We're not talking about a full on drive thru or anything like that. A lot of folks simply want to grab their coffee and sausage biscuit and keep rolling.

And then there's the aforementioned situation where you need to drop off a senior so they can run in and do some quick shopping. They may not be capable of walking several blocks.

I would also imagine the typical small business owner is in favor of making their business as accessible as possible.

I know people want fast buses but let's not lose sight of inclusivity.

OK, how about double parking? Or triple parking? Is that OK too? Or parking in the fire lane in front of a grocery store while someone "runs in" to grab something? Or parking in a handicap spot since it's empty right now? All of that is entitled, antisocial behavior.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by ggplicks

Atlanta is a car city and the city needs to cater to that.

Are you kidding me? The city has been doing that since the end of World War II and it hasn't worked. Unless you think that the five-lane wide one-way streets that act as freeways are a good thing.