Is MARTA Up, Down or the Same? (Atlanta, Tucker: house, neighborhood)

[KevK]

I have noticed that the west-east trains seem to be more crowded. Is ridership up? If so, they need to add some more trains!

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by KevK

I have noticed that the west-east trains seem to be more crowded. Is ridership up? If so, they need to add some more trains!

LOL--KevK--guess you need to 'give them a call'. I would if I used that part of MARTA. I'm enough of a pragmatist to also believe that it wouldn't do much good.

Some of the posters like ??AtlantaGreg that keep up with transportation in and around the metro area may know what is going on. I worry about AtlantaGreg's blood pressure at times--he seems to have some effectual ideas and gets pretty disgusted about the lack of foresight and planning.

He is probably the poster you want/need.

I just use the north line from Chamblee to 5 Points--haven't noticed much change. Bus drivers seem to be dealing with a lot of 'Stress' or something--at least one. Most of them seem to really like driving those buses--guess that's a guy thing. Anything larger than a Civic is too much vehicle for me. LOL

[chip1980]

You know that most of the people who complain about traffic live OTP while working downtown. Those are the same people who dont want Marta in there neighborhood so I dont know what to do. I have a friend that complain about traffic but he lives in Lawrenceville and works downtown...SMH

[Atlantasfinest]

I ride the East-West line and have definately noticed an increase in the number of patrons during the rush hour ride times. Also I ride the North-South line to the Airport at least two times round-trip per month on leisure/biz trips and have noticed an increase on the number of customers as well. I guess those gas prices are encourging more people to ride Marta , which is a good thing. Hopefully when It comes time to vote on Marta referendums people in the outlying areas that need it most will act swiftly.

[PeteyNice]

MARTA still can't get out of its own way. Last weekend, when the connector was a parking lot with all of the lane closures, MARTA had reduced service on the north/south line and no North Springs trains from downtown. I understand that they need to do track work but if they can't leverage traffic nightmares like that to increase service then there is a problem.

[Merin]

I ride both lines to work. To me it seems as if ridership is up.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

Some of the posters like ??AtlantaGreg that keep up with transportation in and around the metro area may know what is going on. I worry about AtlantaGreg's blood pressure at times--he seems to have some effectual ideas and gets pretty disgusted about the lack of foresight and planning.

Nah, my blood pressure is fine (mostly). But it sometimes gives me gas when I get riled up.

Regarding ridership - from my understanding, there is somewhat of an increase in ridership due to the gas prices in general, but the East/West line also goes into areas where there is a higher concentration of people who do not own/cannot afford cars, or more specifically, can't afford the gas to run what they might own.

The North/South line goes from the Airport to the Northern stations, and has many more stops that fall into areas where the "average" income is in the upper-middle to even high income brackets (Lindberg, Buckhead/Lenox, Brookhaven, etc). The East/West line is the opposite with many stops in lower-middle to lower income areas, so with an increase in gas prices, you'll see more folks hoofing it to MARTA on that line. Once it hits $5.00 per gallon and more, even the suburban North-to-South line riders will jump more heavily as well.

Regarding bus drivers. I don't ever remember seeing a "friendly" MARTA bus driver when I used to ride them. I'm sure they exist. Somewhere.

[south-to-west]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Nah, my blood pressure is fine (mostly). But it sometimes gives me gas when I get riled up.

Regarding ridership - from my understanding, there is somewhat of an increase in ridership due to the gas prices in general, but the East/West line also goes into areas where there is a higher concentration of people who do not own/cannot afford cars, or more specifically, can't afford the gas to run what they might own.

The North/South line goes from the Airport to the Northern stations, and has many more stops that fall into areas where the "average" income is in the upper-middle to even high income brackets (Lindberg, Buckhead/Lenox, Brookhaven, etc). The East/West line is the opposite with many stops in lower-middle to lower income areas, so with an increase in gas prices, you'll see more folks hoofing it to MARTA on that line. Once it hits $5.00 per gallon and more, even the suburban North-to-South line riders will jump more heavily as well.

Regarding bus drivers. I don't ever remember seeing a "friendly" MARTA bus driver when I used to ride them. I'm sure they exist. Somewhere.

Greg always fights the good fight when it comes to public transport. His analysis is dead-on. However, there are some "friendly" bus drivers out there. I've had the pleasure to have them as my driver a couple of times.

As far as Greg's gas...well maybe we've found the ultimate source of alternative fuel.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by chip1980

You know that most of the people who complain about traffic live OTP while working downtown. Those are the same people who dont want Marta in there neighborhood so I dont know what to do. I have a friend that complain about traffic but he lives in Lawrenceville and works downtown...SMH

I'd like to see MARTA run a line by my house along the Silver Comet Trail, but then again I don't complain about traffic.

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Nah, my blood pressure is fine (mostly). But it sometimes gives me gas when I get riled up.

Well, Greg--you are doing better than I am. I have the Boomer 3--stress related illnesses--mainly caused by living in DeKalb/traffic on N. Druid Hills Rd--roaring high BP, high cholesterol and diabetes. That is when you just say --'Thank G for Emory'.

I won't even try to discuss all that has gone wrong with healthcare but Emory seems to be capable of addressing the issues--straightening out the mess being made by 'some'.

~~

Regarding bus drivers. I don't ever remember seeing a "friendly" MARTA bus driver when I used to ride them. I'm sure they exist. Somewhere.

~~~

The bus drivers that drive the routes around Executive Park/Chamblee/Tucker are very nice. I got in trouble because I didn't think the Breeze card had worked properly. It was a woman driver and she just said--'I'm don't have to put up with this 'S' ' and called for security,
He explained how the Breeze card worked--since I hadn't been riding the bus/train--nothing more was done. That was last fall.

LOL--we should get together sometime and I'll tell you more about 'Last Fall'--had an encounter in a MacDonald's that changed my life and finally led to the traffic signals on N. Druid Hills Rd being fixed.

Born on '911' --like Tina Turner/Proud Mary said--'We don't do nothin' easy'--after that I decided I should seriously consider a different way of being.

Stopped listening to Boortz and that has really helped.