Design Your Own MARTA Expansion (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: cost of living, medical center, parking)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

You can't interface light rail one of MARTA's heavy rail lines?

Not arguing, just asking.

They can cross/intersect at a station--no problem.


We only need more heavy rail for extensions on already existing heavy rail lines.


See link below for an example.

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/


Boston's Green Line(s) is(are) light rail.

Boston's Red, Blue, and Orange lines are heavy rail.

Light rail and heavy rail intersect in Boston.




More information...

The "D" branch of the Green Line functions like a light metro (see my recent earlier post on this thread).

The "B", "C", and "E" branches of the Green Line function like tram/streetcar/trolley (see my recent earlier post on this thread).



Los Angeles also has a combination of heavy rail and light rail lines on its metro.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by aries4118

They can cross/intersect at a station--no problem.

Thanks, aries. I can appreciate that a good connection might take some clever engineering but it sounds doable.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Thanks, aries. I can appreciate that a good connection might take some clever engineering but it sounds doable.

Nothing overly-clever required. The rail lines don't share tracks or cross at the same grade.


It would be just like at Five Points--if say, the red/gold lines were heavy rail and blue/green lines were light rail. Same station, just different levels, and different tracks.

[cqholt]

Here is a link to my MARTA expansion map.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authu...&hl=en&ie=UTF8

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Here is a link to my MARTA expansion map.

MARTA Expansion Map

Repost the link.

[green_mariner]

There are some people who are mentioning crime as far as MARTA goes. Some mentioned the malls. Well, this is what I am finding. Kennesaw State University, where I am currently in school, has been hit by thefts. Laptops have been stolen multiple times, by two different people. Lately there was someone who stole from the gym. Here is a link to it: The Marietta Daily Journal.

The gym thief is not a KSU student or faculty. He is from Sandy Springs and he didn't use MARTA to get to KSU. He didn't have to either. He got into Kennesaw by driving his Mercedes Benz C300.

Last time I checked, this is how MARTA and Cobb Transit work. If I want to get to Sandy Springs, I have to take the bus from KSU, ride it to Marietta, transfer to the 10/or 30 to a MARTA station, then take the MARTA train up to Sandy Springs. I should know this because I don't have a car and have needed to make trips to Doraville or Midtown. The transit in Atlanta is not very efficient.

I was a crime victim in Kennesaw myself. I was assaulted and robbed by three men in an apartment complex. They had an SUV and used it to try and escape. It could have worked because a car can go further than a train. However, the vehicle was identified and the perpetrators were apprehended.

All of this tells me one thing: Keeping MARTA out won't keep the crime out. So the argument of MARTA being "the perp train" according to a Sandy Springs police officer, just leads me to lead that isn't really all about crime.

What I described about metropolitan Atlanta's fragmented nature earlier in the post? Well, this is why I am in full favor of MARTA being extended out to Kennesaw, where I live, and out to Gwinnett County. It would certainly help me.

[StAubin]

This is all Heavey rail. It does not include light rail lines that will be built (I.E. the beltline)



I Know i will get blasted for keeping Five Points as the only hub. I did that because it is cheaper and is the one station set up to be a multi direction hub. Also alot of thees lines use provisions that are already in place.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by StAubin

This is all Heavey rail. It does not include light rail lines that will be built (I.E. the beltline)



I Know i will get blasted for keeping Five Points as the only hub. I did that because it is cheaper and is the one station set up to be a multi direction hub. Also alot of thees lines use provisions that are already in place.

Good. I would do something very similar--just with some modifications.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by aries4118

No, only extensions on current lines would need to be heavy rail.

All other new lines can be light rail, because people would have to change lines at stations/transfer stations anyway. For right-of-way light rail in Atlanta, I prefer the light metro/medium-capacity system version (#1). For surface streets (ie Peachtree and Downtown streetcars), I prefer the streetcar/tram/trolley version of light rail (#2).

1. Medium-capacity rail transport system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. Tram and light-rail transit systems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For example, the Belt Line can be light rail (tram or light metro)...it will cross the heavy rail blue and green lines at the new Cabbagetown Station (as well as other stations).

A light rail line (light metro!) from Gwinnett, through Tucker, Northlake, Leafmore, Emory, and Cheshire Bridge would cross the gold and red lines at the new Armour Valley Station (as well as other stations). This light rail line would then continue on to/through Brookwood, Atlantic Station, Hemphill Circle, West Midtown, on down to Grand Five Points.

Don't forget, though, that if the Cobb line is light rail (which it will most likely be), then that would require a connection to heavy rail, probably at or near Arts Center. By contrast, it would be theoretically possible to go nonstop from somewhere in Cobb County to the airport, were the line to be all heavy rail. Same goes for the Clifton Road corridor.

Originally Posted by aries4118

Nothing overly-clever required. The rail lines don't share tracks or cross at the same grade.


It would be just like at Five Points--if say, the red/gold lines were heavy rail and blue/green lines were light rail. Same station, just different levels, and different tracks.

Right. That may be what happens at Lindbergh once the Beltline is done.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Here is a link to my MARTA expansion map.

MARTA Expansion Map

Ah, this would be so nice. Talk about traffic relief for suburban commuters.

If they do get the Clifton Corridor built, it's going to be interesting to see how they route it. Personally, I could see the red line running from Lindbergh, through Clifton, onto the E-W line going westbound, and finally, absorbing the green line and running all the way to Bankhead. This would create the problem, however, of forcing people to transfer at Lindbergh for a more direct way into town. Or perhaps this line could start at Five Points, head east, loop through the Clifton Corridor, go through 5P again but southbound this time, and finish at the new international terminal? They could shorten the Green Line to Bankhead-Five Points to compensate.

BTW, where'd you get this tool? I'd love to experiment with it as well.