Time to invest in the region's future — or others might not

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Ride 85 south at 8 in the morning at druid hills and see how many gwinnett tags that are on the road

Downtown isn't the primary destination for Gwinnett commuters; however, the extent that Gwinnett residents want to get downtown, why can't they simply go to one of the many MARTA stations on the north side of Atlanta? The trains are not even near capacity.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Downtown isn't the primary destination for Gwinnett commuters; however, the extent that Gwinnett residents want to get downtown, why can't they simply go to one of the many MARTA stations on the north side of Atlanta? The trains are not even near capacity.

I see you never ride marta with that statement

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

I see you never ride marta with that statement

Oh, don't be silly. The MARTA trains have plenty of capacity.

[cqholt]

Downtown isn't the primary destination for Gwinnett commuters; however, the extent that Gwinnett residents want to get downtown, why can't they simply go to one of the many MARTA stations on the north side of Atlanta? The trains are not even near capacity

Not during rush hour. How many suburban commuters, used to riding by themselves, are going to stand on a train?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Other metro areas are investing in their transportation systems, if we don't start now we will be left behind.

Many of those other metro areas don't have anything like MARTA in place, though, so they're starting from a much lower point in terms of mass transit.

That isn't reason for Atlanta to stop completely (as it seemingly has been), but it does suggest that Atlanta may not be in that bad a condition relatively speaking. The core foundation here is very very good.

[cqholt]

The core foundation here is very very good

Your right, Atlanta has the only true Heavy Rail system in any SunBelt state, or outside of NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC, or Boston. Not even LA can touch MARTA's rail system. We just need LRT, Streetcars, BRT, or expanded HRT to compliment the HRT backbone.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Your right, Atlanta has the only true Heavy Rail system in any SunBelt state, or outside of NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC, or Boston. Not even LA can touch MARTA's rail system. We just need LRT, Streetcars, BRT, or expanded HRT to compliment the HRT backbone.

Don't forget Miami. Not the best but it is heavy rail.

[cqholt]

It is 1 line, same as Baltimore. Not really a system.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Not during rush hour. How many suburban commuters, used to riding by themselves, are going to stand on a train?

OK...so taking your statement as fact (and having grown up in NY riding the subway and standing, I'm not sure it is correct), how would extending the MARTA line to north Gwinnett change this dynamic? If suburban commuters won't stand and ride, how do you increase capacity on a 2 track line?

[cqholt]

If suburban commuters won't stand and ride, how do you increase capacity on a 2 track line?

Add more frequency.