What is the One Thing MARTA Should do Most? (Atlanta: schools, train)

[Esteban5]

Originally Posted by scpatl4now

If you could select one thing that MARTA should do that would give you more confidence it the system as a whole...what would it be? It also should be something doable. Now that we have a new manager...what can/should he do?

Break even, or even generate a surplus to fund future expansion.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Esteban5

Break even, or even generate a surplus to fund future expansion.

Mass transit agencies do not break even or generate revenue in north america.

[scpatl4now]

There is something he wants to do that actually sounds promising. Instead of just going out and privatizing services, he wants to have the "in house" component actually compete with the private entity for the business. Whichever provides the best service at the best price will win the contract. I think thats a great idea (and its being received pretty well at MARTOC too)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by scpatl4now

There is something he wants to do that actually sounds promising. Instead of just going out and privatizing services, he wants to have the "in house" component actually compete with the private entity for the business. Whichever provides the best service at the best price will win the contract. I think thats a great idea (and its being received pretty well at MARTOC too)

Sounds like he'll do well with the republican oversight committee.

[scpatl4now]

We can only hope. He has been spending a lot of time with Rep. Jacobs trying to build a relationship and trust...but 40 years of just the opposite will be hard to overcome...but it looks good so far

[cqholt]

It would seem MARTA having bathrooms open to the public only at transfer and terminal stations is better than most larger transit systems, Why Don't American Subway Stations Have Public Bathrooms? - Commute - The Atlantic Cities. WMATA designed most of its stations without bathrooms.

[SAAN]

Have plain clothes and regular police walk from car to car like in the 90's. I cant count the amount of loud vulgar inappropriate conversations on the E/W rail at times, the loud & vulgar wanna be rappers on the trains, and the amount of people that thinks there ipod should be so loud you can hear it from 10+feet away while some of them sing along to it as well.


And also to start by teaching some of its employees to speak proper basic English. There is no reason a grown man/woman should say:

Yo neh stop is Five Pernts, transfer for da naw, sow, eee, weh rail lines or Kang Memeereal is the neh station...this is not a southern accent, it is plain ignorance.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Have plain clothes and regular police walk from car to car like in the 90's. I cant count the amount of loud vulgar inappropriate conversations on the E/W rail at times, the loud & vulgar wanna be rappers on the trains, and the amount of people that thinks there ipod should be so loud you can hear it from 10+feet away while some of them sing along to it as well.


And also to start by teaching some of its employees to speak proper basic English. There is no reason a grown man/woman should say:

Yo neh stop is Five Pernts, transfer for da naw, sow, eee, weh rail lines or Kang Memeereal is the neh station...this is not a southern accent, it is plain ignorance.

That gives me another idea. Well they already have automated announcements, but my idea is to change it to the robotic voice like the train in the Atlanta Airport used to have back in the 80's.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

That gives me another idea. Well they already have automated announcements, but my idea is to change it to the robotic voice like the train in the Atlanta Airport used to have back in the 80's.

Uh, that thing was cool, but...almost impossible to understand. :X

[ANDS!]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Yo neh stop is Five Pernts, transfer for da naw, sow, eee, weh rail lines or Kang Memeereal is the neh station...this is not a southern accent, it is plain ignorance.

Yea they're the ones that sound ignorant. I have been on MARTA at all times of the day, and while the conductors absolutely have an accent, to even suggest it sounds remotely close to what you are suggesting is ridiculous. At the very least, intimating that it is endemic enough to generalize to the entirety of the organization makes you look foolish.

As for what I would like from MARTA, it seems the transit system in regards to payment has been OVERSIMPLIFIED to the point where a quick jaunt to the grocery store is going to cost you 4 or 5 bucks no matter how you slice it. Where I'm from, one way rides are much cheaper than transfers. I will say the transfers here last longer, though why you can't use it on the same bus is beyond me (again the grocery example).