MARTA sees one of the highest heavy rail ridership increases in 2014 (Atlanta: train, car)

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by Pemgin

http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

Q2 2015 MARTA ridership numbers see a 3.12% year to date increase.

Second only to SF in ridership increases this year. In a city where apparently nobody likes public transit! I'd say that's a job well done.

(Can we not repeat the troll's memes though... it's bad enough I have to block them in the first place)

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Pemgin

http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

Q2 2015 MARTA ridership numbers see a 3.12% year to date increase. Even while supposedly smelling like p*ss!

Very nice. Looks like the number is practically the same for bus and rail ridership increases.

[whodean]

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by whodean

"Hey boss, the good news is that I'll be about an hour early. The bad news is that you'll have to wait until tomorrow for me to show up."

[skbl17]

Looking at that picture brings up the fact that Keith Parker, despite his good work, is not the total solution to all of MARTA's problems. I've been keeping a short list of problems over my various trips on MARTA..most of them are little things, but as whodean implied above, it's the little things that MARTA needs improvement on:

- I'm still trying to figure out why the "Dome-GWCC-CNN Center-Philips Arena" station hasn't been renamed to something more passenger-friendly.

- Also, why do some stations like Sandy Springs only have the information screens at one end of the platform, while stations like Arts Center have them everywhere?

- Why are most of the screens still the dot-matrix ones instead of the flat-screen computerized ones? Why do the screens at terminal stations (namely Doraville) not display any data until trains actually arrive? There are also upcoming train screens at the Doraville bus bay, but they're never on. Why?

- Speaking of the computerized screens, why is the one at Arts Center always showing a Chrome "Not Found" screen instead of data? It shouldn't be that hard to fix.

- Why does MARTA group CQ310s and CQ311s with CQ312s seemingly at random? The MTA doesn't group R62s with R142s.

- Trains are using three different sets of PA announcements. No joke, I was on a Gold Line train a month back, and the PA lady still mentioned the "Northeast Line" and outdated points of interest, as if it was 2006! There's another set (presumably from 2009) that does not have the "Federal law requires...", "At MARTA, we believe that...", or "Remember to keep an eye on..." announcements that the third set has. Where's the consistency?

- Why do some train operators fail to update the destination displays to display the correct destination? You wouldn't believe the number of times I got on a train going to the Airport but apparently "heading to North Springs", or the times they say "No Passengers" when there are clearly passengers, or when the operators find it fit to interrupt the nice PA lady to repeat or say information that has already been said, or there's no destination displayed...

- Plus, what's with the random slow zones...one week, the R/G line slow zone is gone, but it's back the following week? I know they're not doing work on those lines.

Yes, MARTA overall is better than it was in 2012, but come on, MARTA's not in 2012-style financial straits anymore! They can afford to provide a better experience for existing riders beyond improved wait times, train cameras, WiFi/LTE, and apps.

- skbl17

[toll_booth]

Responses below in bold.

Originally Posted by skbl17

Looking at that picture brings up the fact that Keith Parker, despite his good work, is not the total solution to all of MARTA's problems. I've been keeping a short list of problems over my various trips on MARTA..most of them are little things, but as whodean implied above, it's the little things that MARTA needs improvement on:

- I'm still trying to figure out why the "Dome-GWCC-CNN Center-Philips Arena" station hasn't been renamed to something more passenger-friendly. I have been saying this for years. Its nickname has literally become "One stop west of Five Points." Rename it to Omni Center already.

- Also, why do some stations like Sandy Springs only have the information screens at one end of the platform, while stations like Arts Center have them everywhere? Good question.

- Why are most of the screens still the dot-matrix ones instead of the flat-screen computerized ones? Why do the screens at terminal stations (namely Doraville) not display any data until trains actually arrive? There are also upcoming train screens at the Doraville bus bay, but they're never on. Why? That's a system glitch. At North Springs, they post projected times.

- Speaking of the computerized screens, why is the one at Arts Center always showing a Chrome "Not Found" screen instead of data? It shouldn't be that hard to fix. Because Trollface.

- Why does MARTA group CQ310s and CQ311s with CQ312s seemingly at random? The MTA doesn't group R62s with R142s.

- Trains are using three different sets of PA announcements. No joke, I was on a Gold Line train a month back, and the PA lady still mentioned the "Northeast Line" and outdated points of interest, as if it was 2006! There's another set (presumably from 2009) that does not have the "Federal law requires...", "At MARTA, we believe that...", or "Remember to keep an eye on..." announcements that the third set has. Where's the consistency? Yeah they need to fix that. Have all the trains been updated to have bilingual announcements and station notifications yet?

- Why do some train operators fail to update the destination displays to display the correct destination? You wouldn't believe the number of times I got on a train going to the Airport but apparently "heading to North Springs", or the times they say "No Passengers" when there are clearly passengers, or when the operators find it fit to interrupt the nice PA lady to repeat or say information that has already been said, or there's no destination displayed... Yeah this is just dumb. The only recourse is to ask passengers already on the train. Fortunately MARTA riders tend to be pretty helpful about this.

- Plus, what's with the random slow zones...one week, the R/G line slow zone is gone, but it's back the following week? I know they're not doing work on those lines. Are you talking about the slow zone between Arts Center and Lindbergh? I think that's because of the obnoxious wobbling of the trains on that stretch. But is it a potential derailment issue or just a quality-of-ride issue?

Yes, MARTA overall is better than it was in 2012, but come on, MARTA's not in 2012-style financial straits anymore! They can afford to provide a better experience for existing riders beyond improved wait times, train cameras, WiFi/LTE, and apps. The good news is that since they're on better financial footing, they can literally afford to take care of these things now. The bad news is that they haven't always done so in recent times. But you can let them know.

- skbl17

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Responses below in bold.

Regarding MARTA pairing up the 310/311s with the 312s, this is done for maximum operational flexibility (and was made possible when the older cars were rebuilt).

[skbl17]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Responses below in bold.

Actually, the slow zone isn't about wobbling trains, or else the slow zone would be permanent. MattCW and I have pointed this out a lot, but the trains on that stretch emerge from the tunnel, the speed limit drops to 50, then 37, then 25 for a ~1 mile stretch between I-85 and the bend where the line turns away from I-85. Wobbling isn't the problem, because the trains on the Red Line travel handle that curve between Medical Center and GA 400 at speeds of ~55 just fine.

It's even worse on the Blue Line between East Lake and Avondale, where the train just slogs along at ~20 mph for that entire stretch.

- skbl17

[Ant131531]

You also have to remember that it's growing during a time of low gas prices. MARTA is doing well as far as ridership growth.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by skbl17

Actually, the slow zone isn't about wobbling trains, or else the slow zone would be permanent. MattCW and I have pointed this out a lot, but the trains on that stretch emerge from the tunnel, the speed limit drops to 50, then 37, then 25 for a ~1 mile stretch between I-85 and the bend where the line turns away from I-85. Wobbling isn't the problem, because the trains on the Red Line travel handle that curve between Medical Center and GA 400 at speeds of ~55 just fine.

It's even worse on the Blue Line between East Lake and Avondale, where the train just slogs along at ~20 mph for that entire stretch.

- skbl17

For your first post, you're spot on "you can't give reputation to skbl17 again"

But yes, I noticed it disappeared one day while I was at work, then it was back the next week. That's my biggest problem with the Parker administration, not only are old problems not getting fixed, new problems are appearing, and not getting fixed while the weekend single-tracking slogs on, turning away dozens if not hundreds of potential new riders. If the system were being improved, then fine, but it's not and by all accounts is getting worse. The Parker administration seems more interested on the "ooh shiny" to dangle in front of the media, but fails to understand what "reliable system" means or why it's important!