ATLANTA SUBURBAN CHOICE( Heavy Rail-Light Rail-Commuter Rail) (Marietta, Smyrna: incomes, taxes)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by oobanks

My honest Opinion is that HRT makes sense from the standpoint the layout is already here and Marta knows how to run that Type of rail, hands down, but we all know, thats in a perfect world . What would be nice though is to see Marta run HRT in Fulton, Dekalb and Clayton Counties even with its extensions up to North Fulton into Alpharetta and in Clayton County down to Jonesboro. Marta sould also Take over the Atlanta Streetcar from the City of Atlanta, it would just do a better job at running it, hands down. Let Cobb and Gwinnett continue to run their own Bus Transit and each system should create their own Light Rail System thats operated and ran in their own Counties and Connects to Marta HRT, this will cut down on all the Suburban and City Strife and let these Suburban counties keep their Suburban feel and individuality.. The State(GRTA) Should Create an Extensive Commuter Rail system and a Cross County Light Rail for Cobb, North Fulton and Gwinnett, along with Xpress Buses connecting all Systems through out the region and Future Rail Expansions down to Macon-Bibb and possibly Athens-Clark. This would be my Transit Plan for the Region and keep every one in their own lane and happy so peace could be kept between all parties...

Allowing each county to run it's own LRT system would force too many transfer and duplicate maintenance yards. MARTA has the only experience in GA on running rail based transit and on top of that they have been doing it for over 35 years.

[oobanks]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Allowing each county to run it's own LRT system would force too many transfer and duplicate maintenance yards. MARTA has the only experience in GA on running rail based transit and on top of that they have been doing it for over 35 years.

Agreed... But will they let Marta do it is the question. Marta is accepted in Clayton and fits in more with Fulton and Dekalb in the Marta Equation. Cobb an Gwinnett are Totally different beast all Together and they want to keep that Suburban Idenity and Marta out of its equation for some reason but Gwinnett will give before Cobb would even think about it. Another thing, the Northern Suburban counites dont care about Transfers and what makes sense or the convience of being connected to one System or Marta would already be running in those two counties and it would be no CCT or Gwinnett County Transit. Its almost like they are trying to Keep their own Autonomy while being apart of a large Metro Area and out of the Marta inner City stigma for some reason.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by oobanks

Agreed... But will they let Marta do it is the question. Marta is accepted in Clayton and fits in more with Fulton and Dekalb in the Marta Equation. Cobb an Gwinnett are Totally different beast all Together and they want to keep that Suburban Idenity and Marta out of its equation for some reason but Gwinnett will give before Cobb would even think about it. Another thing, the Northern Suburban counites dont care about Transfers and what makes sense or the convience of being connected to one System or Marta would already be running in those two counties and it would be no CCT or Gwinnett County Transit. Its almost like they are trying to Keep their own Autonomy while being apart of a large Metro Area and out of the Marta inner City stigma for some reason.

I think they want to control their own tax money. CCT's heaviest local routes connect to MARTA stations.
And I would argue that Cobb and Gwinnett are trying to keep a suburban identity. Cobb has Cumberland, which is densifying and trying to become more mixed use. Gwinnett has pockets of activity nodes where transit villages would be perfect.

[tikigod311]

I think the arguments against MARTA are becoming invalid. As MARTA continues to improve at such a rapid pace, it really is showing it's value and competency. I bet a poll 5 years ago, now, and 5 years in the future is going to show a significant change in public perception.

The more transfers we add in to a commute, the less MUCH likely someone is to use it. I am a testament to that myself. People don't have time to bake in 15-30 minute variables in their commute.

If we have learned one thing from the streetcar, it's that we should leave transit to the experts...

[HH82]

If the MMPT never gets built, (here's hoping, but it seems like it's completely stalled out right now) and commuter lines are ever in demand from the suburban counties, it would at least be worth considering just having commuter rail on shared freight lines connect at certain points with MARTA heavy rail near the perimeter. Doraville for points northeast, East Point for all points south, and maybe Avondale for Stone Mountain and points east to start with, just to avoid having to share the freight lines through the congested areas of downtown. It would obviously require a transfer, which is less than ideal, but it's still transit progress. It'd be nice if MARTA ran those commuter lines, but even if it's another agency or private companies, it's an alternative to driving. It's not a perfect solution, but maybe it's something to start with. All that said...more MARTA funding, please.

[AfternoonCoffee]

Originally Posted by magnetar

Every one of the reasons you mentioned is a factor. And so is racism. This is abundantly clear in the both implicit and explicit arguments voiced in dissent of Cobb joining MARTA over the years. You may fail to see it by choice or by ignorance, but it's there nonetheless.

Ouch! I don't see it because I don't see it.

I didn't say racism doesn't exist in Cobb. And I didn't say racism hasn't been a factor in Cobb's long history of rejecting MARTA. I AM saying that currently, today in 2015 I do NOT think racism is factor in Cobb's lingering reluctance to join MARTA. There aren't enough racists left to make a bit of difference. Have you been to Cobb recently? It's incredibly diverse with regards to race, ethnicities, incomes, education, etc. Cobb is a far cry from the lily-white enclave of good ol' boys and ladies fanning themselves on the front porch that posters here on CD so desperately want it to be. Y'all need to start looking for a new boogie man.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by HH82

If the MMPT never gets built, (here's hoping, but it seems like it's completely stalled out right now) and commuter lines are ever in demand from the suburban counties, it would at least be worth considering just having commuter rail on shared freight lines connect at certain points with MARTA heavy rail near the perimeter. Doraville for points northeast, East Point for all points south, and maybe Avondale for Stone Mountain and points east to start with, just to avoid having to share the freight lines through the congested areas of downtown. It would obviously require a transfer, which is less than ideal, but it's still transit progress. It'd be nice if MARTA ran those commuter lines, but even if it's another agency or private companies, it's an alternative to driving. It's not a perfect solution, but maybe it's something to start with. All that said...more MARTA funding, please.

We would mostlikely have this even if the MMPT were built. Having a station or two ITP is a good thing, especially if it connects to existing transit. That could be MARTA HRT, Clifton Corridor LRT, Beltline LRT, etc.

[cqholt]

Atlanta Freight railroad usage

[evannole]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Atlanta Freight railroad usage

Good map, thanks for posting.

I wish that the northwest line through Marietta could be used for commuter rail. I could easily walk to the station. Unfortunately, this map makes visually clear what I already know to be the case : that line already carries an enormous amount of traffic. I hear the trains all the time, sometimes multiple times per hour. I live just far enough from the crossings that the sound of the horn is mostly soothing rather than jarring.

One could probably squeeze a passenger train or two per hour onto that line, if CSX wanted to play ball, but more frequency would probably be necessary to make the service commercially viable. Additionally, they'd have to find a way to implement double-tracking in Vinings and elsewhere. I frequently see trains along Atlanta Road pulled over on one of the two tracks along that stretch, presumably waiting for the single-tracked stretch in Vinings to clear. There's not much right of way for them to play with near the Vinings crossing, but perhaps it could be done. Pulling passenger trains over to the side to wait for that section to clear would probably doom the service commercially.

Let's hope they eventually find a way to make it work.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by evannole

Good map, thanks for posting.

I wish that the northwest line through Marietta could be used for commuter rail. I could easily walk to the station. Unfortunately, this map makes visually clear what I already know to be the case : that line already carries an enormous amount of traffic. I hear the trains all the time, sometimes multiple times per hour. I live just far enough from the crossings that the sound of the horn is mostly soothing rather than jarring.

One could probably squeeze a passenger train or two per hour onto that line, if CSX wanted to play ball, but more frequency would probably be necessary to make the service commercially viable. Additionally, they'd have to find a way to implement double-tracking in Vinings and elsewhere. I frequently see trains along Atlanta Road pulled over on one of the two tracks along that stretch, presumably waiting for the single-tracked stretch in Vinings to clear. There's not much right of way for them to play with near the Vinings crossing, but perhaps it could be done. Pulling passenger trains over to the side to wait for that section to clear would probably doom the service commercially.

Let's hope they eventually find a way to make it work.

I can't believe the railroads haven't at least double tracked everything in the NW corridor. Railroads have a lot of power.