WaPo: A lonely road

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You sound like an expert at transportation engineering, where did you get your degree and years of experience? Why don't you work for MARTA, where people much smarter and more experience than any of us at running a subway system?

It's perfectly legit to comment on the system. I doubt that everybody who works there is loaded with expertise but even if they were, others may have valid observations as well. After all, this is PUBLIC transportation.

That being said, I believe the system has improved under Parker. It's not so much at the level of micro-management as in setting the organization's tone and long term goals. MARTA has gone from being an agency that everybody loved to pile onto as an inept bureaucratic mess, to one that is seen as improving and professional. Just changing the public perception is a significant victory.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It's perfectly legit to comment on the system. I doubt that everybody who works there is loaded with expertise but even if they were, others may have valid observations as well. After all, this is PUBLIC transportation.

That being said, I believe the system has improved under Parker. It's not so much at the level of micro-management as in setting the organization's tone and long term goals. MARTA has gone from being an agency that everybody loved to pile onto as an inept bureaucratic mess, to one that is seen as improving and professional. Just changing the public perception is a significant victory.

I was referring to him commenting on his critique of MARTA's personnel on moving a disabled train. I bet none of us on here have any experience on coordinating the movement of rush hour trains at a busy station, around a disabled train, while keeping thousands of people safe.
I have no issue with negative comments on the train, in fact I was upset with the handling of the westbound trains before the Falcons game, I twitted my comments to MARTA, so I am not some ultimate fanboy. I understand that there are people who are smarter than us at his stuff.

[arjay57]

I hear you, cq.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You sound like an expert at transportation engineering, where did you get your degree and years of experience? Why don't you work for MARTA, where people much smarter and more experience than any of us at running a subway system?

Originally Posted by cqholt

I was referring to him commenting on his critique of MARTA's personnel on moving a disabled train. I bet none of us on here have any experience on coordinating the movement of rush hour trains at a busy station, around a disabled train, while keeping thousands of people safe.
I have no issue with negative comments on the train, in fact I was upset with the handling of the westbound trains before the Falcons game, I twitted my comments to MARTA, so I am not some ultimate fanboy. I understand that there are people who are smarter than us at his stuff.

It's the same procedure as they use EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and most weekends when they truncate the Red Line to Lindbergh. Clear the train, then into the pocket track. The only special move would be crossing the NB main into Armour, but still, that's a minute's worth of delay, not 20.

And what about their inability to even maintain the system they already have? The Decatur slow-zone has expanded, and that new one between the Arts Center tunnel and Armour has appeared. Is MARTA still "doing their best" with those?

[Caleb Longstreet]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

For the poor in the Deep South

Interesting article on transportation in the metro and the impact that it has on the working poor to reach their jobs from the suburb to suburb.



Thoughts?

if there is a guy in Detroit that walks ten miles to and from work, then certainly more can handle this public transportation commute? Imagine the alternative if there were no public transport.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet

if there is a guy in Detroit that walks ten miles to and from work, then certainly more can handle this public transportation commute? Imagine the alternative if there were no public transport.

I saw this guy on the news like back in September, but whatever the powers that be did give him a car. Just because you can or are willing to do something does not make it a good idea. I mean seriously, I would not 10 miles to and fro anywhere on a daily basis unless it involved my or a loved ones medical treatment. If it was for a job, I'd have to figure out a new plan. Of things that can be said, this man did since he has a new car.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

It's the same procedure as they use EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and most weekends when they truncate the Red Line to Lindbergh. Clear the train, then into the pocket track. The only special move would be crossing the NB main into Armour, but still, that's a minute's worth of delay, not 20.

And what about their inability to even maintain the system they already have? The Decatur slow-zone has expanded, and that new one between the Arts Center tunnel and Armour has appeared. Is MARTA still "doing their best" with those?

You would have to ask the experts about the slow zones, but if it is for the safety of the riders then I see no amount of time saving be more valuable than 90 seconds.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Then you don't ride it. The Red/Gold slow zone just north of the Arts Center tunnel costs 90 seconds per train, or 1.5 minutes. Times 6 trains per hour is 9 minutes, times two directions is 18 minutes, times two lines is 36 minutes for each hour during the 10 minute headways.

Just a few weeks ago, I was listening to the daily fowl-up in the morning (I have a scanner that can receive MARTA's transmissions). It took them 20 minutes to get a disabled train (due to door problems...) at Lindbergh out of the way, all the while playing games with the other trains. Once the train was clear of passengers, they could have run it into the pocket track and waited till the next gap in NB trains to run it into Armour. But did they do that? Oh no, they had to run SB trains reverse through Lindbergh (SB on NB track) which clogged up the NB trains which were being told to hold as far away as East Point! The SB trains had to cross back over at Arts Center because they were moving the disabled train into the pocket track, but then once it was in there, they still had to hold the SB and NB trains while they reconfigured the routes. So instead of just making the two immediately-following SB trains hold short of Lindbergh and hold up a few passengers for the 5 minutes to clear the main, they held up EVERYONE northbound and southbound alike! I listened to just about the entire thing and their lame yakety-sax-esque attempts to do...something. Hrm, maybe MARTA's philosophy is to treat everyone equally: "A few people are going to be late to work, so let's make EVERYONE late to work!"

How about that on-time performance?

Parker has said that since taking over the ailing transit agency in late 2012, his main priority was to get MARTA’s financial house in order before seeking more money from state or local taxpayers. But on Thursday, he said MARTA has posted three back-to-back years of budget surpluses and has $200 million in reserves.

Ridership increased from 129 million to 136 million passengers rides between the last fiscal year that ended June 30 and the fiscal year prior. And on-time performance for buses and trains in 2015 was a near perfect 96 percent.