MARTA Upgrades (Atlanta: suburbs, cars, health)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

An all-of-the-above approach is probably going to work best. Heavy rail east on 20 and north on 400, light rail on the Beltline and the Clifton corridor, arterial buses on Buford Highway, and commuter rail all over the place.

The good thing about standard buses is that they don't take 12 years to plan, and implement. They don't require massive amounts of funding, and can be done in a purely responsive system. That's in contrast to the rail and dedicated-guideway systems that take a long time to fund, plan, and build, and as such must be built for now as well as the future.

This is why I'm not worried about trying to flood the area with buses right now and in stead of building light rail. We can do both, but we must ensure that we have enough high-capacity in the pipe so that it's in place to meet future needs. The rest of the buses can come along later, and as needed. In the mean time, we already have increases in service in place, and on the way.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

IIRC, that specific post was purely about the pending City of Atlanta expansions, and so wasn't looking at suburban access.

In general I agree with you. We had one heck of a commuter rail plan ready to go in 2006. If only we'd actually gone through with it. Alas.

Though, some clarification. The last two stations rail that opened up, did so in the last 17 years. Not great, but not as bad as the 30 years you said. Actually, in the past 30 years, we saw 12 rail stations open. In the past few years Clayton joined MARTA, and will likely see the first part of that very commuter rail plan instigated in another few years.

Check out transit4cobb.org to see the freshly launched campaign to bring better transit to Cobb county, with a similar one for Gwinnett coming soon.


I like this map, since it illustrates both the potential for MARTA to take up where the state failed in implementing commuter rail, with the current three counties, and full original five MARTA counties:

That initial Clayton County line will become a reality.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

We don't need to go whole hog on multi billion dollar rail projects, either. Just flood the zone with frequent, modern, efficient buses that pick people up where they are and take them where they need to go. They are ideal for our low density city and are easily adjusted to meet evolving demand.

Adding buses, without adding dedicated lanes, to already crowded roads will do nothing.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Adding buses, without adding dedicated lanes, to already crowded roads will do nothing.

Oh, I'd disagree with that. If you can keep up with car traffic you are doing just fine. Not many people take public transit with the expectation that it is faster than driving.

[ATLondoner]

Yeah I disagree too. Taking a bus when they are spaced out at 35, 45 or even 65 minute intervals is not happening for me.

But if I knew I could just turn up and a bus would be along every 15 minutes I'd be all about it.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Oh, I'd disagree with that. If you can keep up with car traffic you are doing just fine. Not many people take public transit with the expectation that it is faster than driving.

Then why are current local buses not full?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

Yeah I disagree too. Taking a bus when they are spaced out at 35, 45 or even 65 minute intervals is not happening for me.

But if I knew I could just turn up and a bus would be along every 15 minutes I'd be all about it.

If visiting destinations along Ponce do you use MARTA routes 2 or 102? They overlap and provide the corridor with 15 minute headways.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Then why are current local buses not full?

Because their meandering routes, and absurd headways make them utterly useless.

[primaltech]

I'm finding that the only thing I give a crap about anymore, is commuter rail. Because I'm virtually certain that's the only type of rail my area will ever get. Also because a few lines of it going in different directions could make a huge impact on the region, and the core city.

But mainly because trains are just plain cool. With commuter rail being perhaps the coolest, most train-like train around.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Because their meandering routes, and absurd headways make them utterly useless.

102 and 2 do not meet those accusations, connect East Side neighborhoods directly to Midtown, yet are not full.