MARTA unveils its dream project list for November Referendum (Atlanta: shuttle, place)

[cqholt]

Atlanta’s vote will create a wider divide in our region between the transit rich and the transit poor – the communities with a robust rail and bus system and the communities without.

The city has been enjoying the benefits from its investment in MARTA in recent years. Most of the major economic development announcements have been located near MARTA stations, and most of those have been within the city limits. Think NCR Corporation, GE, Kaiser Permanente, among many others.

The counties without a rail transit system are seeing several of their top companies relocating to places served by MARTA, reversing the decades-long trend of businesses moving to the suburbs.

http://urbanist.typepad.com/.a/6a00d...27d9970c-800wi

[fourthwarden]

I really hope we can get federal matching as we get to actually building everything out...

We also need to continue to push for more transit within the metro as a whole. It's great that the city is seeing this investment, but the whole metro needs a system (commuter rail) to support growth in a sustainable way.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

I really hope we can get federal matching as we get to actually building everything out...

We also need to continue to push for more transit within the metro as a whole. It's great that the city is seeing this investment, but the whole metro needs a system (commuter rail) to support growth in a sustainable way.

If we had a MPO with any teeth or a governor who would step up we could have that, of course it would require raising taxes somehow to pay for it, which some areas would be for. All this complaining about MARTA not having any plans to present to Cobb, why isn't some of that anger directed at GODT or GRTA? They have less limitations how where they can spend money and operate.

[netdragon]

The counties without a rail transit system are seeing several of their top companies relocating to places served by MARTA, reversing the decades-long trend of businesses moving to the suburbs.

You are rolling in the mud instead of seeing the whole picture.

Plenty more companies move in like Synovus and Comcast, and Home Depot expanding.

MARTA doesn't just not connect to Cobb County, it doesn't even serve NW Atlanta. Total fail for that part of the city. MARTA fails parts of Atlanta itself. CCT will always be self-serving as well, as will GCT.

It's time to have capital spending be handled by the state, ARC, and GRTA, not by MARTA, CCT and Gwinnett. MARTA, CCT, and Gwinnett can operate trains on the rail in any county they want to for their own self-serving needs.

Also, the whole "wheel and spoke" concept is a failure. There needs to be rail bypasses, e.g. between Cobb and North Fulton on I-285 top-end. Light rail would be fine for that since passenger count wouldn't be as huge as the main trunk. Speed would be the important factor, and having sidings for express trains.

Originally Posted by cqholt

why isn't some of that anger directed at GODT or GRTA? They have less limitations how where they can spend money and operate.

I think GRTA has been doing a good job w/ Xpress (and I'm a daily Xpress user btw). They operate like coaches and just added wifi and have been once again increasing ridership. They also built the park and rides for Xpress right by Georgia Passenger Rail designated commuter stations. So it's forward-thinking.

GDOT, otoh, needs to get with it. They have done pretty good for Xpress on I-75 cooridor and I-85 cooridor with the HOT lanes, but now need to start paying attention to I-20 and also some of the secondary highways that Xpress uses.

And as a temporary solution, they can upgrade shoulders for Xpress use.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by netdragon

And seeing plenty more companies move in like Synovus.

MARTA doesn't just not connect to Cobb County, it doesn't even serve NW Atlanta. Total fail for that part of the city.

Again are we referring only to rail, because you need to express that?
Bus route 12 serves that corridor, with more frequent service between the office buildings at Howell Mill at Northside and Midtown Station.
MARTA

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by netdragon

MARTA doesn't just not connect to Cobb County, it doesn't even serve NW Atlanta. Total fail for that part of the city. MARTA fails parts of Atlanta itself. CCT will always be self-serving as well, as will GCT.

Wait, yeah, are you only talking about rail here? There are a few bus lines that serve NW Atlanta, including one that goes INTO Cobb. There used to be more, but there just wasn't the ridership for them to stay in service. We may see them come back, but there're plans to upgrade service on Route 12 in the mean time, even going so far as to turn it into ART if Fulton gets on board with MARTA expansion.

You'll never get 100% coverage, nor should you since that would be a waste of effort and resources, but it's MUCH better than CCT's and GCT's limited coverage.

It's time to have capital spending be handled by the state, ARC, and GRTA, not by MARTA, CCT and Gwinnett.

MARTA is a state-level agency who the state chooses not to give (much, if any) funding. If the state decided to fund MARTA properly, I doubt MARTA would complain.

If Gwinnett and Cobb joined MARTA, then it would be the full-fledged inner-metro transit agency it was meant to be. GRTA can operate everything past that, since it would be a different level of service needed for the outer counties.

Besides, GRTA, or any truely state-controlled agency would be focusing on the needs of suburban and exurban to even rural peoples in the metro. That's not a bad thing, unless it comes at the expense of the needed urban projects.

That's why it's a good idea to keep MARTA seperate instead of folding it into another agency: to preserve the needs of two different service levels.

MARTA builds and operates in the much more dense urban core counties, while GRTA takes on the more far-flung suburban and exurban counties.

MARTA, CCT, and Gwinnett can operate trains on the rail in any county they want to for their own self-serving needs.

This sentence makes zero sense. MARTA can not, by law, operate in a county without some form of contract with that county. Cobb has contracts with MARTA to run buses into its county in a few places, but nothing more.

MARTA CAN NOT run a rail line into, say, Douglas county, unless the county gave the okay for that route.

Also, the whole "wheel and spoke" concept is a failure. There needs to be rail bypasses, e.g. between Cobb and North Fulton on I-285 top-end. Light rail would be fine for that since passenger count wouldn't be as huge as the main trunk. Speed would be the important factor, and having sidings for express trains.

The problem isn't the wheel and spoke concept, rather that there is no wheel to the spokes. The bypass you talk about is an arc of the wheel. It would also likely need to be heavy rail to handle the large passenger load it would carry.

If Cobb and Gwinnett joined MARTA, heavy rail could be built up I-75 and I-85, and then a top-end line could use those tracks as well.

I think GRTA has been doing a good job w/ Xpress (and I'm a daily Xpress user btw). They operate like coaches and just added wifi and have been once again increasing ridership. They also built the park and rides for Xpress right by Georgia Passenger Rail designated commuter stations. So it's forward-thinking.

Yes, GRTA has been doing well.

GDOT, otoh, needs to get with it. They have done pretty good for Xpress on I-75 cooridor and I-85 cooridor with the HOT lanes, but now need to start paying attention to I-20 and also some of the secondary highways that Xpress uses.

And as a temporary solution, they can upgrade shoulders for Xpress use.

GDoT is limited in what they can build by what the state approves for them to build, and then funds. The state has pick of projects for GDoT, not the other way around, or else we'd already have commuter rail.

[primaltech]

netdragon is totally correct. I live maybe a mile outside the Atlanta city limits, and there's nowhere anywhere near for me to park and ride an end of the line MARTA train, and that still won't be the case at all, even after this multi-billion dollar multi-decade expansion. Even if I lived a mile inside the city/Fulton, I still wouldn't be able to. The Cobb County part is irrelevant.

NW Atlanta, I-75 ITP corridor should have had a line with park&ride commuter stations, already in place decades ago. Out to Mt. Paran Rd @ 41/75.

I mean, then, at least the Cumberland/Smyrna/Marietta area could have a decent place for CCT buses to connect to, like Norcross has Doraville Station. And we'd be talking about only maybe a $200 million project to extend the rails 1-2 miles to Cumberland, instead of $2 billion massive project or whatever it would cost now.

[cqholt]

MARTA= state-level agency, funded by sales tax and fare box revenue. Local control via the MARTA board. State leg. oversight committee MARTOC.
GRTA= state-level agency, funded by general funds. No local control,

The Board of Directors is comprised of 15 members, all of whom have been chosen by the Governor from among the ranks of top private and public sector leaders throughout metro Atlanta. Board members provide strategic guidance and direction to address our state’s transportation challenges and to provide the best return to the taxpayers of Georgia on their investment in transportation

Board of Directors | GRTA Executive Director is also chosen by the governor.

Chris was appointed Executive Director in December 2014. Chris also serves as the Executive Director for the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA), Georgia’s toll operator and transportation bond financing authority, and as a member of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) Board of Directors. Prior to joining GRTA, Chris served as General Counsel for agencies including the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Georgia Technology Authority and the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission. He is a *** laude political science graduate from Morehouse College and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgia State University College of Law.

Leadership | GRTA

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by primaltech

netdragon is totally correct. I live maybe a mile outside the Atlanta city limits, and there's nowhere anywhere near for me to park and ride an end of the line MARTA train, and that still won't be the case at all, even after this multi-billion dollar multi-decade expansion. Even if I lived a mile inside the city/Fulton, I still wouldn't be able to. The Cobb County part is irrelevant.

NW Atlanta, I-75 ITP corridor should have had a line with park&ride commuter stations, already in place decades ago. Out to Mt. Paran Rd @ 41/75.

I mean, then, at least the Cumberland/Smyrna/Marietta area could have a decent place for CCT buses to connect to, like Norcross has Doraville Station. And we'd be talking about only maybe a $200 million project to extend the rails 1-2 miles to Cumberland, instead of $2 billion massive project or whatever it would cost now.

Local opposition and lack of funding ended that decades ago, just like the Tucker Line.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Local opposition and lack of funding ended that decades ago, just like the Tucker Line.

As an aside, I hope we can retry the Tucker Line one day. The NW line will get built if / when Cobb joins MARTA. The Tucker Line, though will require local efforts to build if it ever got around to doing things.