2017 = the year of Transit (Atlanta: house, camp, to live)

[tikigod311]

Holy Cow. The importance of the red and gold lines have never been so well highlighted. The additional pressure on I-75 along with STP coming online will have Cobb realizing how badly they want another option. The value of grade separated transit will be at it's peak, the desire for rail as an option will be strong with voters across the metro.

The collapse of I-85 will prove to be a pivotal moment for transit support in Atlanta. Transit's stock just shot way up

[Forhall]

Agree with you tiki. I'm sure all those geniuses in Cobb who simultaneously decided to live 35 miles from work AND defeat all attempts at bringing in transit are kicking themselves right now.

[brown_dog_us]

I agree that this is a big opportunity for MARTA to show their worth, but can they handle it?

[fieldm]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

I agree that this is a big opportunity for MARTA to show their worth, but can they handle it?

Never been an issue if MARTA can handle additional passengers

[JoeP]

Agree with you tiki. I'm sure all those geniuses in Cobb who simultaneously decided to live 35 miles from work AND defeat all attempts at bringing in transit are kicking themselves right now.

Many people don't "decide" to live far and these same people would take MARTA. Let's leave the juvenile comments for the political forum.

[hautemomma]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Many people don't "decide" to live far and these same people would take MARTA. Let's leave the juvenile comments for the political forum.

All you can do is shake your head. They can't help themselves.

[AnsleyPark]

This is a great opportunity to push for transit. I just hope that folks' memories of this mess and desire for transit don't fade once the interstate is repaired.

[tikigod311]

I imagine this event will be brought up any time the value of transit is questioned. The location of the collapse is perfectly positioned to maximize the benefit of MARTA rail. Maybe a bit further south so the high speed section of the tracks would have been in shot w/ the collapsed bridge section

So I guess we have to wait until next year to gauge the impact in the legislature. But with the state already showing interest, the pro-transit camp in the state house will be emboldened and justified. Best of all, they won't get away with just doing a bus based system. Voters are going to want true alternatives

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

The collapse of I-85 will prove to be a pivotal moment for transit support in Atlanta. Transit's stock just shot way up

You've gotten it exactly backwards. This situation will prove the value of cars & roads. A critical road has closed due to a fluke accident, yet cars will continue to work as a means of transport by using the rest of the road network. If a MARTA train line were shut down, transit would be finished.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by roadtrip75

You've gotten it exactly backwards. This situation will prove the value of cars & roads. A critical road has closed due to a fluke accident, yet cars will continue to work as a means of transport by using the rest of the road network. If a MARTA train line were shut down, transit would be finished.

If by work, you mean result in grid lock across many, many parts of the metro, then sure. I'll admit that the attention that we've given roads mean that they will maybe be able to handle this shock to the system. That said, MARTA could certainly handle a similar collapse on its system, and has handled halts of its rail lines before just fine with bus bridges.

I view this all as an overall failure of our transportation system. We don't have the excess capacity or design to handle shocks well. The only reason I think transit is the better solution, is that it takes up less room to move the same amount of people. We have the room for an extended heavy rail line. We have the room for commuter rail. We even have the room for light-rail and bus rapid transit. We don't really have the room for another 14-lane interstate.


Though, perhaps, a better example to showcase transit was Snopocolypse, where, as the roads failed, trains just kept on rolling.