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For the umpteenth time --- Atlanta's MARTA is NOT a light rail system!!! It is HEAVY RAIL aka RAPID TRANSIT aka SUBWAY/METRO All 48 miles of the MARTA system are grade separated from surrounding street traffic, via underground tunnels and stations in the central city and elevated platforms and tracks further out. It is HIGH SPEED (rapid) and HIGH CAPACITY (transit), with the ability to move thousands of people around the city in a short amount of time. Stop comparing the light-rail systems of Dallas and Houston to MARTA. They are nothing alike.
How many more times does this fact have to be pointed out to City-Data users ?!!!!
For the umpteenth time --- Atlanta's MARTA is NOT a light rail system!!! It is HEAVY RAIL aka RAPID TRANSIT aka SUBWAY/METRO All 48 miles of the MARTA system are grade separated from surrounding street traffic, via underground tunnels and stations in the central city and elevated platforms and tracks further out. It is HIGH SPEED (rapid) and HIGH CAPACITY (transit), with the ability to move thousands of people around the city in a short amount of time. Stop comparing the light-rail systems of Dallas and Houston to MARTA. They are nothing alike.
How many more times does this fact have to be pointed out to City-Data users ?!!!!
I understand all of that very well as do many of the other posters here. Actually L.A. has some heavy rail subway and commuter lines as well. The question the O.P. posed was which system has the brightest future and provides the best coverage? I and others already made the argument that Marta's heavy rail being faster and having more capacity makes it more effective and I think the OP understood that argument but tried to counter that with enough coverage light rail could possibly have the same or better usability. You can't totally discredit this idea although I think they have a long long way to go to catch up with Marta's ridership and efficiency. (L.A. has the ridership but I don't know if it's as effective a system).
I know some people don't know the difference between light and heavy rail but I think most of the people in this discussion seem to. I don't think that just because DART for instance or Denver's Rail are light rail systems that it means they never have a chance of moving people around as quickly and in as large a capacity as MARTA. Especially with Marta sitting still while they are making ambitious moves forward. I think if Marta were to carry out it's original plans of expansion that the other systems wouldn't be able to keep up with it ridership and efficiency wise but it's people really need to get on the ball and it needs to overcome it's opposition before this can happen.
I understand all of that very well as do many of the other posters here. Actually L.A. has some heavy rail subway and commuter lines as well. The question the O.P. posed was which system has the brightest future and provides the best coverage? I and others already made the argument that Marta's heavy rail being faster and having more capacity makes it more effective and I think the OP understood that argument but tried to counter that with enough coverage light rail could possibly have the same or better usability. You can't totally discredit this idea although I think they have a long long way to go to catch up with Marta's ridership and efficiency. (L.A. has the ridership but I don't know if it's as effective a system).
I know some people don't know the difference between light and heavy rail but I think most of the people in this discussion seem to. I don't think that just because DART for instance or Denver's Rail are light rail systems that it means they never have a chance of moving people around as quickly and in as large a capacity as MARTA. Especially with Marta sitting still while they are making ambitious moves forward. I think if Marta were to carry out it's original plans of expansion that the other systems wouldn't be able to keep up with it ridership and efficiency wise but it's people really need to get on the ball and it needs to overcome it's opposition before this can happen.
It didn't sound like the OP had any idea that there was a difference between MARTA and DART, or actually knew the difference between light and heavy rail. That's the issue some people have with this thread.
MARTA is not sitting still...there are very ambitious plans on the table, starting with the streetcar line and continuing with the Beltline and other light rail additions. I think Atlanta will see many transit improvements in the near future.
MARTA's heavy rail system should be judged against its peers which are the other cities with newish heavy rail systems. Those would be the heavy rail systems in DC, LA, Miami, and Baltimore. And MARTA compares favorably against all of those except for DC.
MARTA's heavy rail system should be judged against its peers which are the other cities with newish heavy rail systems. Those would be the heavy rail systems in DC, LA, Miami, and Baltimore. And MARTA compares favorably against all of those except for DC.
I would include SF in this mix but agree MARTA does a pretty good job. I use it frequently when I travel to Atlanta and for me it gets me to most of the neighbohoods i want to go and services the airport very well. It is clean and effecieint and pretty widely used in a city known for car culture...
For the umpteenth time --- Atlanta's MARTA is NOT a light rail system!!! It is HEAVY RAIL aka RAPID TRANSIT aka SUBWAY/METRO All 48 miles of the MARTA system are grade separated from surrounding street traffic, via underground tunnels and stations in the central city and elevated platforms and tracks further out. It is HIGH SPEED (rapid) and HIGH CAPACITY (transit), with the ability to move thousands of people around the city in a short amount of time. Stop comparing the light-rail systems of Dallas and Houston to MARTA. They are nothing alike.
How many more times does this fact have to be pointed out to City-Data users ?!!!!
It didn't sound like the OP had any idea that there was a difference between MARTA and DART, or actually knew the difference between light and heavy rail. That's the issue some people have with this thread.
MARTA is not sitting still...there are very ambitious plans on the table, starting with the streetcar line and continuing with the Beltline and other light rail additions. I think Atlanta will see many transit improvements in the near future.
You goofs, show me where the hell did I post that MARTA was light rail, look at my original question I said rail system period, and yes I know the difference between LRT and HRT, it doesn't take a genius to know the difference
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Easy
MARTA's heavy rail system should be judged against its peers which are the other cities with newish heavy rail systems. Those would be the heavy rail systems in DC, LA, Miami, and Baltimore. And MARTA compares favorably against all of those except for DC.
Sorry no, ATL can't compare its system to DC or SF it best compares to the cities I put it up against, this is not a knock against ATL but as of now this:
can't be compared to these two:
http://kysdc.com/files/2009/12/dc-metro-system-map.jpg (broken link) Underground map of San Francisco
It is best compared to the cities I put up against.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galounger
I understand all of that very well as do many of the other posters here. Actually L.A. has some heavy rail subway and commuter lines as well. The question the O.P. posed was which system has the brightest future and provides the best coverage? I and others already made the argument that Marta's heavy rail being faster and having more capacity makes it more effective and I think the OP understood that argument but tried to counter that with enough coverage light rail could possibly have the same or better usability. You can't totally discredit this idea although I think they have a long long way to go to catch up with Marta's ridership and efficiency. (L.A. has the ridership but I don't know if it's as effective a system).
I know some people don't know the difference between light and heavy rail but I think most of the people in this discussion seem to. I don't think that just because DART for instance or Denver's Rail are light rail systems that it means they never have a chance of moving people around as quickly and in as large a capacity as MARTA. Especially with Marta sitting still while they are making ambitious moves forward. I think if Marta were to carry out it's original plans of expansion that the other systems wouldn't be able to keep up with it ridership and efficiency wise but it's people really need to get on the ball and it needs to overcome it's opposition before this can happen.
Thank you, ATL's MARTA has the pontential to be better than all the other cities I listed but until the system gets expanded it can't be compared to DC or SF.
You goofs, show me where the hell did I post that MARTA was light rail, look at my original question I said rail system period, and yes I know the difference between LRT and HRT, it doesn't take a genius to know the difference
POLL QUESTION Which light rail is best utilized and which one has the brightest future?
--DART
--MARTA
--LA metro rail
--Denver RTD light rail
--Portland TriMet light rail
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