Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I get the sentiment and while I'm not yet fully onboard with the term "light metro", Seattle is doing light rail better than anywhere else. As I learned in the other thread, it doesn't quite have the theoretical capacity of the newer heavy rail systems but it's actual capacity based on actual service is comparable or better than all of the modern heavy rail systems except DC and maybe BART depending on how you evaluate it.
Could be. I think that BART is the most commuter rail-ish of all the metro/commuter rail hybrids in the US.
Seattle light rail hits higher average operating speeds than L.A. Metro, and though I"ve ridden nearly the entire Link route in Seattle, I'm not sure it matches L.A. Metro's light rail's ability to function identically to HRT for so much of its route (downtown and K line). So I would say those (maybe also the MBTA Green line) are tied for the top two in sophistication and potential to mimic HRT output. Incidentally, L.A. light rail was inspired by San Diego's 1981 debut after a decade of bickering over massive heavy rail plans for everywhere including the Valley.
I still avoid the term "light metro" because on here it least, it functions as a face saving euphemism so that favored cities like Seattle aren't asked the obvious "dude, why didn't you just do heavy rail" questions.
I laughed at the title of this thread when I seen it bumped then I noticed this was an old thread. MARTA the best system? The same system that has been stagnant for 23+ years now meanwhile it has now been lapped by multiple cities? Broke, crime ridden cities like St. Louis and Chicago have done more to their transit system this decade alone than MARTA has done in 20+
I laughed at the title of this thread when I seen it bumped then I noticed this was an old thread. MARTA the best system? The same system that has been stagnant for 23+ years now meanwhile it has now been lapped by multiple cities? Broke, crime ridden cities like St. Louis and Chicago have done more to their transit system this decade alone than MARTA has done in 20+
Is MARTA the best system outside of the Northeast, Chicago, and San Francisco like the OP mentioned. The only one I think you can say is better is LA once the new lines are in service.
I laughed at the title of this thread when I seen it bumped then I noticed this was an old thread. MARTA the best system? The same system that has been stagnant for 23+ years now meanwhile it has now been lapped by multiple cities? Broke, crime ridden cities like St. Louis and Chicago have done more to their transit system this decade alone than MARTA has done in 20+
The only thing going for Atlanta is the already existing HRT backbone built and expanded in the later part of last century. If it continued expanding at that rate the last 20+ years it could have potentially matched WMATA.
Even Detroit has done more with their Q-Line. If you want to talk about cities that have done more the past 10-20 there are plenty of cities to name, including Charlotte, Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, San Diego, Houston, Cincinnati, Orlando, the list goes on and on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShenardL
Is MARTA the best system outside of the Northeast, Chicago, and San Francisco like the OP mentioned. The only one I think you can say is better is LA once the new lines are in service.
I laughed at the title of this thread when I seen it bumped then I noticed this was an old thread. MARTA the best system? The same system that has been stagnant for 23+ years now meanwhile it has now been lapped by multiple cities? Broke, crime ridden cities like St. Louis and Chicago have done more to their transit system this decade alone than MARTA has done in 20+
MARTA actually has a pretty solid spine that runs through urban areas such as Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. The system has lots of potential but Atlanta doesn’t really capitalize on that, mainly because the state of Georgia is actively holding the city back when it comes to transit expansion. The streetcar extension to the beltline should have been done a while ago. Also adding an infill station along the beltline on the blue line (near Krog St Tunnel) would be worth a look as well. No transit to The Battery/Cobb Galleria is also problematic and newer urban areas like West Midtown (different from Midtown) have almost no transit connectivity other than a few extremely infrequent busses. TOD also hasn’t come as fast as it should. Atlanta residents approved a tax increase within the city to fund MARTA in 2016 and it’s absurd that nothing other than studies/plans has come from it. Atlanta wants transit but gets literally zero help from the state. Georgia is pathetic and is holding back Atlanta.
MARTA actually has a pretty solid spine that runs through urban areas such as Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. The system has lots of potential but Atlanta doesn’t really capitalize on that, mainly because the state of Georgia is actively holding the city back when it comes to transit expansion. The streetcar extension to the beltline should have been done a while ago. Also adding an infill station along the beltline on the blue line (near Krog St Tunnel) would be worth a look as well. No transit to The Battery/Cobb Galleria is also problematic and newer urban areas like West Midtown (different from Midtown) have almost no transit connectivity other than a few extremely infrequent busses. TOD also hasn’t come as fast as it should. Atlanta residents approved a tax increase within the city to fund MARTA in 2016 and it’s absurd that nothing other than studies/plans has come from it. Atlanta wants transit but gets literally zero help from the state. Georgia is pathetic and is holding back Atlanta.
Is it only Georgia holding it back? Reading through Wikipedia the counties that make up MARTA have also voted against taxing themselves for expansion. There doesn’t appear to be a local consensus within MARTA on what should come next. There’s not a plan for what expansion would look like.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
