Not long ago I realized that weekend nighttime service is better than the weekday due to the simple fact that the Red Line runs to the Airport (when they aren’t doing their regular single tracking). Is there a reason why it always terminates at Lindbergh on weekdays? 10 minute frequencies on the interlined portions makes a big difference.
Hey guys, I need your help. I’m doing a photography project centered around our old Georgia Power Streetcars, infrastructure surrounding them, and their footprint on how Atlanta developed. If you know any locations of exposed rails, please let me know in the comments. So far I’ve photographed some on Stewart Avenue, and some on Berne Street. Thanks!
Hey y’all, I went to the Beltline Transit meeting about an hour ago! Here’s a summary for those who couldn’t attend. They also posted the presentation online as well. Most of the information is on the powerpoint but there were some neat in-person charts such as the routes placed over a satellite view of the city, and “how far can I get from ____ in 30 minutes”. There was a great turnout as well, the room was full of people!
- SW & SE alignments are the same. Gap between Boulevard and Glenwood is a known concern. As if a station will fill it is TBD, theres some tax situation with a nearby property + the 40ft elevation difference.
- NW Alignment LPA is the CSX route alongside the existing freight corridor. Highest ridership, highest speeds, lowest capital cost, direct Piedmont Hospital connection, etc. The least complicated of the three.
- The first infill station they’re working on is Murphy Crossing. They’re going to determine everything related to that such as design and alternatives.
- Beltline Loop, North Loop, South Loop lines, each with 20 minute headaways (so 10 since the entire thing is interlined).
- Ridership projections of 4.2M. With 40% transit dependent and 60% choice.
- Cost estimates still the same. Wont change until the future if need be.
- 22 miles of LRT still the end goal.
- (Edit, forgot): They’re going to re-engage with the community regarding Crosstown West. I think they needed to adjust some things since they haven’t really done anything regarding it in 10 years. Based on the most recent map the routing has been slightly adjusted.
- They aim to release the full completed study by the end of this year. This was the 4th and final public outreach event. This is “the most about Beltline transit we’ve ever known” which is a milestone. They have a clear vision for the entire loop.
NO MENTION OF STREETCAR EAST, BUT FROM THE STAFF I ASKED:
- Not much information known beyond the Mayor’s announcement. Best way to get information and make our voices heard is to show up to meetings and keep contacting our elected officials.
Hey y’all, I went to the Beltline Transit meeting about an hour ago! Here’s a summary for those who couldn’t attend. They also posted the presentation online as well. Most of the information is online but there were some neat in-person charts such as the routes placed over a satellite view of the city, and “how far can I get from ____ in 30 minutes”. There was a great turnout as well, the room was full of people!
- SW & SE alignments are the same. Gap between Boulevard and Glenwood is a known concern. As if a station will fill it is TBD, theres some tax situation with a nearby property + the 40ft elevation difference.
- NW Alignment LPA is the CSX route alongside the existing freight corridor. Highest ridership, highest speeds, lowest capital cost, direct Piedmont Hospital connection, etc. The least complicated of the three.
- The first infill station they’re working on is Murphy Crossing. They’re going to determine everything related to that such as design and alternatives.
- Beltline Loop, North Loop, South Loop lines, each with 20 minute headaways (so 10 since the entire thing is interlined).
- Ridership projections of 4.2M. With 40% transit dependent and 60% choice.
- Cost estimates still the same. Wont change until the future if need be.
- 22 miles of LRT still the end goal.
- They aim to release the full completed study by the end of this year. This was the 4th and final public outreach event. This is “the most about Beltline transit we’ve ever known” which is a milestone. They have a clear vision for the entire loop.
NO MENTION OF STREETCAR EAST, BUT FROM THE STAFF I ASKED:
- Not much information known beyond the Mayor’s announcement. Best way to get information and make our voices heard is to show up to meetings and keep contacting our elected officials.
I know theres been lots of posts about this on here but seriously what is going on with this route. Last night I stood around waiting for a bus that never came, despite zero cancellations being listed (mind you, it was 11PM so theres not an ounce of traffic). An out of service bus drove past me, and given that an 11 briefly appeared on the tracker ahead of me, I’m assuming that was it. I’m currently writing this post in a Lyft because the 5:00 bus was 20+ minute late at the time of my departure.
Lastly, WHAT is going on with this route being borderline untrackable??? I don’t think I’ve found a definitive answer for this. Do they break? Do the operators turn them off? Its a route plagued with delays and being unable to known its location just adds fuel to the fire. offSomeone here calls it the Hope and Pray and that a perfect description of it.
Is it worth reaching out to MARTA about this, or would I be yelling into a void?
From the June 25th board meeting.
The off board fare machines are going up at Rapid A Line stations, I saw them at Five Points and South Downtown. They aren’t live yet from what the driver told me, and the fare machines on the bus (at least the one I rode) is gone.
How feasible would it be for there to be bus lanes on congested corridors? As alot of us are aware, once rush hour hits the bus times become suggestions with many being 15-30+ minutes late (as an 11 rider, this sucks, and I'll also be using this route as a reference).
10th Street between Northside Drive and The Connector/West Peachtree for example. This stretch serves the 11, 12, and 14, as well as being a high frequency corridor between West Midtown and Midtown Station. Another being Northside Drive (at LEAST) between 17th and 10th Streets (though I'd prefer all the way to 75). Both of these segments get VERY congested during rush hour, while also serving dense areas and the GA Tech campus. I know the Clifton Corridor is a congested zone too.
Outside of BRT projects, bus lanes on the aforementioned sections and on other congested corridors could really speed up our bus network. Many of these routes got increased frequencies but we won't experience it if traffic keeps causing massive delays.
The stops aren’t live yet, but it’s good to see them there. They should be active next week with the launch of the new app and website rider tools.
This is from yesterday’s board meeting. The app launches the week of memorial day.
This is an article from Human Transit, the design firm that worked on the Next Gen Bus Network. Theres some cool information about certain decisions in the new network.
Last week I saw a post talking about MARTA’s very first draft proposal, it features both what would’ve been the initial system build-out, as well as the long range plan, the former being the only one I’ve seen until now. The map is featured in the Atlanta Region Comprehensive Plan: Rapid Transit of 1961, detailing the need for an expansive network of freeways, as well as rapid transit. The full system buildout utilizes nearly every freight corridor we have, featuring several branches, and a loop of connections between Downtown and the Clifton Corridor. This map is meant to interpret these lines and spurs using today’s color-based naming system. The design is inspired by MARTA (before the most recent update) and WMATA’s system maps. Stations with a black circle are ones that were never officially created, but fall along the routes of the long-range plan. I also used their present day names, and followed the naming convention of major roads or neighborhoods for new ones.
Alongside this map, theres also maps from throughout MARTA’s planning process including the 1961 initial build out and long range plan, the 1962 plan which moreso resembles our present system, and the final 1971 map which became the MARTA we know today.
Fun Facts:
- The initial buildout included trunk lines to Marietta, Forest Park, Avondale, and Norcross (with the spur to Emory)
- Our tunneled subway under Broad and Peachtree Street wasn’t shown until the 1962 map, originally, the Marietta line would’ve followed the freight corridor along Marietta Street, while the Norcross line would’ve followed what is today’s Eastside Beltline
- Original plans included the Blue Line going to Clarkston instead of continuing to Kensington and Indian Creek
- The West Line followed the freight corridor to Ben Hill (Cambellton) instead of later iterations taking it to Fulton Industrial
- The Constitution line is one of the more interesting ones for me. It’s never shown in any future maps, but the 1971 approved referendum showed a spur south of Garnett Station following the direction of Pryor Road to South Bend, terminating at Langford Parkway.
So after seeing all the BRT/Light Rail plans for MoreMARTA, as well as the old streetcar plans from 2015, I wanted to try and combine all of those planned routes INTO a network, with a few original segments. This map focuses strictly ITP to give Atlanta a more interconnected network. Don’t know if I’m gonna make this a bigger project on Illustrator or something (though I said that about the MARTA/Commuter map I made months ago and look what happened), but I do want to hear y’alls feedback. This kind of stuff is fun. I didn’t include all the stations but for this first draft I included transfer points and termini.
ROUTES
A - Ponce to Brookhaven
B - Ponce to Bankhead or Collier Heights
C - Campbellton to Bolton
D - Downtown Atlanta to Decatur or Panthersville (Clifton Corridor)
E - Bankhead or Collier Heights to Doraville
- The dotted lines represent alternative alignments or extensions. On the C, it’s a route following Chattahoochee Avenue and Marietta Boulevard over the nearby freight corridor. On the D, it’s bringing the line to Panthersville instead of terminating at Decatur. I wanted feedback on this one due to Candler road being one lane in each direction between Decatur and Memorial Drive, as well as the possibility of that line being too long. The E is dotted after Bankhead for the same reason as length concerns.
- None of these lines (excluding Crosstown West and the loop) run on one-laned streets with the exception of minor segments that don’t have vehicle congestion (ex. the C to the Northwest on Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard). I did this to avoid a situation where extreme traffic can slow the train down. This was very apparent during 404 Day Weekend where the streetcar was suspended due to Auburn and Edgewood being extremely backed up.
- I only interlined a max of two lines to avoid congestion.
- Should I have given Washington Road/Cleveland a route? Last time I made one of these maps I got comments referencing the lack of more lines in SW Atlanta, but that was heavy rail as opposed to this one being light rail. The necessity of tunneling under/directly next to residential neighborhoods wouldn’t be required here.
- I tried to make these as interconnected as reasonably possible, opting for lines to share the same trackage in certain points, as well as utilizing the loop as a connector.
- The Rapid A line route isn’t included in this netwok due to challenges connecting it to everything else while serving the same places, assume the BRT still exists here.
- Why not Cumberland? Well one its in Cobb County so it couldn’t go there regardless, but also I think that area should be along a hypothetical heavy rail line int the county.