Thoughts on the MARTA expansion plans?

quote:

---

Seven miles of light rail are included in the city and MARTA’s tentative plan for transit expansion. So leaders of advocacy group Beltline Rail Now! are harrumphing that less than a third of their expectations could be realized with this tax cash.

---

quote:

---

— The four-mile Clifton Corridor light rail line from MARTA’s Lindbergh station to the Emory University/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention area recently annexed by Atlanta.

— A light rail system stretching from the Clifton Corridor to Campbelltown Road in southwest Atlanta. The network includes the northeast and southwest portions of the proposed Beltline Loop, plus a connecting link through downtown along the existing Atlanta Streetcar route. The streetcar would become part of the light rail network.

— Bus rapid transit lines on Capitol Avenue, North Avenue, and Northside Drive. MARTA also would initially deploy bus rapid transit along Campbellton Road before upgrading the line to light rail. The buses may operate in their own lanes, making the service faster than local bus service.

— Three arterial rapid transit bus lines, which would operate in regular traffic but may get priority at traffic signals and other enhancements to keep them moving.

— New bus transfer centers at Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta and Marietta Boulevard in northwest Atlanta, plus numerous enhancements to existing MARTA rail stations.

---

quote:

---

Atlanta voters overwhelmingly approved the half-penny sales tax to expand MARTA in the city. Though MARTA showcased a list of potential projects before the 2016 vote, it’s only now whittling the list down to something financially viable.

MARTA and city employees have recommended 21 miles of new light rail lines, 18 miles of bus rapid transit and other transit improvements (you can find more details here). But the project includes only 7 miles of the beltline loop.

---

quote:

---

Back in November, voters overwhelmingly approved a sales tax increase to fund transit expansion in the City of Atlanta. MARTA just released its ideal expansion plans, which include bus rapid transit crisscrossing the city, late night and weekend bus service, and 21 miles of light rail. The plan calls for light rail on the BeltLine, which was ranked the highest during the public input process after expanded bus service. But there is a fatal flaw: the light rail infrastructure goes through one of the most congested parts of town, the downtown path of the Atlanta Streetcar.

Building a multi-billion-dollar light rail system around a bottleneck will choke the entire network. Trains can only go as fast as the slowest segment of the route. Currently, whenever a bad parking job interferes with the Streetcar tracks, the whole route is paralyzed for hours at time. Routing the new rail line through the Atlanta Streetcar will end up straining passengers on a daily basis. Crawling trains are not only frustrating for passengers, they are also expensive to operate. MARTA would have to run many more $4-million vehicles in order to maintain short headways (or time between vehicles).

---

quote:

---

The Atlanta Streetcar was built on the premise of being the first link to an extensive transit network. Three years later, we must recognize that it cannot serve as the foundation for expansion. Let’s call the Atlanta Streetcar a fair price for a lesson learned and build future transit infrastructure with MARTA’s existing heavy rail network as the backbone.

---