Clayton Board Unanimous in MARTA Oversight

As was predicted, yesterday the Clayton County Board of Commissioners accepted the resolutions allowing for MARTA to take over as chief operator and financial manager of C-TRAN. Joel Hall writes:

In a unanimous vote, the board agreed to let the county enter into an agreement with MARTA to provide Clayton County with public transportation services. It also approved resolutions that: established the geographical boundaries of a special tax district at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to fund C-TRAN; and established a one-cent sales tax to be levied on goods within the portions of the airport within Clayton County.

Issues, however, are present with the C-TRAN bus drivers who could possibly lose their jobs due to what they call a "hostile takeover" by MARTA. The bus operators were hired through First Systems, the company which out-bid MARTA in 2004 to run the C-TRAN system.

MARTA officials have not made it clear whether current employees of C-TRAN who worked for First Systems will keep their jobs or not. MARTA will need to address the employee's concerns soon. It would be very bad press if MARTA were to win control of C-TRAN and then fire it's long-term employees.

Source: Joel Hall - Clayton News Daily

DMB and Allman Brothers Show Support for MARTA

The Dave Mathews Band and The Allman Brothers Band are joining forces with 10 other bands in supporting the Piedmont Park Conservancy by hosting a "Green Concert" at Piedmont Park where everyone will leave their cars at home and instead take MARTA. With Dave Mathews Band supporting the use of MARTA rail-fans everywhere can celebrate. Tickets will be released on June 9th for the concert being held at Piedmont Park on September 8th.

Source: The AJC - David Pendered

Teaching the ARC "Reverse Urbanization"

A great article in tomorrow's AJC by Maria Saporta describes the Atlanta Regional Council's recent visit to Vancouver. They were blown away by the city's success in what I call "reverse urbanization". They want density and traffic jams. They refuse to expand any road in downtown by even a single lane, and they are the only city in the northeast to not have a major highway running through the center of town.

I've always thought the downtown connector was Hartsfield's greatest blunder. If anything, he could have at least broken them up and put the downtown strip in between them. The way they see it, gridlock is good. Bad traffic convinces people to get out of their cars and onto transit. They've also made all their roads extremely pedestrian-friendly, with "wide sidewalks bordered by trees, and crosswalks are well defined."

Vancouver has designed their city as a "cradle-to-the-grave" city rather than a "where-ya-from? (...before moving here)" city like Atlanta has always been. Here in Atlanta the reality of building more roads to solve our problems has resulted in the development phenomena "if you build it: they will fill it" meaning that in a city as spread out as we are, any new lanes will encourage more driving rather than ease traffic congestion. This idea of taking away roads from drivers would seem the logical opposite to our 'city of dreams' , and it sounds crazy without any explanations to back it up, but I think this is genius.

Imagine how different downtown would be right now if we never had highways going through the center of Atlanta. It would be one big sanctuary of a city! Here's downside to Vancouver though. "The lack of affordable housing, the number of homeless people, the prevalence of drug addicts and the growing number of immigrants have strained the urban area." We do not have most of these problems right now. However, if we follow the 4 rules that Vancouver follows, maybe reverse urbanization can succeed where the highways have failed.

Vancouver's 4 rules for a Successful City:

1) Protect Green Space
2) Develop in Compact Areas
3) Increase Transportation Choices
4) Build Complete Communities

Source: AJC - Maria Saporta

Cubix expanding Breeze Cards to Park 'n Rides

Speaking of Breeze Cards.... Cubic Transportation Systems, the company MARTA hired to develop their new fare system, is showcasing their plans for the next phase of the Breeze Card network. Today at the International Parking Institute's annual conference in Tampa, Cubic presented current plans to incorporate the park and ride lots throughout the system beginning June 1st. As far as specifics go:

There are no parking fees for patrons who enter the lot, ride on the MARTA system, and exit the lot on the same day. For those who park and ride for more than one day or for those who park in the lot but do not ride the system, the fees can be paid via stored value debits at the exit controller or at either ticket vending machines or cashier terminals upon exit.

Not only do they work with current Breeze cards, but they will incorporate VoIP technology for instant customer service from all parking gates. MARTA is the first network in the country to utilize an "all-contactless public transport smart card fare system", but not to be outdone by any other system in the near future, Cubic has awarded $5.78 Million in contracts to integrate all 4 of the major regional bus systems into the Breeze Card system. This includes Gwinnett County Transit, Cobb Community Transit, Clayton County C-Tran and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. Getting Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, and GRTA in on the system is a huge step in consolidating Atlanta's transit systems and it's good to see these ideas actually becoming reality.

Source: MarketWIRE

Breeze Card System Crashes

MARTA's Breeze Card fare system crashed this morning and is still down this afternoon. The crash is attributed to a software upgrade and anyone with a breeze card, plastic or paper, is being allowed on by customer service representatives in all the stations. "Things are running smoothly, despite the technology snafu," reports Mike Morris of the AJC. This incident, while temporary, highlights a major problem facing transit systems "upgrading" to all-electronic fare systems.

These systems, while being robust in the sense that fees can be changed across the system fairly quickly to reflect a move toward distance based fares, these same systems are still sensitive enough that a glitch in the central server will crash the entire system. MARTA must be very careful as they go through their debugging process to make sure they have the resources available to make the all-electronic fare system work.

MARTA has a great way they can get out of this mess though. They can turn these potential bad-media days into free days to help their image. Anyone who can scrounge up a fare card can basically get in for free today, so why not just call it a free day? Other transit systems have free-ride days, and it does wonders to bolster their image. With MARTA's image hurting right now, they could use these problematic days for good public relations by making these free-ride days. Otherwise, these outages will make the $190 Million MARTA spent on the Breeze system look more like a liability than an asset.

Source: Mike Morris - AJC

Fearless in the Loaf

In this week's Creative Loafing:

For some strange reason people in this metro love to brag about how scared MARTA makes them. I suspect many of these people are the same ones with “No Fear” stickers on their trucks.

– Joe Winter at Joeventures.com, quoting a regular MARTA user. Joe has blogged extensively about the Peachtree Street streetcar proposal. He serves on the board of Citizens for Progressive Transit.

The reality of safety on MARTA still hasn't reflected in its image. Sadly people continue the cycle of fear of riding on MARTA. Irony is bittersweet retribution I suppose.

Bidding Wars for C-TRAN Before Deadline

The Clayton County Transit system is currently being run by First Transit, which underbid MARTA to run the system back in 2004. MARTA had been running the system for its first 3 years in service and now they've been asked to take over the reigns again...maybe. First Transit's contract is up at the end of May and "county officials are leaning heavily toward giving the contract back to [MARTA]," according to today's Clayton News Daily.

Mis-communication within the Clayton County government has led to confusion as to which transit authority will control C-TRAN after June 1st. Yet again First Transit has underbid MARTA, but if Clayton County picks MARTA, then they can get a 1 percent sales tax on Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to fund the system thanks to the 1965 MARTA Act. First Transit underbid MARTA by $600,000. Tax revenue from the airport would be around $3,000,000 PER YEAR for the system. Yes. 3 Million. Per year.

Money talks, and there are very powerful incentives for C-TRAN to join back up with MARTA. This is good for transit throughout the metro area because it reminds everyone of the benefits of a unified metro Atlanta transit system. County by county, transit is gaining converts. Come June 1, we will be one step closer to that dream.

MARTA Wins Taxes, Turns to New Projects

Today, MARTA gained the support it has been desperately fighting to get in order to extend the penny tax beyond 2032. Atlanta's City Council and, as of today, the DeKalb County Commission have signed off on the tax extension which will fund MARTA through 2047, allowing MARTA to borrow against the future money and start up on new ambitious capital projects which they've been holding off on while rebuilding and renovating during a financial slump earlier this decade.

MARTA, now doing much better financially than in recent years, has started to change their language during meetings and the general focus now it seems will once again be on capital projects, with Bus Rapid Transit on I-20, the Beltline, and a new line from Lindbergh Station (MARTA HQ) to the Emory area.

Senate Bill could extend MARTA into Gwinnett

A bill has been presented to the state Senate which, if passed, would allow MARTA to extend rail service to Gwinnett County up I-85 without requiring a county-wide approval. SB332 was presented last week by Sen. Curt Thompson (D-Tucker) to the Urban Affairs Committee. According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, the bill was presented so late in the session (on purpose maybe?) that the extension will only be discussed this summer and it will not be voted on until next year.

However, this is still a huge break for MARTA. Not only is Gwinnett investing in transit feasibility studies and is lobbying for more transit options in the suburbs, but Cobb and Clayton counties are also watching very closely how this bill is treated. Cobb is considering rail service to the Cobb Galleria and Clayton has been considering rail service beyond the airport. The result of this bill could greatly influence how previously hostile counties will react to increasing transportation difficulties.

On a side note, MARTA is still ignoring Roswell and N. Fulton's pleas for extended rail service further up GA-400 citing, among other things, a lack of density.

MARTA in the Blotter

In this week's Blotter in the Creative Loafing:

THREE STRANGE DAYS: A 19-year-old woman told a MARTA police officer that a man stole her purse, and that now he was walking down Forsyth Avenue. So the MARTA police officer tracked down the man, age 20, who still had the black purse. He was just about to put the handcuffs on when the man took off running. An Atlanta police officer caught the man a few blocks away. Then the man told police that the woman's purse contained marijuana. The officer asked the woman: "Can I search your purse?" "Yes," she said. Inside, police found 18 baggies of suspected marijuana, plus four sandwich-sized bags of suspected marijuana. The man and woman said they'd known each other for at least three days. The woman said the man is upset because she wants to end their relationship. Both went to jail.

This is not big news. In fact, I'm willing to bet this sort of thing is a daily occurrence somewhere on MARTA. Thankfully at least some of it gets reported on.

Masons Pass - main Beltline chunk changes hands

Thursday the Masons sold their sizable piece of the Beltline property to a new group of investors who should help break the deadlock between the city and developers on the fate of Atlanta's interior rails invisioned as the backbone of a new beltline of trails and developments around the downtown area. MARTA is in charge of the Beltline design, deveolopment, and construction.

Breeze Card finishing touches

MARTA's putting the finishing touches on it's new Breeze Card system. Paper fare cards have been jacked up .50 cents. New plastic Breeze Cards are still being handed out for free at various stations and announced on the P.A. each day. The system gets finalized in July when the motion sensors go off-line and everyone will have to 'tap-out' their cards to leave stations. Monthly and weekly cards still haven't been carried over to the new system ( I go to GSU and we still have the same cards we've always had) and it has yet to be determined when/if they will be changed.

Speaking of the Vent...

Here's my submission:

MARTA cries foul when Cobb and Gwinnett say Not In My Back Yard, but when North Fulton actually demands more rail service, MARTA say it's not dense enough. What's up with that double-speak?

Breeze Card Grumblings...

In the AJC's Sunday Vent:

Starting May 1, MARTA's new Breeze Card is going to cost $5 on top of the regular fare. They should at least be honest and call it the Squeeze Card.

- Very clever, and So true, so true. But just remember this was the entire reason for the gates and the cards in the first place. Track people and suck up the non-regular riders. Anyone who sounds suprised or complains hasn't been paying attention and doesn't ride MARTA. I say yay for taxing the non-users. The regulars and even the 'newbs' already have their free breeze cards in their wallet.


Update:

more venting...

Monday, 3/23: "Five bucks for a Breeze card that supposedly lasts five years? Puh-leeze! After only 10 days, mine got a small nick on its bottom edge and quit working."

MARTA pays $1.7M for negligence in rape lawsuit

The main reason MARTA got into this mess was really bad record-keeping. Ed Wall was angry after the verdict because Judge Craig Schwall cut off MARTA's testimony for being negligent in sharing information (police statistics/records). Wall's argument is that MARTA shouldn't be liable for crimes committed on its system, rather the only person who should be held responsible is the person who committed the rape. Judge Schwall cut them off saying "I will tell you it's a very brazen, intentional, deceitful act on the part of MARTA." Regardless of the opinions of Wall and Schwall, MARTA has a safety problem which will need to be addressed immediately or more lawsuits will follow. Beth Warren/Paul Donsky - AJC (2/7/07-8:57pm)

Historic Gridlock a Rallying Call for Suburban Rail

Gridlock of historic proportions left much of Atlanta changing their tune on the benefits of MARTA. Cobb and Gwinnett commuters who had 3+ hour rides in bumper to bumper traffic are realizing the benefits of rail while commuters in town suffered waited 30+ min to travel ten blocks. According to the AJC 13 MARTA parking lots were over capacity yesterday "with some people creating their own spaces. Lines formed as infrequent riders waited to buy the new Breeze card needed for a fare."

I took MARTA on this epic morning. I park on the far side of an infrequently used MARTA lot and this was the first time someone was already in my spot. I barely caught my train on time running through half the station, but I still go to Five Points in time for my classes. However my teacher for my first class was 45 minutes late (never happens) and half the class was missing the start of class (also never happens). A blogger in the article said even MARTA wasn't prepared for such a busy day but I think that is because they haven't been allowed to expand into Cobb and Gwinnett to alleviate pressure on end stations like North Springs and Doraville. Incidentally her handle was MariettaGirl-hmm. Lee Biola, President of the nonprofit advocacy group Citizens for Progressive Transit, had this to say:

"Commuter rail from Athens to Atlanta to Macon would give Georgians a permanent choice about whether to sit in traffic. Commuter rail from Atlanta through Cobb County to Canton, Cartersville, Rome and Bremen, through Gwinnett to Gainesville, and south of Atlanta to LaGrange and Senoia are also desperately needed. While commuter rail may or may not reduce traffic, it would certainly let people choose whether to sit in it."

For now, all Gov. Sonny Purdue only cares about is his "Go Fish Georgia" initiative and doesn't even mention MARTA anymore, Mayor Shirley Franklin "was traveling and unavailable to comment (stuck in traffic?), her spokeswoman said. Another spokeswoman referred questions about whether the city was prepared for future traffic disasters to the Police Department (the APD, not the DOT? that bad?)." I foresee more of these "epic gridlock" days ahead without any changes being made. It is only a mater of time before Atlanta gets fed up and public opinion makes rapid transit the preferred mode of transportation and rail investment a financial priority. Ariel Hart - AJC (1/26/07-1:44am), Lee Biola - AJC Editorial (1/26/07-5:08am)

Mass Transit a Non-Issue for Perdue

Presenting his proposed budget for the FY2008 Governor Sonny Perdue did not even mention transit, let alone MARTA as being a part of the budget planning for next year. MARTA currently gets no state funding, a rarity and makes MARTA the largest light-rail mass transit system in the country to not receive state funding. Perdue's floor leader argues it's a question of expense and need.

"I have not seen any empirical evidence, again, personally, that would dictate that mass transit is a good expenditure of billions of dollars, ultimately, of taxpayer money"

For a counter argument, House Minority Leader, Rep. Dubose Porter said,

“You, at some point, are going to have to do something about mass transit. Mass transit is where people cannot get into Atlanta. I mean, it is a business problem for us in Georgia.”

As 11Alive's Denis O'Hayer puts it:

"The coming fight might not be Democrats versus Republicans, but urban versus rural."

Without the governor's backing in his Republican dominated state congress the future is grim for sweeping changes in the near future. Denis O'Hayer - WXIA-11Alive (1/18/07-11:12am)

Their own words...

Rep. Mike Jacobs, (D-DeKalb) :

"I look forward to continuing to work for fiscal restraint and accountability at MARTA, which hopefully will lead to making MARTA part of a larger, regional mass transit system that could include suburban counties such as Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton."

Mike Jacobs is on the House Transportation Committee and the MARTA Oversight Committee (MARTOC) which controls how state and federal funding is allocated for MARTA spending. His listed goals reflect the continued goals of MARTOC as defined by committee chair Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta). Ensuring MARTA's fiscal responsibility and eventually bringing all the regional transit systems under one organization have been the main goals of MARTOC since its inception. Jacobs has reaffirmed that these will be the priorities for the legislature regarding MARTA in the upcoming legislative session. Mike Jacobs - GoDekalb.com (1/16/07-11:44am)

Jesse Hill Jr., MARTA founder, hospitalized

Jesse Hill Jr. remains hospitalized tonight after suffering a heart attack last week when his appendix ruptured. An Atlanta civic leader, Hill, 80, was once chair of the bargaining committee which created MARTA. He was also the first African American member to sit on MARTA's Board of Directors. He is in our thought and prayers. Saeed Ahmed-AJC (7/15/07-9:36pm), Elizabeth Campell-GaTech.edu (3/14/06)


Update: Hill's oldest daughter Nancy Cook says, "he's fighting. He's a very active person normally. He wants to get out of the hospital but can't. [However] he's expected to make a full recovery." S.A. Reid - AJC (1/16/07-1:25pm)

Racing Under Tracks Leaves 2 Dead

A possible drag race on Lee Street in southwest Atlanta resulted in two fatalities when a car hit a concrete MARTA support rail and instantly burst into flames early this morning near the intersection of Donnelly Avenue. "MARTA service in the area was not interrupted by the accident," police said. Rosalind Bentley-AJC (1/13/07-9:25am)

Their own words...

Gwinnett County Chairman Charles Bannister:

"If we bring an organization like MARTA into Gwinnett County, people have to vote on it. Is there enough to approve it? I don't know. People who ride our buses like it, and that's probably a step in the right direction."

Looks like in the end, the decision to bring MARTA in to southern Gwinnett will again be in the hands of voters, not the electorate. Arielle Kass-Gwinnett Daily Post (1/12/17-1:29am)

Eyes and Ears...

"What topic would bring Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens (who also chairs the Atlanta Regional Commission), Clayton Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell and MARTA board Chairman Ed Wall together over lunch Tuesday at the Commerce Club?

Transit.

The three men huddled together over a long lunch to discuss possible transit solutions for the Atlanta region. Stay tuned ..." Maria Saporta-AJC (1/11/07-7:13am)

New MARTA Route for Atlanta History Center

MARTA will add new Route 38 for the new Atlanta History Center opening on Monday, 15th in celebration of Martin Luther King Day with the "I Have a Dream: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection". Mary Swint-GoDekalb.com (1/10/07-10:36pm)

MARTA takes a road-trip to Gwinnett

A group of MARTA officials and Gwinnett business leaders took a field trip today up I-85 on a MARTA bus to scope out the area in Norcross and around Gwinnett Place Mall. Local business associations and MARTA are splitting the cost of a feasibility study ($100,000) to extend the north-east rail line from Doraville up to Gwinnett Place Mall with three proposed stations at the intersection of Jimmy Carter Blvd. & Buford Hwy., on Indian Trail near I-85, and at the mall.

The route of the proposed extension is nowhere near finalized. It may get moved closer to I-85, but for now they are taking advantage of right of way under the giant power lines running north from Doraville Station.

Paul Donsky: "As the road trip wore on, the bus riders struck a cautiously
hopeful tone. They see the need for improved transit, but understand the
enormous political and financial hurdles that are in the way."

However, there is a lot of residential and commercial activity in this corridor. . It has been 16 years since the same plan was rejected by Gwinnett voters, but between the dramatic change in demographics and economic activity, there is a good chance the line will eventually be built. Paul Donsky-AJC (1/9/07-6:57pm), Camie Young-Gwinnett Daily Post (1/10/07-12:17am)

MARTA Board OK's Rail over Buses for Beltline

The MARTA board of directors passed a resolution today approving the "Locally Preferred Alternative" of light rail and "steel wheel" technology over the cheaper but less impressive Bus Rapid Transit option.

The decision was made after four public meetings this fall showed a significant preference for something cleaner and more permanent than buses.The route specified in the Beltline resolution will go through the Inman Park-Reynoldstown station on the east line and work its way around downtown ending/starting at Lindbergh station (MARTA Headquarters) on the north line.

"Next the Locally Preferred Alternative will be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission and environmental impact assessment will be done. Financial and implementation plans will be developed, also." Mary Swint-GoDekalb.com (1/8/07-9:39pm)

In-Fill MARTA stations feasibility

news is going around on MARTA studying the feasibility of new stations going in between existing stations. Idea is in the very early phase of being looked at but already I can imagine the positive reception it is going to receive from commuters not wanting to walk ridiculous distances to board a train inside the perimeter.

Hodgson (MARTA "chief marketing officer") has suggested MARTA look at four gaps that could support a station: between the Garnett and West End stations just south of downtown Atlanta; between King Memorial and Inman Park stations just east of downtown; between the Arts Center and Lindbergh stations north of Midtown; and between the West Lake and Ashby stations on Atlanta's west side.

This is the first I'm hearing of MARTA infilling, but really this has been a long time coming with distances between stations stretching up to 3 miles. Donsky cites the average distance commuters are willing to walk to a station is half a mile and, when I can just drive and get there faster, that estimate seems fairly accurate. AJC-Paul Donsky(1/1/07-9:21pm), WXIA(11Alive)-Jon Shirek(1/3/07-8:32am)