Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, commonly called MARTA, is the operator of Atlanta, Georgia's public transit system, consisting of a network of bus routes linked to a heavy rail rapid transit system.

History

The agency was formed by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1965. In the same year, four metropolitan area counties (Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett) and the city of Atlanta passed a referendum authorizing participation in the system, but the referendum failed in Cobb County. In 1972, Fulton and DeKalb Counties successfully passed a 1% sales tax increase to pay for operations, while Clayton and Gwinnett counties overwhelmingly rejected the tax in referendum, fearing the introduction of crime and "undesirable elements."

As a consequence of passing the authorization referendum but not the funding referendum, Clayton and Gwinnett Counties have representation on the MARTA Board of Directors without paying into the system. This situation became controversial in 2004 when Gwinnett's representative Mychal Walker was found to have accepted States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*20,000 from a lobbyist trying to secure a States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*100,000,000 contract with MARTA. Despite the controversy, the Gwinnett County Commission failed to remove Mr. Walker from his position on the MARTA Board.Eventually the state legislature was called upon to change the law governing MARTA's Board to allow for the removal of a member whose appointing county did not act on a request for removal. Before the new law could be used, Mr. Walker was arrested on an unrelated child support violation, which resulted in his firing by the Gwinnett County Commission.[http://template.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/metro_24dd6e14b2e100da00e5.html

In 1971, the agency agreed to purchase the existing, bus-only Atlanta Transit Company and on February 17, 1972 the sale was completed for States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*12.9 million giving the agency control over all public transit.

East Line construction

Construction on the East Line began in 1975 and the first rail service began on June 30, 1979 between the Georgia State and Avondale stations. In June of 1993, the Kensington and Indian Creek stations opened, which also marked the first time MARTA rail service went outside I-285.

West Line construction

The West Line opened between Hightower (now Hamilton E. Holmes) and Five Points stations, on December 22, 1979. On December 12, 1992 the Proctor Creek Branch and Bankhead Station opened. The 1979 plan for the West Line also included an additional station at Fairburn Road (Brownlee-Boulder Park) and another station was planned at the then-existing Perry Homes housing project.

North Line construction

On December 4, 1981, the North-South Line opened from Garnett to North Avenue, including Civic Center and the lower level of Five Points. On September 11, 1982, the line was expanded to Arts Center, and the Peachtree Center (whose opening was delayed from 1981) also opened. The section between Lindbergh Center and Brookhaven opened on December 15, 1984. The line reached Chamblee in 1987, and the Doraville terminus was finished in 1992. The section between Lenox and Doraville was redesignated the Northeast Line on June 8, 1996 when the North Line opened between Buckhead and Dunwoody stations, including stretch in the Georgia 400 median. The last two North Line stations to open were Sandy Springs and North Springs, on December 16, 2000.

South Line construction

The Garnett station opened on December 4, 1981 and was the first South Line station to open. The section between the West End and Lakewood-Fort McPherson opened on December 15, 1984. The East Point Station opened on August 16, 1986. and the College Park and Airport Stations opened on June 18, 1988. The Airport Station however, was built in 1980 as part of the construction of Hartsfield International Airport and was unused until the line was connected.

Breeze Card system

MARTA is currently implementing the "Breeze" fare collection system, allowing riders to load money on the card for use over time, and to add weekly/monthly passes that are not fixed to a calendar period. The new Breeze card will allow MARTA to consider (there are no current plans) using exit fares and distance-based fares, charging more for longer rides; provide a way for MARTA to analyze transit patterns, allowing for schedule changes to suit demand; and will free up more staff to work directly with customers in stations. Breeze will also prevent fare evasion (which costs MARTA an estimated States dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^*45 million) and replace the aging token-based system. The pilot installation of the system at the Bankhead station created controversy when it was discovered the fare gates ended fifteen inches from the ground, allowing fare evaders to crawl underneath the gates. The issue has since been corrected with the attachment of plastic bars to the bottom of the gates, reducing the gap to six inches and virtually eliminating the possibility of fare evaders crawling through it.

The system will use a two card scheme: the Limited-Use Ticket will be used by people that are visiting, don't ride often, and other light users, and is composed of coated paper around the RFID antenna. The Extended-Use Card is meant for those that use MARTA frequently and need to load time-based passes. This card will be registrable online at the Breeze site. A rider using the system would approach the gate, tap the card to the blue circle 'target' and wait for the gates to open (some faster than others). The card can be kept in a wallet and still read, and won't interfere with credit cards, but will with other RFID cards, like work IDs. MARTA riders are advised to keep diffrent RFID cards apart, as placing them close together damages both and makes them effectively useless. Keep your BVM recipt to verify your fare. Limited-Use cardholders will need to keep their card when the system is fully operational, as the card will be required to 'tap out' of stations, to encode free transfers to buses, and other transit systems (GRTA Express, CCT) as they adopt the infrastructure.

During the installation phase (December 2005-July 2006) MARTA is installing the new Breeze gates in all stations, new bus fare boxes, and card vending machines "BVMs", in which individuals can buy Limited-Use Tickets encoded with one ride. (During the test phase, only these cards are available, and patrons are advised to not try to reload them, as the system has yet to be updated to allow reloading). Soon, the BVMs will provide patrons with the ability to reload both types of cards, check a card's balance, and pay for parking at any station. As of early July, only three stations are incomplete: Arts Center, Chamblee and Dome/GWCC/Phillips Arena/CNN Center. Buses are taking a longer time to upgrade due to other technology upgrades, but are being transitioned as quickly as possible(all buses are ready to recieve the yet to be delievered fairboxes). All MARTA Buses are to be coverted to the Breeze system by August 2006, revoking MARTA's earlier pledge that all busses would be upgraded by June 30th. As the system reaches its final phase, MARTA will host "token exchanges"(ie. Around September & October , allowing for people with rolls of tokens to have the number of tokens-ride ratio encoded on a extended-use card. Extended Use-Cards will become avaiable for pre-registered users by September 15th, 2006. This is ahead of schedule for MARTA.

Operations and funding

Shoppers in Fulton and DeKalb counties pay a 1% sales tax to support MARTA. More than 40% of this tax is exported (paid by persons who are not residents of Fulton and DeKalb counties). According to MARTA, more than 85% of its riders are residents of Fulton and DeKalb counties. However, some of Metro Atlanta's inner suburban counties, Gwinnett, and Clayton initially agreed to join MARTA but refused membership when voters in their respective counties voted against paying to help fund the system. The inner suburban counties have instead created their own independent bus systems; Cobb Community Transit on July 10, 1989, Gwinnett County Transit on November 5, 2001 , and C-TRAN on October 1, 2001, respectively. Since the original MARTA plan consisted of a much wider service area, some counties have representatives on the board of directors (e.g., Gwinnett and Clayton). However, only Fulton and DeKalb counties give financial support to MARTA. Eleven counties, including Fulton and DeKalb, and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority also are working together to provide a regional commuter coach service, Xpress, which began service on June 6, 2004. The system receives limited financial support for capital projects from the state of Georgia, and U.S. federal transit subsidies and grants for capital development and maintenance. By law, half of all MARTA revenues (sales tax plus fare box) must be spent on operations, half on capital expenditures like expanding the system. This law was amended in 2004 to allow a 45% capital/55% operations split for a fixed period.

Criticism and concern

MARTA is the largest mass transportation system (ninth largest in North America) not to receive state funding. As a result, MARTA has faced financial difficulties. Furthermore, the refusal of suburban counties, such as Gwinnett County and Cobb County, to join or fund MARTA (see history, above) has resulted in limited service throughout greater metropolitan Atlanta area. Several people have called for a new metropolitan planning committee to manage transportation, but for the time being transportation planning is split among different county and state agencies. Comedian Lewis Black in his album, End of the Universe (recorded in front of a live audience in Atlanta), chastised the city of Atlanta for its excessive commute times, and through humor, suggests that the MARTA transit system is ineffective, calling it the "subway to nowhere."

Thus, the politics of urban sprawl in the Atlanta metropolitan area make it difficult for the system to thrive. Many people who own cars avoid using the system because it can be inconvenient. Residents in suburban areas usually must still drive to a MARTA station to ride a train. A history of poor financial performance has led MARTA to cut services, resulting in further complaints about the inconvenience of MARTA services.

Racial politics also play a role. The acronym is sometimes referred to by whites as "Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta". ^* Over 75% of its riders are African American.

As the metropolitan area grows the Georgia Department of Transportation has looked to greater road infrastructure to manage traffic problems. Most notably, a proposal for the widening of I-75 will put up to 23 lanes of traffic into the city. However, the city of Atlanta has started a push for new mass transportation systems, such as a proposed Belt Line and a streetcar line up Peachtree Street.

Rail

Stations

North-South Line (orange)

West-East Line (blue)

P4: Bankhead (Proctor Creek Line)

Rolling stock

101-200: CQ310 class. Built by Franco-Belge, 1979-1981
501-520: CQ310 class. Built by Franco-Belge, 1979-1981, originally single unit cars.
201-320: CQ311 class. Built by Hitachi, 1984-1987
601-700: CQ312 class. Built by Breda, 2001-2003

MARTA has entered a contract with Alstom to rebuild all CQ310 and CQ311 cars. (238 Rail Cars) The rehabilitated cars will feature upgraded passenger amenities and upgraded propulsion and train control hardware. The first rehabilitated cars began service March 12, 2006. The refurbishing program will last until 2008-2009.

Bus

MARTA's bus system is more spread out than the rail system, serving areas in Fulton and DeKalb counties such as the cities of Roswell and Alpharetta in North Fulton, along with South DeKalb and even portions of Clayton and Gwinnett Counties. Most of the bus lines feed into or intersect rail lines as well. MARTA also runs shuttles for special events, such as the Peachtree Road Race and Atlanta Braves baseball games.

For some time, MARTA had "secret" bus routes in the 700 series. These routes were designed to connect maids, home health care workers, and nannies from MARTA rail stations to their work sites. These routes were not officially noted in any system map except for a small footprint instructing people who needed transit service in that area to contact Customer Information. No schedules were publicly distributed, and no information was published on the web site. In 1999, the routes were officially "declassified" and information was published. As part of systemwide service cuts, the 700 series routes were eliminated in 2002. [http://itsmarta.com/about/history05.htm

External links

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