MARTA's draft wish list for Atlanta includes Beltline transit, infill stations, better buses, and so much more
'$2.5 billion is a lot of money, but it is not an infinite amount of money, so we are going to have to make some choices,' says MARTA chairman
MARTA has a pretty good idea what it would do in Atlanta if it had a blank check: new infill stations on the rail lines, light rail on the Atlanta Beltline, heavy rail to the west, more frequent and speedy buses, also some small buses, and oh so much more
But MARTA is not about to be handed a blank check. What MARTA may get is $2.5 billion if Atlanta voters approve adding a half-percent sales tax to the one they already pay for transit. The levy would run until 2057.So now it’s up to MARTA, the city, the public and other stakeholders to take a big draft list of potential projects, pare it down to reality and offer it to voters.
“$2.5 billion is a lot of money, but it is not an infinite amount of money, so we are going to have to make some choices,” MARTA Board Chair Robbie Ashe said on Wednesday, just after the board approved a preliminary dream list.
But if there is any such thing as Atlanta transit porn, this would be it.
The list contains not one but two possible visions of Downtown, Midtown and the Beltline webbed with light rail and rapid busses — even a light rail line along Campbellton Road and heavy rail west all the way to the Perimeter. The list suggests four new stops on existing rail lines: new stops south of Lindbergh Center, Garnett, West End; and one between Bankhead and Ashby.
Busses would start coming every 15 minutes during peak periods on key routes that connect the edges of town with downtown. Some communities where it's hard for big buses to fit would get little “circulator” buses to hook people into the rest of the transit grid.
And while we’re at it, why not sidewalk, bike and accessibility improvements on a bunch of those bus lines too?
“This is a game-changing opportunity for us,” said MARTA CEO and General Manager Keith Parker. He emphasized that the draft list is just that — a draft — and he expects the city to have ideas that MARTA didn’t think of, and he expects ideas and feedback from the public too.
“While the rail projects will get a lot of attention, the things we’re talking about doing with the bus service will be among the most innovative you’ll see anywhere in the country,” he said.
Some members of the TransFormation Alliance, a group of community advocates, government agencies, and others who push for the kind of transit developments that serve their communities, came to check out the presentation.
“We think the project list is very balanced and really provides the residents that need access to transit good opportunities,” said Marisa Ghani, an Atlanta Regional Commission planner, after the presentation. She said she thinks the improved bus system will be critical to expanding access to the existing system to people who really need it.
The referendum could either be held this November or next November, and it applies only to Atlanta, not the other areas that MARTA serves.