Blog for Democracy

Do Georgians Outside Atlanta Really Want Mass Transit?

That’s the big question posed in the AJC article this morning. Seems like it comes down to basic supply and demand. Where the riders have access to MARTA or a MARTA juncture, they want and need it to get to work, home and school. There are some good percentages here, mainly that 40% of MARTA riders need MARTA to get to work because they have no other transportation to work. Well duh, but it is nice to finally have numbers to back what we knew up.

Gwinnett and Cobb had lower ridership for CCT and such transfers, but Richard Oden from Rockdale points out in the article that all their park & ride lots are full. So it falls back to the basic Field of Dreams moniker ‘ “if you build it they will”….ride?

Side note, the Georgia Regional Transit Authority is now under the leadership of a new woman, Jannine Miller, Gov. Perdue’s transportation advisor since 2007 has stepped into the leaderhsip post after a vote of the Board.

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7 responses to “Do Georgians Outside Atlanta Really Want Mass Transit?”

  1. Javon Watson Avatar
    Javon Watson

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  2. Waldo Avatar
    Waldo

    The answer is Yes, but only if it done correctly out here in the ‘burbs. Excuse me while I pull out the soap box.

    I’m a residence of Gwinnett County, use MARTA regularly, but refuse to use Gwinnett County Transit. I live 4 miles from the Doraville MARTA stop, but if I were to take GCT Bus that picks up on my street, I would have a 30 minute bus ride North! to transfer to the bus going to Doraville. Weekday service ends at 7pm, Saturday service is hourly and the buses do not run at all on Sunday.

    We can talk about low ridership, but lets look at the real problems of access, routes and ease of transfers. Of course the MARTA Lots and the Park N Rides are full. They are easy to get to, right off the interstate, and have a direct route with limited stops.

    I am encourages by the Lilburn and Gwinnett Place CIDs that are currently studying using light rail to connect up the I-85 corridor from Doraville to Gwinnett Place Mall and another light rail corridor running parallel with Hwy 29.

  3. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    I’m with Gunner. I live in South Ga now but grew up in North Ga, barely inside the ATL metro area’s current definition (we were outside it as I was growing up). If I tell people down here where I grew up, they see it as no different than downtown ATL, even though my small town was 40 miles away!

  4. Rubyduby Avatar
    Rubyduby

    In a word: YES!

  5. Gunner Avatar
    Gunner

    When you said outside Atlanta I thought you meant folks like me down here. Most folks outside of the metro area just kinda lump all those areas together.

  6. Sara Avatar
    Sara

    People who have never experienced the benefits of mass transit are much more likely to think they don’t need or want it. But if you show them how it could be beneficial–commuter rail, trains to the state university system that students could take to and from home, using it to travel to and from concerts and sporting events or the airport, etc. then usually most people are more receptive.

    Of course, the Atlanta-haters out there in the hinterlands are going to balk at anything intended to make it easier to get around in Atlanta. But there’s not much you can do to persuade those folks.

  7. Freezing in Puerto Rico Avatar
    Freezing in Puerto Rico

    No.

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