City of Atlanta CDP

Mass Transit

Current Conditions

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the only comprehensive provider of mass transit to the city, the inner suburbs and the central area of the metropolitan area.  MARTA provides some 22 million annual vehicle miles of rail service and 29 million miles of feeder bus routes covering urbanized area of Fulton and DeKalb counties.  As an alternative to single occupancy vehicles (SOV), MARTA usage contributes to reduced traffic congestion and improved air quality throughout the region.

The MARTA system includes 46 miles of rapid rail with a fleet of 238 cars and 1,500 miles of bus routes serviced by 778 buses.  There are 24,000 parking spaces at rail stations and 2,800 at bus facilities.  The heavy rail network has 36 stations, 24 of them in Atlanta.  The latest rail expansion was approximately seven miles northward on the North Line with three additional heavy rail stations – Buckhead, Medical Center and Dunwoody.  An additional North Line extension to Sandy Springs and North Springs began operation in December 2000.

Current Policies

1. Encourage and support further expansion of MARTA rail and bus systems.
2. Support the accessibility of transit to city residents at a reasonable cost.
3. Support the expansion of AMTRAK and the development of commuter-rail passenger and commuter bus service for Atlanta, hubbing at the Downtown Multi-modal Passenger Terminal.

Current Programs and Projects

LENOX STATION

Plans for a high-density residential complex adjacent to the Lenox MARTA Station are currently planned.  The development will have 380 units.

NORTH AVENUE

BellSouth is constructing several new office buildings between North Avenue and 5th Street along Peachtree Street.  A new 6-story training center will be built near the North Avenue Station and two more office buildings with approximately 1,000,000 square feet will be built between 3rd and 5th Streets.

NEW MARTA RAIL FACILITY

A new facility on Armour Drive will serve as the primary storage, maintenance and dispatching facility for about 100 new rail cars that MARTA has ordered. This project is under construction.

PROCUREMENT OF ADDITIONAL TRANSIT CARS

MARTA has procured 100 heavy rail transit vehicles.

WEST LINE EXTENSION

MARTA has a project included in the Regional Transportation Plan to extend the west line, which currently has its terminus at the H.E. Holmes Station.  MARTA rail will be extended to the Fulton Industrial District around Fulton Industrial Boulevard.

LINDBERGH CENTER TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

The Lindbergh Center Transit Oriented Development (TOD) site will be a multi-use development with commercial office towers, retail stores, restaurants, and residential buildings. The planned development is presently being constructed on MARTA-owned property around the Lindbergh station.  Approximately 3,000,000 square feet of office space will be built.

Historic Westside Village

This new mixed-use development atop the Ashby Street MARTA station will provide about one million square feet of retail, residential and office space in a pedestrian-oriented environment connecting the Atlanta University Center to surrounding neighborhoods.

THE PROPOSED ATLANTA MULTI-MODAL PASSENGER TERMINAL

The proposed Multi-modal facility, to be located west of Five Points MARTA station, will connect commuter and intercity rail with local transit, commuter and intercity bus and airport connections.  The terminal will be the principal hub for transit systems located throughout the City, and will be the center of a regional commuter-rail system with service planned in a spoke system from Atlanta to Athens, and Macon initially and then to Gainesville, Bremen, Senoia, Cartersville, and Madison.  The terminal is being designed to have a track level for AMTRAK and commuter rail, a commuter and intercity bus terminal, as well as street level plazas with a pedestrian concourse, terminal offices, and to provide a base for high density mixed-use pedestrian-oriented development that will connect Downtown, Phillips Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) with Castleberry Hill and west Atlanta neighborhoods.

Anticipated Future Conditions

The significance of mass transit will increase in the Atlanta Region.  Mass transit, as well as bike and pedestrian facilities and other travel modes designed to reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, will rival highway spending as the primary recipient of transportation funding in the future.  Population and employment will continue to increase in Atlanta, yet the development of new roads and increased capacity on existing roads will be limited.

Areas with good transit access will benefit from this trend, as shown by the Lindbergh TOD.  In addition to the Lindbergh project, TOD’s are under development adjacent to two other rail stations.  Just as proximity to interstate highways has shaped development patterns in the past, proximity to transit stations will become as important for many types of development.

Georgia Regional Transportation Authority

In 1999 Governor Roy Barnes and the Georgia Legislature created the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) to combat regional transportation-related problems resulting from sprawl.  GRTA has the power to plan, develop and implement regional mass transit in the 13-county Atlanta non-attainment area.  While MARTA has been constrained to serving only Fulton and DeKalb counties, GRTA will have the ability to implement mass transit throughout the region.  As additional counties fall into non-attainment status they will become subject to GRTA’s authority.

GRTA will review GDOT and Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) plans, review projects planned by the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority and review and approve developments of regional impact as a prerequisite to receipt of state funds.  GRTA can also require local governments to issue bonds and levy fees to retire transit-related debt.

Marta’S Long-range Plans

An additional 14 miles and nine stations are planned for construction when funds become available.  This phase includes three additional miles of heavy rail line and three new stations within the city.  MARTA’s current long-range plan calls for 60 miles of heavy rail with 45 stations, five rail branches off the main lines and one road exclusively for buses.  A revised long range plan is now under development for a new MARTA network that could modify the current plan by proposing new rail corridors and various modal technologies for certain line segments.  The proposed Thomasville Busway corridor will be studied for alternative service in this long-range plan.  A demonstration project in the Regional Transportation Plan calls for a study of a rail transit extension to the Greenbriar Mall area, either following railroad corridors or I-285 south or Langford Parkway west.

Current Programs and Projects - Transit

Project List 9-10: 2004 CDP Transportation Current Programs and Projects – Transit

New Programs and Projects - Transit

Project List 9-11: 2004 CDP Transportation New Programs and Projects – Transit

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