EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Photos by Leah Harnack/Mass Transit
MARTA FRESH Markets gives local residents the opportunity to purchase fresh fruit and
vegetables in food deserts of Atlanta.
Southern
Hospitality
A MARTA RECENTLY
8 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2017
Editorial
Advisory Board
Andrew Johnson
Chief Operating Officer
Champaign-Urbana
Mass Transit District
Gary Thomas
President/
Executive Director
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Keith Jones, P.E.
General Manager
M-1 Rail
Kristen Joyner
Executive Director
South West Transit
Association
Matthew Tucker
Executive Director
North County
Transit District
Patrick LeClerc
President & Chief
Executive Officer
Canadian Urban
Transit Association
Paul Larousse
Director
National Transit Institute
few days in Atlanta wasn’t enough to
see everything going on at the Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority,
but I did get the opportunity of a
whirlwind tour to see many of the things the staff has been focused on.
Th e half-cent sales tax referendum that passed in Atlanta can be
used to expand MARTA bus and rail services, both capital and operating.
With a list of projects tied to that referendum bigger than the
available funding, MARTA will be looking to the public preferences
as to how they utilize that money.
While MARTA has implemented a suite of bus service enhancements
earlier this year, they’ve also been working on a regional
expansion program over the past few years that has four primary
projects: extending the Red Line to the north, the Blue Line to the
east, commuter rail to the south, and an 8-mile light rail line, the
Clift on Corridor.
And while there’s been a lot of new projects underway, MARTA
still faces its share of challenges. Th ey were at the forefront of developing
their transit asset management plan in compliance with
the Federal Transit Administration’s ruling requiring TAM Plan
documentation and have a clear picture of where their assets lie,
including which ones are facing critical challenges.
As thousands of transit professionals will be heading to Atlanta
in October for the American Public Transportation Association’s
Expo, we’ll be featuring details on the operations, technologies, safety
programs and services MARTA has going on. To kick it off , this
issue has an overview of the change of direction it’s seen in the past
several years and how the public’s perception of MARTA has evolved.
launched a new
program aimed
at enhancing and
integrating art
throughout the
system.
Leah Harnack, Editor