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January 05, 2007

MARTA infill stations just more grabbing at expensive straws

Yes, this is the third post on this topic, but it’s got commentary.

So MARTA’s latest obsession appears to be infill stations, the idea being that plopping another station, say, between Arts Center and Lindbergh will tap a vast reserve of potential riders who don’t want to walk to either station currently. According to the article, such a station might cost $300 million smackers.

The first part of the problem is that MARTA has already grasped at some pretty expensive straws, with mixed results. The Sandy Springs station strikes me as a mistake, since a big part of the strategy was presumably to grab drivers who would otherwise take 400 in, and all of them stop at the North Springs station. Yeah, the new ticket things were needed; I mean, those tokens were so 1960’s, complete with the homeless people using them to score beer money. But one really gets the feeling that MARTA doesn’t really know what it’s doing or what the problems really are.

It turns out that MARTA’s big problems are not that yuppies won’t walk a mile and a half to get to a station (your average yuppie is only marginally more likely to walk half a mile as a mile and a half). Problem 1: MARTA doesn’t have enough rail to reliably keep people off the buses, and no one wants to let it run more rail anywhere useful. Problem 2: Atlanta hates MARTA – people hate it so much they’d rather spend two hours getting from midtown to Windward Parkway on 400 than get on a train or a bus.

If you ask me, $300 million would be a lot better spent addressing another one of MARTA’s problems – the fact that it doesn’t run in those wee hours of the morning just when Drunk Ass Joe Schmoe might actually be willing to pay $1.75 to save $30 in cab fare. Would running a train every half hour, or even every hour, be that difficult and expensive? Heck, throw in a couple of security guys per train to forestall any late night episodes of Bums Gone Wild – that’s chump change.

Or how about this revolutionary idea – quit whacking bus routes? Shocking as it may seem, some people actually DEPEND on MARTA to get to their JOBS, as we find out every time MARTA overreaches and has to discontinue some bus route or other. Going after these hypothetical yuppie riders at the expense of your regular, loyal riders is like Cathy Cox throwing her friends under the bus to try to get some alleged fantasyland swing votes – a stupid, stupid idea.

In MARTA’s defense, it’s not its fault that it has nothing but these mediocre strategic options available. Given the freedom to ride roughshod over all the crybabies in Cobb and Gwinnett and the money a real transit system deserves, it could and would (incompetence and all) make everything better by running more rail and becoming a complete transit system. Unfortunately, that’s never been an option, and it won’t become an option until all 23 lanes of I-75 through Cobb are jam packed six months after they’re opened and some guy goes postal on his fellow drivers in a rage. So in the meantime, sure, build away on those infill stations – what other options have we left MARTA?

Posted by Benson at January 5, 2007 10:43 PM

Comments

I wonder if MARTA will ever realize that they are already tapped out on riders in the metro area. Why don't they put them where they are really needed? I live outside the perimeter (I know...shocking...). The closest station to me is the Indian Creek station. By the time I travel 2 major interstates to get to it and ride it all the way in to downtown to my job (which is directly across the street from the Five Points station), it's simply faster for me to drive. And yes, I'm alone in my car. I'd give anything to be able to take public transportation, but we have to have another station in between two that already nobody wants to ride.

Thanks MARTA. Somehow I don't think that's sMARTA...

Posted by: Rubyduby [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2007 02:42 PM

In fairness, I think MARTA would be happy to expand into Gwinnett, Cobb, Newton, etc...if it was allowed to. If you live there, call your officials and tell them you want it. Right now, MARTA is confined to DeKalb and Fulton (except for one bus route to Cobb). They are trying to get better any way they can, which limits them currently to new rail stations in those two counties.

I'd personally like to see an emphasis on overlapping rail lines more like DC. Not every train needs to go through Five Points. Make the Doraville station a new hub for the northeast as part of the revitalization of the GM plant, for example...

Those of us in DeKalb and Fulton are eager to expand our transportation options when we need to go OTP!

Posted by: chris [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2007 02:50 PM

If Marta had at least three sets of tracks so express lines could be implemented, it would be better received in the Northern suburbs.

Posted by: ProgReader1 [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2007 09:19 PM

If marta were not in the northern suburbsit would be better recieved by the northern suburbs

Posted by: indie_rock_elitist [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2007 11:33 PM

Actually, infill stations would be a fairly cost-effective option, especially if they're built in areas that are already dense.

There are a couple of things you may want to know about the Sandy Springs and North Springs stations. The original plan for the area around the Sandy Springs station was a much more transit-friendly design. At the very last minute -- after the station plan was finalized -- the DeKalb commission reversed their position on the land use plan. Hence, we now have a station sitting in a suburban-style shopping plaza.

When I was in school, I did a study of the North Springs station. The most conservative estimate I could make was that the station's impact was about a 5% benefit to traffic on 400. That's a better track record than your typical highway widening, which carries a negative benefit to traffic.

I'm confused, though, about whether you'd rather see the rail lines extended further into suburban territory (presumably, to serve your stereotypical "yuppies") or build infill stations (presumably, to serve your stereotypical loyal MARTA rider).

Posted by: Joe [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 8, 2007 11:10 AM

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