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Georgia county approves MARTA expansion
A minor correction to the 3rd paragraph: there are actually 14 counties in the Atlanta metro area; Clayton is the 5th largest county within the area. Of the 14 counties, only three (Fulton, Dekalb and now Clayton) are members of MARTA.
In the short term, this vote was really about bring bus service back to Clayton County. From 2001 to 2010, Clayton County had a bus service called C-Tran that was actually operated by MARTA, under contract. In 2009, the Clayton County Board voted to terminate the service and C-Tran shut down in 2010.
Long term, the “high capacity transit option” will likely be BRT (bus rapid transit), not commuter rail.
Not commuter rail. When I lived in Jonesboro (1985-1992), the talk was to run commuter trains on the former CofG.
More great news for commuter rail.
Chris Webster seems skeptical about what MARTA can do. My family’s long association with Georgia transportation (dating back to the start of the 20th century) tells me MARTA can accomplish the most impossible dreams and surprise its most severest critics. What transpired in Fulton and DeKalb counties after the middle of the last century suggests to me that operation may be poised to eventually connect several outlying counties with commuter rail service. All in good time. Just expect the unexpected. Atlanta is where it’s happening!
It’s about time MARTA expanded. As a side note to the c-tran comment, MARTA didn’t operate it the whole time. Between 2004-2007 1st Transit ran the service into the ground.