Good Eats is Creative Loafing's definitive guide to Atlanta Restaurants and Hot Spots
A graphic political adventure
Saturday, June 14th, Woodruff Park
Find the lowest gas prices in the Atlanta area
View and post ads in other cities.
Customers should be aware that significant changes are being made to bus service in Dunwoody and South Fulton including adjustments to current routes and the addition of new services. The following changes will go into effect on Saturday, April 26, 2008. For more information, click here or call 404-848-5000.
To view the complete list of service changes, click here.
The Helping Marta Is Smarta Award
[One in a series of accolades doled out to the legislators who managed to do good — or at least try to — during this year’s legislative session. View the other winners, as well as their more poor-minded colleagues, in this week’s CL or online here.]
(Photo courtesy of the Senate Press Office)
According to the American Public Transit Association, or APTA, our fellow countrymen and women took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the highest level in 50 years. That’s a 2.1% increase over the previous year. The organization chalks the increase up to high gas prices, woeful gridlock and expanded service. Light-rail service saw the highest ridership increase with 6.1 percent. In areas with a population of less than 100,000 people, bus ridership increased 6.4 percent. That’s worth taking into account for the metro region’s outlying areas that may be looking into improving mobility for its residents and making better use of the roads that are already available.
The association also says:
- Communities who choose to invest in public transportation reduce the nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons annually — equivalent to the electricity used by 4.9 million households. To achieve a similar reduction in carbon emissions, every household in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles combined would have to completely stop using electricity.
- This “leverage effect†of public transportation, supporting efficient land use patterns saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline — more than three times the amount of gasoline refined from the oil we import from Kuwait.
This news arrived in my inbox literally minutes after reading this on The Arc of Time, an excellent local blog that showcases, among other things, one Atlantan’s experiences riding MARTA on a daily basis.
From today’s post:
i continue to be bemused by how long it took me to discover the beauty of commuting this way and wonder aloud why others haven’t either. every morning i look out of the windows of the bus/train and watch the cars plying their way along the highway. i know the frustration and boredom that all of those drivers are bound for. and i know they are now paying north of $3.50 per gallon, which is now something like 17.5 cents per mile, just for gas. the irrationality of entrenched habits sometimes knows no bounds — at least that was true in my case.
speaking of savings, i also won another $25 from the clean air campaign’s commuter rewards program last month. two months in a row.
That’s poetry and progress.
UPDATE: Received a phone call from MARTA’s spokesperson. The original bus route listed in the release is incorrect. Attendees of the March 29 workshop at Dunbar Recreation Center should take bus route 4.
Listen up, James.
The transit agency is conducting a series of public workshops as part of its new MOVE program. That stands for “Making Operations Very Efficient,” all you acronym buffs.
“While much of the current transportation planning and studying is for projects ten, twenty and even thirty years out, MOVE will take a look at what can be done today to make MARTA a better system,” a press release says.
The 18-month program is aimed at making full use of what the agency has available by reaching out to stakeholders, riders and the general public. If you want to ride MARTA but think it’s too laden with problems, now’s your chance to help them sort ‘em out.
Dates and locations of the workshops follow after the jump.
Hat tip to James for this awesome find: a Flickr group dedicated to shots of MARTA, the little-transit-agency-that-could.
For 30 years, MARTA CEO Beverly Scott knew little about Atlanta aside from what she saw out of a hotel lobby on Peachtree Road. Today, as a resident, she’s blown away by the neighborhoods.
“They’re all over!” she said today after addressing politicians, civic leaders and stakeholders at the annual “State of MARTA” luncheon at the Georgia Freight Railroad Depot next to Underground Atlanta. “I go to this coffee shop on Edgewood [Javaology], my church is right there on Boulevard, and I love it.”
The only problem, of course, is getting to all these gems.
Since Scott took the helm of Atlanta’s underfunded and beleaguered transit agency, she’s been the recipient of glowing praise for her ability to speak directly and not walk on egg shells about what changes need to be made. That was on display today.
Months until 14th Street bridge replacement is supposed to be complete: 28
Southbound Downtown Connector off-ramps to Midtown now closed for bridge project: 3
Southbound Downtown Connector off-ramps to Midtown that remain open: 2
Months 14th Street bridge will be closed, starting this summer: 18
Number of bike lanes planned for replacement 14th Street bridge: 1
Number of cars that use the Downtown Connector daily: 340,000
Percent of Midtown drivers state says need to “get out of their cars†for traffic “to be able to move†during construction: 10
Number of new or enhanced MARTA routes near project: 0
Amount state will pay for 14th Street bridge replacement project: $88.5 million
Amount state contributes to MARTA annually: $0
Sources: AJC, Georgia Department of Transportation, Car & Driver, MARTA
Southwest DeKalb High’s drum majors have recorded a song and video about public transit in Atlanta.
Titled “Bitch you ride the MARTA bus,” it’s a heartwarming ode to bitches who ride MARTA instead of getting rides in cars.
WARNING: Not appropriate for most offices.
(A jaunty tilt of my Breeze Card to missdarrow at the always fantastic Pecanne Log for spotting the video a few days ago.)
A man who is suspected of stabbing a MARTA bus driver with a pocket knife on Christmas Eve remains at large. The attack, which occurred around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Covington Highway and Miller Road, was provoked by an argument of unknown origin.
MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson said the driver of the MARTA bus, whose name has not been released, stayed overnight in Grady Memorial Hospital and then went home on Christmas Day.
The suspect, shown at right, is described as an African-American male with brown eyes and is approximately 6 feet tall. He has a medium build, may wear a mustache or goatee, and is believed to be between 30 and 35 years old.
A MARTA spokeswoman declined to comment further because the matter is an ongoing investigation. People with any information about the incident should contact MARTA police at 404-848-4911.
MARTA announced it has signed a multiyear advertising deal with CBS Outdoor Group worth a guaranteed minimum of $60.3 million. The deal includes a 15-year contract for bus shelters and benches and a five-year contract for transit advertisements on rail cars and buses and at stations.
From the release:
MARTA’s new advertising agreement includes the following:
- CBS will replace all shelters that are 10 years old or older throughout the life of the contract. Eventually all 770 advertising and non-advertising shelters will be replaced with a more progressive and contemporary style.
- CBS will implement an aggressive cleaning and maintenance schedule to keep all advertising and non-advertising shelters and benches in “like new†condition.
- A hotline number and web address will be posted at all bus shelters so that customers can report any cleaning or maintenance needs to CBS.
- CBS will improve maintenance programs within rail stations to respond more quickly when ad panels are vandalized.
- A portion of all advertising space will be dedicated to providing customers with MARTA service information. All new bus shelters will be equipped with maps and schedules making it easier for riders to use the MARTA system.
This is actually a great idea. I just hope a bunch of buskers don’t get involved and start overrunning the experience a la the New York subway system — pirated DVDs, preachy sermons, mariachi bands and all. But that was half the charm. Oh, Big Apple, how I miss thee.
In celebration of Georgia Open Arts Month, MARTA will be hosting live jazz music on Wed., Oct. 24 at several stations around town to mellow the scene, hep cat. The press release doesn’t state whether it’s on the train platform or in a public area before you enter the turnstiles. Regardless, if you’re a fan, it’ll be a cheap ticket. Here’s a rundown of who’s playing where.
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Five Points – Honey Bone
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Dunwoody – Ryan Strickland Trio
Peachtree Center – William Green Arts Center – ETQ
College Park – Roberto Goncalves
Decatur – Just Ahead
Hamilton E. Holmes – Ron James
Taking MARTA not only saves money, it helps keep the air clean. A study released by the American Public Transportation Association shows that taking public transportation has a 10 times greater impact on reducing carbon dioxide in the air. For example, if a member of a household opts to hop on the train rather than sit in gridlock, he or she can reduce that household’s “carbon footprint” by 10 percent. Switch to public transit altogether and you can reduce your daily carbon emissions by more than 4,800 pounds a year. (Calculate your carbon footprint here.)
Atlanta’s largest transit provider in metro Atlanta removes approximately 185,000 vehicles off the city’s roads every day. Last year, MARTA recorded 147 million passenger boardings — a 6.6 percent increase from the previous year. So it doesn’t just take people to Braves games.
One question: What is MARTA’s carbon footprint?
So you’ve got a boxful of Breeze Cards that you want to send to your local elected official on their birthday. One problem — you don’t know when it is. Your problems, my friend, are solved.
The transportation advocacy group Georgians for Better Transportation — where “better” really means “more” and “transportation” really means “roads” — is your one-stop resource to find out the exact day those public servants came into this world! They even have a search function. Endear yourself to the people whose salaries your taxes pay — send them a card.
Happy birthdays, Reps. Porter, Johnson and Heckstall! All the best to you and yours!
(Birthday cake with cars courtesy of DesignsByDorian.com)
Screaming man rides the trains a lot because several years ago, he found $2,600 on a train or in a station, and turned it in. He was, rightly, hailed for his honesty and given a lifetime free MARTA pass. You can debate how much of a prize that is.
— Charles Davidson at Rowland’s Office, on a screaming man regularly seen on MARTA
—–
You’ve got folks out there who are advocating censorship because someone’s feelings might get hurt. That’s the society we live in; a society full of pansies that’s afraid to say anything that’s even remotely controversial because somebody somewhere might have hurt feelings.
— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered, responding to controversy that apparently followed after a Kell High School student wrote an anti-gay editorial for the school newspaper.
—-
What should the U.S. do with him? Does deporting him and his wife change anything? I would rather that you find out as much information from him as possible and see if we can learn anything we didn’t know before he forgets all of it.
— JB at The Barkan Dawg thinks accused Nazi death camp guard Paul Henss shouldn’t be deported.
