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Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Have you given the express bus a try?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The red Dodge pickup was a block away when I turned onto Hewatt Road Tuesday evening. It sped up until it was six inches from my bumper. And stayed there.
It was an instant reminder of the demon drivers and traffic headaches that had been, up to that point, gloriously missing from my day.
That morning I had left my car at a park-and-ride lot on Hewatt Road and boarded an express bus for downtown Atlanta. In the afternoon, I walked to a pickup point downtown and rode another bus back to Snellville.
The service was part of the new express bus routes that GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority) started Monday.
I have to say - I loved it. The bus made good time. I didn’t have to worry about traffic. I talked to other riders. I read. Some commuters listened to music.
The $3 fare I paid each way was less than I would have spent in gasoline. Not to mention wear and tear and parking. I don’t travel downtown every day, but when I do, I’ll catch a bus again. (Check out www.xpressga.com for details.)
There was little publicity about the start of the service. Still, about 25 riders boarded the first day, about 32 on Tuesday.
GRTA communications director William Mecke said those numbers are what was expected for the early days of the 90-day pilot program. Numbers start low (and with Spring Break, even fewer were around to ride) but gradually climb. It usually takes a year or two to reach full ridership, he said.
Many I met onboard had been waiting for such a service.
Marilyn Carroll of Grayson, who works at SunTrust downtown, occasionally drove to Discover Mills to catch an express bus. More often, she just drove downtown.
So did Phil Magoon, who lives in the Brookwood area of Snellville and works at the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Swin Rhodes of Grayson usually drove 15-plus miles to the Indian Creek MARTA station, where he would board a train. Stopping at Hewatt Road cuts the driving in half and requires no train.
One Snellville rider said he previously caught an express bus in Conyers; another said she has tried vanpools, carpools and most recently was driving to Stone Mountain to make a connection.
The initial runs of the Snellville-to-downtown service had their hiccups, however.
The opening of a second park-and-ride lot at Snellville First Baptist Church was delayed while arrangements are legally reviewed. Some riders on Monday and Tuesday complained that buses missed their downtown stop or made wrong turns. A few commuters pointed out that HOV lanes or route changes would improve the service. And several said the Gwinnett Transit buses being used lack the comfort of other buses.
Still, most seemed to welcome the ride.
“This is what’s been missing in Snellville,” Rhodes said.
“Even though it may take just as long as driving,” said Carroll, “it gives me the opportunity of helping to do something about what we have long been complaining about - pollution, air quality, traffic.”
Not only that, you don’t have ornery drivers on your bumper.
Have you ridden the new buses? Do you plan to? Have you found yourself behind one? What do you think?
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