Commutants!

By Natasha

November 7, 2005 01:08 PM | Link to this

David, before you take that ride home you might want to swing by McCormick & Schmidts for a martini or three so the ride will be halfway bearable.

By Debi

November 7, 2005 03:01 PM | Link to this

I am a regular commuter on CCT (Cobb) I took the train/bus when I lived in Los Angeles. I can nap on the way in and nap on the way home. It takes a period of adjustment when deciding to use rapid transit. You have to plan your time, but there is never a shortage of interesting people to talk to (if you stay awake). There are no party lines drawn it beats fighting traffic in a car by oneself.

By David

November 7, 2005 06:27 PM | Link to this

Common misconception debunk: MARTA has never been bailed out by the state. MARTA receives basically zero from the state. It is self-funded by fares, Dekalb and Fulton sales tax and a little from the Feds. I might add that this is highly unusual for a major transit system in the United States, to get no state funding. Makes sense on no level, since transit is usually the most efficient way to get people from A to B is a major city, and the ridership is certainly there. (Less efficient roads, by contrast, get plenty of state funding. No, it is not all paid for out of gas taxes. Not even close.) But if you ride MARTA, as I do every day, you only have to look around to realize why the state won’t offer any funding. Same reason Cobb voters opted out of MARTA in 1973.

By Molly

November 7, 2005 06:38 PM | Link to this

I lived in Atlanta and the surrounding area for six years. In that time, I took MARTA about six times: once to Philips Arena (the last train left BEFORE the concert let out, costing a $25 cab ride), once to a Braves game (what other city in the nation makes you take a shuttle to and from the game, costing you at least an extra hour?), and maybe four times to the airport. Only the trips to the airport were worth it, and that’s still debatable, as I was lucky enough to have a ride to the station. In one of the largest cities in the world, this is absolutely ridiculous.
A comparison: I lived in Boston for 2 years after that. For the past year, I’ve lived in Philadelphia. Each of these cities has a subway and bus system in addition to a regional rail that allows suburban commuters to connect to the subway and bus systems. Each of these cities’ fare also costs less than MARTA, despite service that goes to most everywhere (major residential, industrial, commercial, tourist and other areas) that people want to go. What’s the problem? In my opinion, it’s a mix of two sides: the government and the people who might ride them.
As for the government, the state of Georgia needs to make it difficult, if not impossible for counties to refuse MARTA’s service. If you’re afraid of “the riffraff” coming out to the suburbs, let me tell you: they’re already there. Criminals don’t necessarily depend on public transportation. City and State government should also consider giving tax breaks to employers who pay for their employees’ commutes via public transportation. And yes, staff the train stations with people who can give change or can collect fares after people have boarded. This also leads to the other side: the consumers who might potentially patronize MARTA, such as the AJC staffers who wrote these articles. I give you my own experience. I, too, used to be a person who drove every day to work. I often joked that “I believe in public transportation, I just don’t practice it.” I even joked that us Southerners weren’t known for giving up their cars. However, after paying upwards of $14 a day in parking charges, I started to take the train. In Boston, it was $1 per trip. In Philadelphia, it costs me about $3.50 a day. Yes, I have to plan my time around the train schedule. Yes, sometimes I can’t stand my fellow commuters and their strange conversations. Yes, it’s a little dirty. However, I read the paper on the way to work every day. Sometimes I take a little nap. I met a guy who I later dated while riding the train. I can go to happy hour after work, have one too many, and get home without driving drunk. My point in all this? I got used to it. Now I ride public transit. The strength and value of the system is greater when more people use it. Suck it up for a few weeks, ride MARTA, and you’ll be surprised how much you’ll like it in the long run.

By SuebeeQ

November 7, 2005 07:04 PM | Link to this

Some friends and I were trying to be good by carpooling to the baseball game. Like always we met at a MARTA station and all of us piled into one car and drove to the baseball. Parking at Turner field was only $10 and it took a total of 15 minutes to get there. if we had taken MARTA it would cost us more then $10 total round trip and about 2 hours each way. When we got back to the MARTA station, the MARTA police had given us a $25 parking ticket for parking in their near empty lot after hours because we didn’t take MARTA. All of my other MARTA experiences had been very disappointing. It takes too long and they never have enough trains when big events are in town causing bottle neck and long wait times. I’d rather pay the extra parking fees for parking downtown or the airport and keep my sanity. MARTA is truely not SMARTA.

By Sgt. K

November 7, 2005 07:15 PM | Link to this

Funny, not one of you rode a motorcycle. Why not? Afraid of the other car drivers? I am. But I still have to get to work downtown. And it only costs me $10 to fill up. Now if we can only legalize lane splitting….

By Steve

November 7, 2005 07:57 PM | Link to this

I used to ride MARTA everyday to get to Georgia State. GSU offers transcards at $26 a month…seems like a very good alternative to driving. As of this month, I have ceased riding completely because it simply isn’t worth the hassle. I’m not waiting for trains that only come around every 20 minutes and on top of that hear the constant, “We are currently experiencing delays on our North/South rail line” day after day. I’ve been driving to Turner Field, taking the GSU shuttle back to campus, and I haven’t been happier. Even sitting in traffic is 10x better than sitting on some filthy train or waiting at some filthy station.