While metro Atlanta voters have often rejected proposals to expand transit, the suburban counties of Cobb and Gwinnett are hoping to get approval in 2024 to add bus rapid transit to their roadways.
Bus rapid transit operates more like rail but on roads instead of train tracks. It primarily uses dedicated lanes and has a priority signal at traffic lights. It moves faster and stops less frequently than regular buses and has stations with real-time arrival updates and more amenities. Rapid bus routes can be more flexible than rail but are most effective when they travel along straight routes, experts say.
The region does not yet have any rapid bus routes, but that will soon change.
The city of Atlanta currently has a new BRT line under construction, and MARTA officials have opted for BRT in Clayton County instead of the rail line they had initially proposed in 2018.
Many other cities in the U.S. have added BRT to their transit systems. It is often touted by officials as a more affordable way to get the consistent rapid service offered by rail, without the high capital costs and reliance on railroad infrastructure.
Local leaders are hoping it’s the compromise that will get transit expansion across the finish line.
Cobb County’s BRT plans
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Cobb’s transportation director, Drew Raessler, pointed to Indianapolis’ rapid bus system as one county leaders considered when developing plans for the proposed mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
Cobb commissioners will vote early next year on whether to place the 1% sales tax question on the ballot, which the board’s Democratic majority is poised to do over Republican opposition. Then, voters in Cobb will decide whether to fund for 30 years the first transit initiative put before them in over a decade.
Nearly $6 billion — about half of what the county expects to be generated by the mobility SPLOST — will go toward the rapid bus system.
Credit: Cobb County
Credit: Cobb County
The seven BRT routes in the county’s proposal would run from Town Center at Cobb to Marietta; Marietta to Cumberland, and South Cobb; South Cobb to MARTA’s Hamilton E. Holmes station; Cumberland to Atlanta; Interstate 285 from Cumberland to Dunwoody; and the I-285 extension to MARTA H.E. Holmes. The latter three routes would be funded and created through regional partnerships. The buses would stop in half-mile increments every 15-20 minutes.
Arterial rapid transit is similar to BRT but may not primarily operate in a dedicated lane, and the stops are closer together. The three ART routes are planned for Atlanta Road to South Cobb Drive, Cumberland to South Cobb, and Roswell Road to SR 120.
The success of bus rapid transit depends in part on the density of the areas connected to it, said Nathaniel Horadam, a local transportation expert.
“If Cobb and Gwinnett run BRT between a bunch of low-density strip malls and park-and-rides, ridership will be abysmal,” he said. “Even at lower cost than rail, it really needs high-density mixes of residential and commercial development.”
The county’s high-capacity transit routes connect busy community centers — such as downtown areas in Marietta and Smyrna; universities; the Cumberland district; and the county’s two major hospitals. These areas already have the most significant transit use, so the plan implements high-capacity transit in these areas.
In the less-dense areas of the county like west and north Cobb, voters and officials have repeatedly expressed their desire to prevent dense urban development. The proposed transit expansion in these areas includes local bus routes and on-demand microtransit — both low-capacity transit options.
Matt Stigall, a Cobb resident who serves on the county’s Transit Advisory Board, said the success of bus rapid transit depends in part on the frequency of service. One common issue with BRT is ensuring the service delivered over time matches what is promised at the outset, he said.
“It might look good on a map, but then once they start implementing it, sometimes the level of service starts to degrade more and more,” Stigall said.
Will the voters approve?
The last time Cobb voted on transit expansion was in 2012 when the entire metro Atlanta region spurned a 10-county, $7 billion mass transit plan that would have included BRT, rail and road improvements. The current proposal differs significantly — it excludes rail, is specific to Cobb County, and is guided by several years of planning based on public input, advocates say.
Cobb’s more recent history with transit has consistently included a “wait-and-see” approach by local leaders.
Former Chairman Tim Lee tried to garner support for years to create a BRT route from Kennesaw along U.S. 41 to the Cumberland area — an endeavor fraught with concerns over transparency from officials and the public in the wake of the Atlanta Braves stadium negotiations that took place mostly in secret.
Getting suburban voters in metro Atlanta to agree to a long-term tax to fund transit has proven to be no easy feat over the decades, given the distrust of government and lingering opposition to transit. But current Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has said she is hopeful that now is the time for Cobb.
At a recent board meeting, she compared the proposed 30-year investment in transit to the county’s 30-year bond agreement for the construction of the Atlanta Braves stadium.
“There was enthusiasm amongst board members that saw the vision and the impact that that project could have,” Cupid said. “Here we have a project today that perhaps doesn’t have the nostalgia of a baseball stadium, but I think is transformative in what it could do for our entire county and for our future.”
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