College duo’s attempt to break MARTA world record about more than bragging rights

College sophomores Andrew Zhang and Ayush Maini hopped on the Red line from the MARTA North Springs station just after 9 a.m. Aug. 14 to attempt to beat a speed record set seven months earlier.

They wanted a Guinness World Records title, but they were also motivated to raise awareness for public transit.

Maini and Zhang sought to take all four MARTA lines to all 38 rail stations in under 3 hours, 21 minutes and 37 seconds to beat a world record for fastest time to visit all stations set by a Chicago trio in early January. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s transportation reporter, Sara Gregory, did a wonderful write-up of this feat, which drew aplomb and attention from MARTA itself.

For their record-breaking attempt, Maini, visiting Atlanta from Amherst College in Massachusetts, and Zhang, a Georgia Tech student, first needed a plan.

“Andrew and I worked together to build a solver that could come up with all of the fastest routes,” Maini told me a couple of weeks after the high school buddies mounted their challenge. “It pulls what’s called the GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) data. It’s the same data that Google Maps or Transit, whatever app you use — it pulls this data from MARTA. And we just pulled that same data to try to calculate what the fastest routes would be.”

The current record-holders said at the time of their run that they had hoped to ride the whole train system in under three hours to make their time hard to beat. Doing so requires nailing every connection with no delays. But the January group experienced some slowdowns and missed connections, which made their time almost a half-hour slower than they had hoped.

Maini and Zhang’s trip started on the wrong foot, as the southbound Red line train from North Springs departed a minute early, they said. The two missed it but did not start the trip clock until boarding the next train.

Oddly, MARTA’s efficiency, a trait for which it is not known, almost marooned their record attempt at the first big transfer point. They needed to reverse from south to north at Airport station.

Zhang explained: “As (our) train is pulling in, we hear the (northbound) train like starting to get ready to leave.”

So he and Maini ran across the platform.

“The doors closed right in front of us,” he said, describing the setback as a “12-minute loss right there.”

They said, according to their trip planner, the northbound train left 15 seconds early. And they were likely the only two crestfallen about it.

Just as the other transit-record jockeys had to do in January, Maini and Zhang had to log the trip properly for Guinness’ consideration. They had to record the times and photograph each stop, and the trains did have to stop at all 38 stations. They also had to take video recordings of the beginning and end of the quest. This is in addition to keeping track of the trains, stops, connecting points and times.

Another suspenseful moment came at the Ashby station on the west side, where Maini, following on the trip tool they built, noticed an opportunity.

“If you could get from downstairs to upstairs in zero minutes, you’d be OK, and you’d be able to make up those twelve minutes as opposed to waiting twelve minutes,” he said.

Did they offset the early train miss at Airport station?

“We sprinted up the stairs, and the train was there, and we were back (on track),” he said.

They successfully got the Green line to Bankhead, the one stop that spurs out on the west side.

Maini and Zhang ended their trip on the east side at the Indian Creek station with what they say is a record-breaking time of 3 hours, 7 minutes and 37 seconds. According to them, Guinness will take several months to decide if it will certify their time.

Representatives at Guinness World Records could not be reached for comment about the August attempt.

This was not just about an achievement. It was about awareness.

Maini is what Zhang describes as a transit enthusiast. Maini said he has set an unofficial time record on the New York City ferry system and said he missed setting the record on San Francisco’s BART system several times. Maini said BART’s unreliable scheduling killed his record quests on the West Coast, making MARTA look even better.

Maini said he also did it to help show car-centric commuters that mass transit works.

Zhang, who does not have a car at Georgia Tech, said he has relied on MARTA and echoed his friend’s zeal for public transportation.

“Atlanta’s traffic is notoriously bad,” he said, adding that raising more awareness for MARTA “is a step in a good direction.”

MARTA has had concerning shortcomings and safety issues this year, including a bus driver recently charged with distracted driving and failure to maintain his lane after Dunwoody police said he fell asleep at the wheel and the bus crashed.

But the agency also performed admirably during the World Cup and again showed its potential during this recent record-setting attempt. Zhang and Maini were not the only winners there.