Go to MyAJC.com to see an interactive map of the MARTA parking system and where the parking money comes from.

Who wouldn’t want to do this: Ease into a free parking spot at a MARTA lot in a packed neighborhood — not to board a bus or a train, but to meander through Midtown or catch a show.

If you’ve done it, you may love it. But MARTA doesn’t, and the free ride is over.

As part of a larger shift in how MARTA sees its role, many things are about to change for people who park at its lots.

MARTA, its leaders say, is a transit agency, not a parking business. So it plans to hand that duty to a parking company, push the limits of parking automation, and possibly employ technology to give smartphone users an edge in paying or finding a space. At four lots in high-traffic areas, enforcement will ensure that only MARTA riders park for free. And in concert with MARTA efforts to streamline, parking jobs will be reduced and those that remain will be outsourced.

The goal, MARTA officials say, is better customer service that lures tech-savvy millennials and riders who own cars, and gives MARTA a better return on its parking investment.

“People who are not riding MARTA are displacing parking spots that should be available to our riders,” said Gordon Hutchinson, MARTA’s chief financial officer. “This will be particularly important in the future as we build our ridership. Our attitude is going to be, please go park in a commercial lot down the street. If you insist on coming into our lot and you don’t ride MARTA, well then at least you’re going to pay.”

All of this is part of a proposal for which MARTA is seeking bids. The proposal won’t change parking fees and free parking hours for MARTA passengers as of now, officials said.

MARTA hopes the changes will be fully implemented by the end of 2016. But how the system actually works will depend on the winning bid.

Parkers would likely see the following changes:

  • MARTA has many lots that are currently wide open. At four of those — Lenox, Midtown, Arts Center and Vine City — the ability to exit for free will depend on recent use of a MARTA Breezecard.
  • At 11 lots that currently charge for long-term parking — where anyone must pay after 24 hours — cashiers will be replaced by machines. If problems arise, a human voice will be available at the end of an intercom, though for special events personnel may be on site. Machines ease car bottlenecks, according to MARTA.
  • Drivers may be able to use smartphones to pay and to see how many spaces are open at different lots, depending on the winning technology.

MARTA, meanwhile, expects the following:

  • About 75 MARTA employees who are not union members, mostly cashiers, will lose their jobs.
  • The contract with the winning parking agency will guarantee MARTA a stream of revenue of at least $562,000 a year and rising if revenues rise. MARTA wouldn't have to foot the bill for implementing the new technology, a cost that could run $5 million to $6 million, according to MARTA. And the transit agency believes the operational cost savings of running the lots with machines will more than cover the cost of implementing them.

MARTA is looking for a high-dollar bid, but also good technology and a reliable company or team of companies, Hutchinson said. And it’s suggesting bidders consider hiring some of those 75 workers who’ll lose their jobs, although MARTA officials imagine it could take less than 20 people to staff the new automated system.

Some MARTA passengers and workers interviewed this week said they have seen plenty of freeloaders. It’s especially a problem at MARTA’s tiny Arts Center lot, which is perfectly positioned at the art complex’s back entrance.

Making interlopers pay is “a good idea,” said Jason Hogan, an Atlanta Fire Department worker who was taking the train at Arts Center and who parks at other MARTA lots a few times a year. “If I drove to get here thinking I’m going to get a parking space and there’s not one because they took it, that’s a problem,” Hogan said.

At other lots, where a cashier regulates traffic, some drivers were concerned that switching to an intercom wouldn’t be an adequate substitute for customer service or safety.

All this is happening while Georgia transit agencies such as MARTA are trying to position themselves for possible funding from the state Legislature. As part of a historic $1 billion-plus package under discussion for transportation, state Republican leaders have for the first time agreed the state should fund mass transit. How much or to whom is still very much in play, and MARTA wants to look like a worthy recipient.

State Rep. Mike Jacobs, a Republican from Brookhaven, chairs the MARTA oversight committee. He likes the streamlining.

“I think cost-saving measures that allow MARTA to refocus on its core mission would be well received in the General Assembly,” he said.

But at the poorer end of town, some residents may feel differently. State Rep. Mable Thomas represents the area where the Vine City parking lot is located, and where MARTA will clamp down on free parking without creating a cashier job. While she appreciates the streamlining, she is concerned for the employees.

“I do not welcome the conversation of people losing jobs in these critical economic times,” she said.

State Sen. Vincent Fort represents a part of Vine City close to the station and has served nine terms on the legislative committee that watches MARTA. “We know one thing’s going to happen — parking rates are going to increase,” he said. At lots that charge for long-term parking, fees currently go up to $8 per day.

The senator raised the specter of Park Atlanta, the city of Atlanta’s much-maligned foray into privatized street parking that was run by Duncan Solutions. The Milwaukee-based company’s aggressive management of Atlanta’s curb space did raise revenue, yet it hurt organizations that depended on an easy flow of customer traffic.

That won’t be the case with MARTA, Hutchinson said. The proposed changes would only better manage existing lots and garages, he said. And parking fees and hours would only be changed after public comment and a vote of the MARTA board.