MARTA wants to use automated traffic cameras to keep vehicles out of the bus-only lanes that will become the backbone of new transit lines in coming years.
The agency is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new rapid bus lines designed to whisk passengers around Atlanta and Clayton County almost as quickly as rail. But the speed of those vehicles will depend on keeping regular traffic out of the exclusive bus lanes.
MARTA’s proposed solution: traffic cameras that would capture violations and result in citations for motorists who use the lanes. That solution would require new state legislation authorizing such cameras.
“For bus rapid transit to work in Atlanta, we need to get this right from Day 1,” Government Affairs Manager Michael Rafshoon told the General Assembly’s MARTA Overview Committee at the Georgia Capitol Thursday.
If Thursday’s reception is any indication, such cameras will be a hard sell for some lawmakers. Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, said excluding vehicles from lanes is unfair.
“I guarantee you, when someone’s stuck in traffic and they’re running late, they’re going to get in that lane,” Ginn said.
In recent years, voters in Atlanta and Clayton County have approved billions of dollars for transit expansion. MARTA says new rail lines are cost prohibitive. So, it plans to build a series of new bus rapid transit lines. It broke ground on the first – the Summerhill line along Capitol Avenue in Atlanta – last month.
MARTA says rapid bus lines deliver many of the features of rail at a reduced price.
Passengers board at stations with real-time information about arrivals. They pay in advance to speed up boarding. The buses operate mostly in exclusive lanes and get priority at traffic signals where they must operate in traffic.
Those bus-only lanes are crucial. Without them, the buses are just another vehicle stuck in traffic. The Atlanta streetcar -which operates in traffic and is widely considered a failure – offers a cautionary example.
But keeping other vehicles out of bus lanes can be difficult. MARTA could build curbs or other barriers to keep vehicles out. Or it could count on police to write tickets to motorists who illegally use the lanes.
But MARTA says the curbs are prohibitively expensive, and police have better things to do than write tickets in bus lanes. Its solution: automated cameras that capture violations on video and share it with police officers, who issue citations.
On Thursday the legislative committee heard from two vendors who provide traffic camera services. One would install cameras at fixed locations along rapid bus routes. The other would mount cameras on buses.
MARTA says it hasn’t chosen a particular system. But it will propose legislation authorizing such enforcement in the 2024 legislative session. The agency has proposed a $175 fine for a first offense captured on camera, but MARTA would not keep the revenue. It would go to the jurisdiction whose officers wrote the ticket.
“We’re not interested in generating revenue,” MARTA Assistant General Manager Colleen Kiernan told lawmakers. “We’re interested in our transit project operating effectively.”
Agency officials say they need an enforcement solution soon. The Summerhill line in Atlanta will open in 2025. The Campbellton Road line in Atlanta (2028) and the Southlake (2026) and Ga. 54 lines in Clayton County (2030) will follow.
Georgia already allows the use of traffic cameras in some circumstances, such as enforcing school zone speed limits. But on Thursday some lawmakers didn’t sound enthusiastic about allowing more.
“One of the biggest complaints I get from constituents is the school cameras,” said Rep Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners. “Man, they hate those things!”
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