Public transit is the lifeblood of any thriving city, connecting its people to opportunity and each other. For 45 years, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has played a central role in shaping the way millions of residents and visitors experience our region. Now, it’s time to look at the next 45 years and beyond.
As the city’s transit needs continue to evolve, it’s clear that the journey toward a more connected and efficient system must be a collaborative effort — one that requires both robust investments from MARTA and active support from local leaders and the communities it serves. MARTA’s recent achievements show a blueprint for collaboration that can be a force multiplier for communities across the Atlanta area.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
MARTA has been recognized as one of the top transit agencies in the country, recently receiving the Outstanding Public Transportation System Award from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). MARTA earned this honor through proven excellence in customer service, sustainability, infrastructure development, technology and innovation, and several other areas.
MARTA also has some of the best credit ratings of any transit agency in the country. We have already attained AAA ratings from Kroll and S&P, the highest possible, and Fitch Ratings, one of the country’s premier credit rating bureaus, recently upgraded MARTA’s bond rating to AA+. These outstanding ratings underscore MARTA’s strong financial stability, sound accounting practices and responsible stewardship of public dollars. And these types of ratings also benefit the taxpayers by allowing MARTA to secure financing at more favorable interest rates and contributing positively to MARTA’s financial stability, reliability and overall success.
MARTA continues to advance projects focused on improving service and customer experience and expanding the system. MARTA is investing nearly $750 million in all new trains, which will come online next year, and feature open gangways, state-of-the-art technology and a sleek, modern design chosen by its customers. Recognizing that buses are the backbone of our transit system, we are redesigning the entire bus network to better reflect the changing geography and demographics of metro Atlanta, and provide faster, more efficient, equitable bus service.
MARTA is following the lead of other large transit agencies in this country by investing in bus rapid transit (BRT), an innovative approach to delivering high-capacity transit along busy corridors faster and for less money than rail. MARTA Rapid Summerhill, the first BRT in the region, promises enhanced connectivity through downtown Atlanta with electric buses, rail-like stations and vital links to MARTA’s heavy rail system. MARTA is planning Rapid routes along the Clifton Corridor, Campbellton Road and in Clayton County, with a potential extension up Georgia Highway 400.
MARTA prides itself on taking care of the current system with a multiyear, almost $1 billion Station Rehabilitation Program that improves safety and aesthetics at all 38 rail stations, including recent work at Airport Station, Five Points, Brookhaven and Indian Creek. Yearly track replacement keeps train travel safe, and, though not as visible but just as vital, electrical and mechanical upgrades ensure all parts of the system are well maintained and operational. The installation of SMART restrooms, which use technology to ensure safety and cleanliness, and the completion of 1,000 bus stop amenities systemwide over the past five years demonstrate our commitment to enhanced customer experience.
On the community service front, MARTA remains committed to improving the communities it serves through award-winning programs such as StationSoccer, through which transit connects players to a unique “league of stations,” innovative sustainability programs such as the Reefing Project in which decommissioned railcars are deployed into the ocean to develop into reef habitats, and compassionate programs such as MARTA HOPE, in which MARTA and HOPE Atlanta partner to offer resources and support to unsheltered individuals on the MARTA system.
And MARTA will continue putting the customer at the center of every improvement as it implements new technology enhancements. Our new fare collection system will allow customers to use tap-and-go technology to ride, and we are deploying new vehicle information systems so that accurate, reliable and real-time service information is at their fingertips.
There is much work left to be done and MARTA cannot run this two-way street alone. MARTA employees are happy to give transit, and we invite you, the citizens of this great region, to take transit.
As we prepare to build more, do more and be more, I invite residents to get on board and help move their transit system into the future — lifting their voices in a collaborative, positive, solution-oriented manner. The best part of our celebrated recent achievements, is our refreshed, determined and impassioned plans for a better future. Working together, we can build on these recent achievements and improve transit and connectivity in our area for generations to come.
Collie Greenwood is the chief executive officer of MARTA.
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