The Influence of MARTA

Being a freshman with no car on a college campus in a city like Atlanta, the best resource for transportation would be buses or MARTA. So I decided to do a little research about MARTA and how it influences the people in a city-life community. MARTA stands for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. It was bought by the Atlanta Transit System, which was just a bus line, in February 1972 for $12.9 million. This collaboration reduced fares for the subway from 40 cents to 15 cents. By the end of 1972, there was a 21% increase in passengers; meaning more than nine million more passengers than anticipated had ridden MARTA since the fare reduction. There were 65 million passengers as a whole that year which was 11.5 million more than the previous year. Through the 1970s, MARTA received more than $800 million in grants from the federal government. This combination of a railway and bus service has made lives more convenient for those who live in the city. However, the railway and bus routes not only go from place to place downtown, but also in the surrounding areas from Doraville to Buckhead and even the Hartsfield Airport. People who live in the suburbs save their gas by parking at a nearby MARTA station and riding the subway downtown for work. Others ride the subway to save money and time on looking for a parking space for a big sporting game downtown. There are many reasons people use MARTA. It is a very sufficient way of public transportation.

First image: MARTA bus

Second image: MARTA train

Third image: a crowd waiting for a MARTA train

Reference:

"MARTA About MARTA." MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. MARTA, 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. .

Posted by: Sarah Chang