ThreadATL

absolutely wonderful news from @MARTAtransit !! i was always skeptical about reported ridership numbers, but i didnt realize it was *this* bad this puts MARTA at around 75% rail ridership recovery compared w/ pre-pandemic numbers - on par with the other heavy rail systems in the country

One of the biggest questions for this generation of Atlantans: will our elected leaders be swayed by the powerful, moneyed interests who want to kill Beltline rail (while keeping the gentrification machine going), or will they deliver the transit that city voters approved? /End

But catch this line in the piece: "Can you imagine a bigger travesty than taking these treasures of in-town pedestrian trails and pouring more than $3 billion of concrete and steel over them to make way for a train — operated by MARTA?" What's with the MARTA fear mongering? 2/

The chairman of Cox Enterprises, parent of the AJC, is using the news outlet to condemn Beltline rail. City leaders need to see how ridiculous this is. Arguing against rail in a city that's starved for its growth, and that is already funding it with a tax, is bad enough. 1/

Good news: Axios Atlanta reports that Councilmember Mary Norwood has pulled her proposal to build separate bike and scooter lanes on the Atlanta Beltline — which could threaten future rail plans. axios.com/local/atlanta/…

Reminder for this weekend's Inman Park festival (and every other big event in the city): MARTA rail is *free* to ride until May 2nd! If the lack of a Breeze Card has held you back from trying rail, now is your chance. [Buses are not free, though, so keep that in mind.]

"We're essentially tripling the frequency, the 15 minute frequency routes and the routes that run at least every 20 minutes or better I believe is more than doubling." "So it's a lot less waiting for a lot more people." /end

""It results in more access because you're spending less time waiting on the busiest routes. We looked at where the ridership was and put the frequency where the most people would be able to benefit from it." 7/

One of the ideas behind the redesigned MARTA bus system, which launches tomorrow, is the inclusion of routes with higher frequencies (meaning: shorter waits for the next bus). This is the benefit that makes up for the overall loss of coverage. 1/

For this new episode, we chat with Andrew Pofahl, a MARTA Project Manager, and Andy McBurney, a MARTA Service Manager, about what this weekend's new MARTA bus system redesign means for riders (and why some of us are pretty nervous about changes). open.spotify.com/episode/7k9vxH…

Meet the Phoenix Line: a proposed rail transit line that converts existing, underutilized freight tracks into a high-capacity passenger transit corridor for Atlanta. Thanks much to Nick Durham for sharing this fascinating concept through a new guest post: threadatl.org/blog/hiding-in…

It’s a bike lane! 🚴👏 This morning I was proud to join @ATLDOT @MidtownATL and community members to welcome the new Juniper Complete Street & bike lane! It’s so essential that we keep investing in infrastructure to build a safer, more equitable, and less car dependent Atlanta.

Join us this Saturday for a discussion about the data centers coming to Atlanta, with a group of independent experts moderated by @iamkingwilliams 6pm at Connections Metropolitan Church

Using the MARTA Tracker & Trip Planner, you can now set your departure time for a trip as April 18th (or later) and see what your trips will be like when the new bus system goes into effect on that date. tracker.itsmarta.com

"Only 8% of the zoned land in metro Atlanta allows housing to be located alongside non-residential uses. People can’t walk down the street to grab a coffee or stop into the office. They have to get into their cars to do virtually everything." GIFT link: ajc.com/opinion/2026/0…