MARTA's Turning Point: The Agency's Aim: To Steer Clear of 'Plan-itis' and Pursue a Proactive Approach to Meeting Metropolitan Atlanta's Mobility Needs

This article examines the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) plans for expanding the city’s transit system. The author points out that like the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), MARTA was launched in the 1970s. But unlike the Bay Area and Washington systems, which have grown and expanded, Atlanta’s system has fallen far short of its original goals: serving Atlanta and five core counties. At the same time, population growth in metropolitan Atlanta has been the greatest in the country, and air quality and congestion are major problems. MARTA’s chief executive officer calls the problem “plan-itis”: too much planning and talking but never coming up with an action plan. The article describes legislation aimed at funding projects through a sales tax, the founding of the Transit Planning Board, which is charged with coming up with a big-picture transportation plan for the region, plans for a streetcar system as well as a light-rail or streetcar service on 22 miles of unused rail right of way, and the effect of high gas prices in moving commuters onto transit.