BACK TO BASIC AT MARTA

Atlanta has experienced during the 1980s and 1990s the kind of suburban sprawl and roaring traffic congestion only comparable to post-WWII Los Angeles and Chicago. The Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Authority (MARTA) has been able to build a modern passenger rail system that began operations in 1979, with north-south and east-west rail lines criss-crossing the city. The article looks at the need for MARTA to go back to the basics, which in this case means back to the future, as a result of the advent of the Georgia Regional Transportation Agency (GRTA) three years ago. With GRTA taking the reigns as the regional transit visionary and policy maker, MARTA will be once again able to refocus its resources on the business of operating and expanding its own transit system. The article provides a broad outline of MARTA's plans.