❤️ I wish I had the bandwidth to be here consistently- I miss you too!!!

Agreed. I think it’s just too dark, unfortunately. It’s actually a decent story, but the ride itself feels unpleasant

Ok on final reflection DINOSAUR is both better than I remembered it being- but also it is absolutely time

Ok I guess I pretty much have to because I have the shirt and everything

on my way

MARTA is epically, unapologetically unreliable and unaccountable.

But at least it brought me right where I needed to go. That’s like, the *only* good thing it did.

The coverage was like, the *only* good thing that MARTA buses had going for them.

Because realistically let’s say that it is every 60 mins, and the bus is supposed to get in 15 mins before my kid’s class starts. I can’t trust that!! Now I have to take the bus that gets in *75* mins early.

Every 30 mins vs. every 40 mins *doesn’t move the needle* in terms of whether someone is going to try a MARTA bus for the first time, but you did just make me walk an extra 15 mins.

Or transfer a train and leave my house 30 mins earlier

Reducing the network coverage makes it even less safe, as folks have to traverse roads w/o sidewalks to get to the bus. My kids and I wait on the side of a 6-lane road on a patch of grass in front of a gas station.

The stations and trains smell like pee on a regular basis.

I can honestly say- I am past caring, but I *know* I am not the norm. Folks care a LOT about this stuff. As long as driving is an option, folks see it as more convenient and safer, even if it objectively isn’t.

There were folks getting released out of the train even though the station was closed, ducking under the crime tape and talking about the blood

This isn’t even the first shooting that’s derailed my trip home this calendar year.

I am going to be skeptical of any process that is centering attracting new people to the system over serving the folks who already use it.

Like, dude, my daughter and I got sidetracked for an hour because a guy got shot at Ashby two weekends ago 5 mins before our bus pulled up…

But they were able to talk it up by making it look like it’s about equity and convenience, all while the bus cancellation rates are already through the roof.

If they cared about equity they’d care about bus performance.

This exactly.

and that’s what bothers me about what they’re doing here. It feels like a bunch of people who never actually use MARTA reconfigured things to try to get new people to ride the buses by screwing over people who already rely on the buses.

I have a pretty large network of friends- all of whom are extremely liberal and who live in a walkable neighborhood (Decatur)

I don’t know a *single* person who has taken a MARTA bus except us. This map isn’t going to change a damn thing.

They really think they’re going to *attract* new riders to the system? *really?*

Because you cannot convince me that this won’t be a massive L for a *huge* percentage of riders. Not a single thing that we do on the buses is getting appreciably better with this.

Exactly. The entire premise of the redesign is absurd on its face.

If you want to fix the buses, increase frequency *without* cutting coverage. If you’re not prepared to properly, actually invest in it- with vision and ambition- don’t screw over all the riders that currently rely on it.

And look, in a years time they will cut the route because no one rides it. Because they made it to be absolutely freaking worthless.

And I’m not trying to be difficult. We have a ballet studio a 10 minute walk from my house. But Atlanta Ballet is a public arts institution that has cultural relevance to this city, and at first it was cut off, and now they acquiesced by treating it like a joke.