Specifically, the proposed rail lines to Emory University and the CDC would provide improved commutes and travel times for these institutions’ combined 44,000 employees. Poor suburban neighborhoods that are cut off from Atlanta’s urban center need increased access to the jobs and public resources located across the city-and an expanded rail system could facilitate this. The poorest Atlanta residents earn twenty times less than the wealthiest-a difference greater than any city in the United States-and much greater than the average nationwide gap, where the poorest citizens earn 9.3 times less than the wealthiest. MARTA expansion could also increase employment opportunities for Atlanta’s working class, which would improve the quality of life for many Atlanta residents and reduce Atlanta’s searing socioeconomic divide. In fact, a larger number of companies nationwide are choosing to build near public transit-a decision that is attractive to young professionals, since increased rail access minimizes their commute times and takes their cars off the road. Galloway points out that many corporations arriving in the metro region have chosen to build their offices near MARTA stations. With this reputation, ridership can hardly be expected to increase without significant overhaul and investment.Ī more expansive, reliable rail system could draw major corporations to the city. In these areas, commuters must rely on MARTA’s unpredictable bus transport, which is often delayed by heavy traffic. MARTA’s scrawny layout excludes major swaths of Atlanta’s metro area-namely the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest portions of the city. Overall, an expanded MARTA system would improve Atlanta by making it easier for residents and tourists to move around in the city and making them more willing to take full advantage of all Atlanta has to offer. Developing the rail line would address the city’s severe traffic problem, cutting commute times and making the city more environmentally friendly-and perhaps more prepared to deal with weather emergencies. This evolving problem only begins to hint at why MARTA expansion could greatly improve Atlanta’s infrastructure. As a result, while the city center grows and improves, its neediest residents, many of whom have been displaced, are not benefiting from inner-city development projects and now lack access to transportation, which hinders their income mobility. While Atlanta’s city center continues to experience urban revitalization and an influx of white residents, more low-income residents are escaping higher property taxes and expensive living within the city’s perimeter and moving out to the suburbs. The city of Atlanta is the poster child for urban sprawl, as nearly thirty surrounding counties are considered to be a part of its metropolitan area. Including its bus service, MARTA serves 550,000 passengers each day, making it the ninth largest public transportation system in the United States. All together MARTA covers roughly fifty miles of rail and serves the entire city of Atlanta as well as Fulton and Dekalb counties. The red and gold lines run north and south (withith gold running northeast), while the blue and green lines run east and west. Officials also plan to expand rail access along Interstate 20 to Emory University and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Ĭurrently, MARTA has four rail lines that run in roughly two directions. Jim Galloway of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports that Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) officials plan to ask state and local leaders to support an $8 billion expansion of the city’s rail line, which would include new lines from the Atlanta suburb Alpharetta to downtown Atlanta and to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
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