The south bus loop has reopened at Edgewood-Candler Park Station. and receive questions and comments about the proposed resequencing. More MARTA is a large transit expansion program within Atlanta supported by a 0.5 percent sales tax approved by voters in 2016. Seven years later, some local elected officials and members of the public seem less than enthused with the transit agencys pared down, bus-heavy agenda, which one observer nicknamed Just a Bit More MARTA, at a public update meeting April 20. This partnership between MARTA and the City of Atlanta kicks off the largest investment in public transit since MARTAs inception 40 years ago, including almost $1.3 billion for direct connectivity to and around the Atlanta BeltLine. The More MARTA Atlanta program is aligned with the Atlanta Transportation Plan and the Citys efforts to build upon a layered, integrated, regional transportation network. More MARTA Atlanta Program paves the way for increased connectivity and economic development. Despite the massive declines in fare revenue wrought by the pandemic, MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker told Atlanta Magazine in February that federal transit relief funding has put the agency in good financial shape until at least 2024, and that the More MARTA program can proceed as planned. MARTA Advances Capital Program with 'Unprecedented' State Funding by Collin Kelley April 13, 2023. | Learn more MARTA celebrates improvements at College Park station with ribbon Six years later, we do not have those projects, and I still dont believe we have a clear understanding of what money has been spent, what money plans to be spent and what money we will have for projects in the future, Shipman said. More MARTA votes are in: Atlanta Beltline rail, Clifton Corridor are Are these public dollars being spent as the public intended them to be spent, questioned Atlanta City Councilmember Amir Farokhi. Since the fall of 2019, MARTA has conducted an in-depth analysis of the corridor and outreach to the . } The audit would be overseen and paid for by the city governments Department of Finance. In May, MARTA expects to break ground for the Summerhill bus rapid transit line along Hank Aaron Drive and Capitol Avenue. Placing this audit in the citys hands guarantees that we can find an independent third party to review the numbers. hosted three public updates April 18-20 to share information with the public This way we get the most objective assessment of the way More MARTA is going.. Most of the work over the past four years has been happening behind the scenes, said, Heather Alhadeff, assistant general manager of planning at MARTA, Theres a lot of repair that needs to happen with a 40-year-old system, she said. below for recordings of the April 19 and 20 meetings, as well as links to the On Tuesday, Atlanta leaders called for an audit into the More MARTA program. Marta Board Approves Sequencing of Historic Expansion Program All that is missing is the political will.. In 2018, the MARTA board of directors approved 17 capital projects to be paid for with More MARTA funds. JOB FAIR MARCH 11, MARTA STORYBUS DRIVES HOME IMPORTANCE AND JOY OF READING, STREETCAR RETURNS TO SERVICE, SHUTTLE VANS CONTINUE ON ROUTE, MARTA IS HIRING! Finally, $200 million has been set aside for rail station improvements and $237 million to upgrade the bus system. More MARTA is a transit improvement partnership between MARTA and the City of Atlanta that is designing and building transit projects to address the current and future transportation needs of Atlantans by increasing accessibility, mobility, and connectivity. Dyana Bagby is a staff writer for Reporter Newspapers and Atlanta Intown. The audits scope would include all revenue and expenditures tied to More MARTA and local revenue and expenditures that support operations and capital projects in Atlanta, according to the resolution. There will be in-person updates on Tuesday, April 18, at Sylvan Middle School and Thursday, April 20, at All Saints Episcopal Church. . All rights reserved. Shipman said he didnt believe any projects would need to be delayed as the City is financing and overseeing the audit. MARTA has disputed that assertion. The council says the audit is simply good governance and that it wasnt spurred on by one specific action. There may be some truth to that, but its a lot of word soup. More MARTA Atlanta -Background Program approved by voters in 2016 by an overwhelming majority of 71%. More MARTA Atlanta allocates $350 million to run light rail from Lindbergh Center Station to the Clifton Corridor area, though the public funding is contingent on local sources raising another $100 million privately. UPDATED: The Atlanta City Council wants to conduct an audit of how MARTA is spending taxpayer dollars to expand transit after the agency recently announced it could only prioritize some of the capital projects approved by voters seven years ago. But critics argue expansion efforts have fallen short. Weve got external factors, such as increased costs, she said. Blue/Green lines operate on special 20-minute schedules. Overstreet said the relationship between the Council and MARTA is contentious.. Farokhi said hes hopeful the two sides will be able to work towards a more collaborative relationship. MARTA Heroes are working every day to keep Atlanta moving safely. That action, MARTA says, will start soon and be delivered by 2028. If successful, MARTA will be able to use these federal dollars to grow the amount of money available for these projects. New York City Transits service levels have remained remarkably strong throughout the pandemic. March 22, 2023 City residents passed an additional half-penny tax for "More MARTA" in November 2017. Given the resources at hand thanks to More MARTA, the slow pace of capital expansion projects, and the imperative to rebuild confidence in the transit system after the pandemic, increasing the budget for bus service in tandem with the network redesign looks like the surest path to give riders significant improvements while the 2016 referendum is still fresh in voters minds. And decisions had to be made. MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood told the councils transportation committee three weeks ago, however, that rising costs and inflation have forced the agency to prioritize only nine projects. The audit would be conducted on the More MARTA program- the roughly $2.7 billion that's to be raised from a half-penny sales tax increase Atlanta voters approved in 2016 for system expansions . According to MARTA, rail and bus ridership is up month-to-month. Sign up for our newsletter designed specifically for you! Atlanta residents took a leap of faith when they agreed to impose a tax on themselves in exchange for more transit inside the city, said Amir Farokhi, chair of the councils transportation committee. $570 million for the Atlanta BeltLine corridor; including all high capacity transit modes, the More MARTA Atlanta program builds out 61% of the . MARTA agrees to Atlanta City Council requested audit | 11alive.com Atlanta is one of the fastest growing urban regions in the country, projected to gain 2.5 million residents by 2040. (Photo by Kelly Jordan.) In particular, a regressive sales tax hits some residents harder than others. The More MARTA Atlanta program is funded by a 2016 half-penny local sales tax. Apr 21, 2023 Updated Apr 21, 2023 (The Center Square) As the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority advances its More MARTA Atlanta Program, the agency's position is bolstered by what. Granted, no one is actively lobbying against the Clifton Corridor projectit would connect MARTA users with jobs to the eastbut when Atlanta voters okayed the More MARTA sales tax in a 2016 . The program of projects is funded by an. The partnership with the Atlanta BeltLine is central to the expansion program and is reflected in the early sequencing of projects that provide BeltLine connectivity in the southeast (Summerhill BRT), to the southwest (Campbellton Road LRT) and the Eastside Trail (Streetcar East Extension and North Avenue Phase 1 BRT). This is something where it definitely needs a lot of public engagement, a lot of public feedback, and were hoping MARTA and Jarrett Walker will pay attention to what the current riders actually want and need. He says that Georgia Sierra Club is currently brainstorming about the role it can play in the outreach process. Atlanta pushes for financial review of MARTA expansion Related. Height says theres wide variation in bus stop quality. The More MARTA Atlanta program is aligned with the Atlanta Transportation Plan and the City's efforts to build upon a layered, integrated, regional transportation network. A list of 73 projects was narrowed to 17 priority Last week, the More MARTA project list was submitted to Mayor Bottoms for her review in advance of the full MARTA Board's vote on October 4th. } More MARTA's Bus Improvements Boost Mobility in Midtown - MidtownATL.com , Better local bus service will do far more for the Atlanta community than BeltLine Rail could., has committed to establishing a network of bus-only lanes and installing upgrades like transit signal priority on city streets by 2022. MARTA has the funding, bandwidth, expertise, and a clear path forward. The audit would also review federal funds received and spent by More MARTA to date, including federal COVID-19 relief funds. Though there have been annual changes to the network, the fundamental shape of the system hasnt changed since the 1970s, says Alhadeff. 21, 2023 at 3:56 PM PDT 2023 Complexity shuts you out, ACC opens the door for you. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Board of Directors unanimously approved the sequencing of the transit projects in the More MARTA Atlanta program on June 13. MARTA posted on social media that it is holding a public Board of Directors meeting with the Audit Committee on Thursday. With our focus now on the projects instead of the types of transit, we are ready to begin implementing the plan for enhanced service.. Does this response mean MARTA is refusing to allow the city audit its books? Most of the work over the past four years has been happening behind the scenes, said Heather Alhadeff, assistant general manager of planning at MARTA. Required fields are marked *. After successful passage of the referendum, MARTA and the City of Atlanta executed a robust program of community engagement to establish guiding principles and the project list. In response, MARTA said the audit request was disappointing and disingenuous and accused the council of playing politics. MARTA also said the audit would only slow down projects. In 2019, the MARTA Board of Directors approved More MARTA Atlanta, a slate of 17 projects at a projected cost of $2.7 billion that would add new light rail lines, bus rapid transit and arterial rapid transit and make station improvements. How Long Until Atlanta Transit Riders Get More MARTA? 13, MARTA HOSTS PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR BANKHEAD STATION MASTER PLAN, CONGRESSWOMAN NIKEMA WILLIAMS TO HONOR MARTA BUS OPERATOR COY DUMAS, JR. FOR 50 YEARS OF SERVICE, MARTA IS HIRING! It. margin-bottom: 5px; We are in conversation right now and were still in the nascent stages of forming a more cohesive message, but were on the right pathway to that.. The timeline for rail expansion is much longer the first light rail extension to Campbellton Road, which will serve the SW quadrant of the city, wont be completed until 2031. MARTA board approves Atlanta Streetcar extension Theres lots of different factors that impact the list, right? said Rocha. See their stories here. In Georgia, yes, Sign up for Atlanta News First Newsletters. The More MARTA Atlanta program will help reach some of our most vulnerable residents, providing them access to opportunity and jobs, while enhancing our public transportation system in a way that will have a positive impact on both economic development and quality of life, said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. And then some stops are laden with kudzu on the road with no shoulder or no sidewalk. Phone: 404.463.3100. Additional questions and comments may be sent to townhall@itsmarta.com. So far, no BRT projects have broken ground. Things have definitely improved with MARTA. So many of the projects have long timelines due to a mix of sales tax funds that come in slowly and the fact that these are expensive projects, says Kotak. Copyright 2023 WANF. More by Collin Kelley, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).

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