MARTA Atlanta Light Rail Streetcar & Beltline Project

The simplest reform to MARTA is one that THE STATE GOVERNMENT must perform itself: either remove the 50% revenue requirement, or begin funding it themselves. MARTA is required by state law to spend only 50% of its revenue on operations and maintenance and 50% on capital projects. While I don't disagree with this, I do think that the state should make up for any budget shortfalls. It currently receives no funding from the state, all funding is via a 1% sales tax in Dekalb and Fulton counties. But the failure of this SPLOST is the final nail in my coffin, once I graduate, I'm leaving Atlanta, I've had it!

Agree Matt. It's the hamstrings they put on them. I know MARTA has issues elsewhere. I think there's a heavy distrust (see Toll, GA 400) still. GDOT is certainly better than it's been. Plus, I think there's a "SPLOST" hangover. Take a look at the back of a sales tax return; there's tons of them.

Are you working with I think her Twitter handle is CCTGirl? She was heavily involved in promoting it; did a great job. So much wrong with the way the T-SPLOST law/ballot initiative was set up. Whether it was the district sizes or the cornucopia of projects without definition.....

No, I wasn't involved on twitter or working with anyone. I was kind of a lone-wolf supporter, prowling news comments sections, correcting misconceptions and the like.

Crews begin laying street car tracks in downtown Atlanta | http://www.ajc.com

After a year of underground work preparing the way, crews on Wednesday began laying street car tracks in Downtown Atlanta for the first time in decades.

Work crews began laying the tracks in 80-foot segments on Edgewood Avenue. City officials expect street cars to start running in the spring of 2014.

The project's home page: Atlanta Streetcar
The BeltLine project's home page: Atlanta BeltLine // Connecting Atlanta's rich history to a vibrant future.

I have pictures. These were taken the last week of May 2013, but. they are too big to load on here.. Help anyone?

flickr is pretty easy to use, and you can easily choose smaller versions from the site to post here. Feel free to PM me if you'd like further help.

http://s1207.photobucket.com/user/racethevolvo/library/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This link should work. There are plenty of photos of the construction which is now WELL under way.

Atlanta Streetcar starts test running - Railway Gazette

Siemens has supplied four cars from its S70 Avanto LRV family under a $17·2m contract awarded in 2011. These are powered from overhead wires at 750 V DC. All four vehicles are expected to be ready for passenger service by the end of the year.

So it will likely open either then or early next year.

Atlanta Streetcar involved in second accident - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Streetcar spokeswoman Sharon Gavin told WSB-TV a car hit the streetcar Sunday near Centennial Olympic Park. A car tried to pass the streetcar while it was turning during a test run, Gavin said. No one was hurt, the station reports.

Last week, a driver hit the streetcar on Ellis Street, WSB reports.

It is still in testing, but its opening is now scheduled for Dec. 6. The reason for the delay: Feds Say Atlanta Streetcar Not Ready Yet, Cite Safety Concerns | WABE 90.1 FM

Drivers in Atlanta are notoriously bad. Horribly bad. And yield to nothing ... pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, other cars, bus/trucks, and yes ... even the streetcar.

Two of 'em have found (in a span of five days) just how much heavier a streetcar is, then they are.

This isn't going to stop anytime soon.

BTW, one of the concerns from the FTA is markings on streets to help drivers avoid collisions.

Good luck there ... drivers in Atlanta don't pay attention to those, either.

Atlanta streetcar makes inaugural run through downtown - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

The Atlanta Streetcar rolled into downtown on its inaugural journey, marking the first time streetcars have regularly traversed Atlanta streets since 1949.

The Atlanta Streetcar's home page now mentions it being in action, and it now links to various info on it. Its fare will be zero for the next three months.

Some pictures from the third day of operation (New Year's Day):

http://www.jtbell.net/transit/Atlanta/Streetcar/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For now, we'll stick with one topic; it doesn't make much sense at this point to open another. Here's an article (already) on expansion: Creative Loafing ATL

Brief, fair-use and image:

Streetcar to Beltline, MLK Drive overhaul competing for federal cash

The city is asking the feds for $29.3 million to fund the $60 million extension of the Atlanta Streetcar to the Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail.

Atlanta Streetcar Spokeswoman Scheree Rawles says officials are examining three possible routes, but only one will be chosen. The shortest is .7 miles and begins at the intersection of Edgewood Avenue and Jackson Street and would run east along either Edgewood or Irwin Street. The second would be 1.3 miles traveling west along North Avenue to the North Avenue MARTA station. The most complex route would total 2.5 miles beginning at the North Avenue MARTA station and eventually intersecting with the first proposed route.

Two new cars and three new stops are included in the total projected cost of the streetcar’s extension. However, since city officials have not confirmed a designated route, locations of the new stops are to be determined. According to Invest Atlanta’s reports, pedestrian and cyclist facilities could also improve with “spot repaving along Edgewood Avenue, Jackson Street, Auburn Avenue, and Fort Street.”

Expanding the Downtown streetcar to the 22-mile loop around the city has always been a part of the plan, but this project would be the first step in the process. Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2017.

A more detailed look: Atlanta In Town Paper

There's a really good break out line by line; far too much to quote here in one snap. But here's a summary at the end of the article:

This isn’t the first time a streetcar route between Buckhead and south Atlanta has been on the table. When the idea of resurrecting streetcars in Atlanta began in earnest back in 2003 and before the great recession struck in 2008, there were meetings, debates and renderings of a streetcar gliding down Peachtree.

The BeltLine’s senior transportation project manager Marcus Arnold told the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods at its May 14 meeting that construction of the Crosstown Peachtree Line, as well as other lines, would “come down to available funding and interest from the community in getting that line in.”

Beth McMillan, the BeltLine’s director of community planning, told the BCN meeting that the business community is very interested in seeing a streetcar on Peachtree because of the development impact that streetcars have had in other cities, like Portland, where they have been constructed.

NOT good PR: Biz Journals

Atlanta Streetcar problems 'critical and must be corrected'

The Federal Transit Administration says it has “continuing concerns” with safety and operation of Atlanta Streetcar.

...

A FTA letter to MARTA CEO Keith Parker and Mayor Kasim Reed says it is concerned with multiple problems with the overhead contacts that provide power to streetcars, delinquent maintenance contracts, and lack of technical expertise due to high employee turnover, reports WBS's Richard Belcher.

...

Since spring, WSB has reported about drivers without proper licenses, a driver fired following a major accident, the jailing of a driver for an outstanding arrest warrant and the firing or resignation of nearly all top managers.