InsideTransit

Here’s one out of Atlanta – where Riding MARTA Means You’re Smarta…Typically when you want to exit a bus you hit the strip or pull the cord to signal for a stop. When the bus comes to a complete stop, the bus operator opens the doors and you exit. It’s pretty common bus transit practice across the world.

Atlanta MARTA bus passenger Christopher James was one of the passengers on a bus that was asked to pray before exiting the bus. James said the bus driver asked him and three other passengers to join hands in prayer. James said the driver prayed with the group for about four minutes.

WSB TV has more on the story and notes, “A MARTA representative told Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones that the transit agency suspended the bus driver, identified as Leroy Matthews, for five days and told him not to proselytize to passengers. Matthews has been with MARTA for six years.”

Aah, I miss the fun days of taking MARTA to work – it was always a fun adventure! I typically would pray before getting onboard to hope that I get to my destination in one piece and on-time. If you are new to MARTA, check out our Atlanta transit guides.

The public transportation system in Atlanta is called “MARTA”. This week MARTA decided to change the name of their subway lines and has moved to colors for the rail line names. The updates are as follows:

• Red Line = former North line
• Yellow Line =- former Northeast line
• Green Line = former Proctor Creek line
• Blue Line = former East-West line

MARTA officials say the change is to follow many of the other rail systems that use colors like Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. They also say it will minimize confusion – not sure about that because now all websites and content materials will point to the old names for years to come. Even our Atlanta pages will need to be changed.

If you are traveling to Atlanta, check out our Atlanta Airport Travel page to learn about using MARTA from the airport.

Traveling to the Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) airport is quick, cheap and painless using MARTA rail service. Most major hotels will shuttle you to a rail station where you can pick up any southbound train which will take you straight into the airport. Another major benefit is that both Delta and AirTran, the 2 biggest carriers at ATL, have baggage drop and check-in services right in the MARTA station! So you can drop your bags down one escalator from where the train leaves you off.

Pricing

A single rail trip is $2.00. You can purchase the single-fare Breeze card at the station. The machines take change (no pennies) and dollar bills.  

Travel to your hotel

There are 4 major hotel areas in Atlanta: Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead and Perimeter. Below are the MARTA rail options to these areas.

Downtown

Travelling to downtown district is easy from the Airport. Take any train from the Airport station to the Peachtree Center station. This is station N1. Interesting note, this is the deepest cut in the southeast and the escalator at the south end of the station is the longest escalator in the south east! 

Buckhead 

To travel to the Buckhead district, you will want to take a Red Train to the Buckhead station. This is station N7 on the map. It will take approximately 30 minutes to get from the Airport station. As stated above the trip will cost $2.00. From the Buckhead station, many of the hotels in the area are within walking distance or call the hotel for a pickup.

An alternate option and one I recommend if you are going to catch a cab to your destination in Buckhead, I suggest you take any train to the N6, Lindbergh station. This is one of the core stations for the system and catching a cab from here will be much easier and quicker than going to the Buckhead station. If you take this route, sit at the back of the train, and exit to the right, there is a brand new elevator which will take you to street level. Exit to the right of the station and the taxi stand is right in front of the exit. 

Midtown

If your hotel or destination is located in the Midtown area, you will want to take any train from the Airport to the Midtown station. The station is N4 on the map and the trip should take about 20-22 minutes. Exit is to the right of the train and there are escalators and elevators to take you to street level.  

Perimeter

If your destination is located in the Perimeter area, you will want to take a Red Line train to the Dunwoody station.  This is station N9 and will take approximately 45 minutes. This station is next to the Perimeter mall and you will want a shuttle to your hotel as the walk might be a bit much with cases.

MARTA pricing might be the easiest of any transport system. Atlanta’s Marta system uses the “Breeze” fare collection system which is basically a ticket or a card instead of tokens. Check out the Breeze site for more details. It’s easy to use and the card can be reloaded making it easier than carrying change.

The basic fare on MARTA is $2.00. There are some discounts available for monthly passes and group discounts.

This section of InsideTransit will help you to understand how the Atlanta MARTA sytstem works, pricing, routings, tips, and more. If you have any questions about travel on the Atlanta MARTA system, please post the questions on the forum.

Allen’s System Overview:

system overview

Rants

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