Speeding Across ATL and Beyond

Quimora Grant, staff writer

In the United States, public transportation keeps daily life moving. From the largest and busiest system in North America, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), to Los Angeles’ Metro Rail, longer distance systems like Greyhound, Amtrak and Atlanta’s own MARTA, buses and trains provide easily accessible transit from people to jobs, school, places in the city and each other. Despite its reach, however, public transportation (PT) carries an unfair stigma, being considered unsafe, inconvenient or as a last resort rather than a smart choice. 

Not only is public transport affordable, saving riders from costly damages, repairs, and insurance and other fees that come with owning a personal vehicle, it saves cities tens of billions in congestion costs caused by time spent commuting. It also supports development for the communities that use it by both creating and sustaining jobs, providing employees transit to work and yielding almost three times the sales as invested in operation of public transit systems. Most importantly, public transport is extremely environmentally efficient, reducing gasoline use by 4.2 billion gallons each year. It is said that use of public transit in the U.S. reduces the nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons a year. 

     Still, public transportation hasn’t reached its full potential. These systems have faced underfunding and neglect by local, state and federal governments, especially struggling following the COVID-19 pandemic which caused a decrease in transit ridership. Many systems fail to address issues with crime, health and cleanliness, efficiency and location accessibility. Although public transport is affordable to lower income communities, a line is created between socioeconomic and ethnic groups, with more white affluent communities having access to transit locations. Subsequently, these communities fail to support PT systems due to negative attitudes towards their use. 

      In Atlanta, MARTA is failing. It has faced continuous budget cuts, progressively growing smaller and less functional. Plans for transit expansion further up north are usually voted against by wealthier suburbs or fail to get put into action. In 2016, a program known as More MARTA was approved, promising to expand MARTA to a layered, regional network with various transit systems, new transit centers, local bus services and station upgrades. By 2023, these enhancements were withdrawn, leaving MARTA with no more service than when the program began in 2017.  

If MARTA moved further north, the heart of Atlanta, which is a cultural hub, teeming with art, food, play, and more opportunities would be even more accessible, providing economic stimulation for the city and causing a sort of cultural exchange by bringing culture to other parts of Metro Atlanta.  

“MARTA makes it easy for me to get to all the fun stuff in the city,” says Nika Hosseini, a junior at Johns Creek High School. “Living here, I feel like I’m on the outskirts of everything that’s happening. Not only that, but it’s also hard to get around without driving.” 

Atlantans think MARTA can be so much more. If MARTA expanded further in all directions, it would provide transit for those outside of Metro-Atlanta into the city and stimulate Atlanta’s economy even more. Even living in Johns Creek, which is considered part of Metro-Atlanta, I must drive 30 minutes on average to my closest MARTA station. 

“I think MARTA should focus more on security and safety,” says substitute teacher Mrs. Bernstein. “I could be a whole lot safer if we put the funding into it. 

So, let’s support our cities’ infrastructures and economies by first supporting their public transport systems to grow. By using public transportation, we are saving gasoline and reducing traffic, stimulating the economy and saving ourselves money. Make the faster, and smarter choice—use buses and trains!