CLAYTON CO., Ga – MARTA is using several forums to gauge the public’s desires about the future of transit in Clayton County.
Dez Kines wants more options. A bus arrives once an hour at his stop on Mount Zion Boulevard.
“A lot of people stay out here, don't have cars, can't afford a cab,” says Kines.
For years, there were no transit options at all in Clayton County. Over the last two years, the number of MARTA bus routes have grown to nine.
Riders seem eager for much more, including rail.
“Everybody sitting on top of each other on the bus,” says one MARTA customer. “There needs to be more buses, and trains.”
MARTA is still evaluating the possibility of commuter rail running next to tracks owned by Norfolk Southern.
Meanwhile, the transit authority's CEO says mass transit here could come in many forms.
“Light rail, heavy rail, using commuter rail, using a bus rapid transit, using some combination of different types of technologies,” says MARTA’s Keith Parker.
There is now an advisory group looking into the possibilities. An environmental impact study is expected to last until late 2018.
MARTA is holding a public hearing Tuesday night at the Clayton County Board of Commissioner’s building to discuss bus routes. It’s an opportunity for riders to discuss the future of transit. The meeting begins at 7pm.
“Give people all the choices, lay out the cost of those various choices, bring out the pros and cons of those choices, then make a decision,” says Parker.
A MARTA spokesperson says the transit authority is working on a section of its website that will be devoted to Clayton County transit, and social media forums that should go on line this year.
