ATLANTA — When the pandemic hit last year, more than half of MARTA's bus routes were suspended and have yet to be placed back in service. That will change later this month when all 70 routes will be restored.
MARTA officials said 58 previously suspended bus routes will be restored on Saturday, April 24, after completing the installation of state-of-the-art air filtration and purification systems on all buses and "receiving support from the federal government to enforce mask wearing."
They said 12 routes had previously been reinstated after 70 of the 110 bus routes were halted on April 20, 2020.
“We understand the reduction in bus routes created a hardship for many of our customers, and we are appreciative of their patience as we balanced providing a service with protecting public health,” said MARTA General Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker.
They said they installed Bipolar Ionization air filters on all buses, in addition to the antimicrobial filters already in place. Along with the new filters, the buses will be "thoroughly disinfected" every 24 hours.
“Public transit by its very nature goes against social distancing and by placing all 540 buses in our fleet on a reduced number of routes a year ago, we were able to provide more room for our customers and hopefully slow the spread of the virus," Parker said. "With the installation of filters that rid the air of harmful pathogens and the new federally mandated mask requirement, we feel we can now safely return to full bus service.”
For bus route information and videos detailing the restoration of service and COVID-19 protocols visit https://www.itsmarta.com/servicerestoration.aspx. For real-time service alerts follow @MARTAservice on Twitter or download the MARTA On The Go app.