ATLANTA — If you’ve ever experienced Interstate 285 congestion, MARTA wants to hear from you about a plan to put someone else in the driver’s seat.
The transit authority is studying how commuters feel about adding buses to the planned Express Lanes on the top-end perimeter.
Will Barber knows the pain of driving I-285 while traveling to his job at Kariel and Co. Salons in Sandy Springs. He has tried other ways to avoid congestion and construction, but so has everyone else.
“You can kind of plan for it but at the same time you can’t because it’s unpredictable how other people are going to travel so, it’s a bit of a pain,” said Barber.
Commuters can weigh in on the idea of adding transit along a 33-mile stretch of I-285 from the Hamilton E. Holmes MARTA station on the west side to the Indian Creek station on the east side.
Buses would use the tolled Express Lanes planned for that area.
“To the customer, it would be the same fare as for taking MARTA rail,” said MARTA’s Marcus Arnold. We have the ability to utilize the lanes in accordance with GDOT without added fees.”
MARTA wants to hear from commuters about potential stops and areas they would like to reach by transit.
“Understand what challenges they have accessing areas along the corridor and what ideas they think would be helpful to serve those areas,” said Arnold.
Commuters can respond to the survey on MARTA’s website. The first round of public comment ends tomorrow, and there will be another opportunity to comment next summer.