It's Time To Cut The Commute

Atlanta Railroads in the early 1900's

Atlanta was built on rails. If you ever travel downtown, you might notice the cities complicated street grid. Unlike most major U.S. city street grids which run North-South like in New York or Philadephia, if you look at Atlanta's old CBD, you will find that it sits sideways on the street grid. This is because when the city was first built, it was built up around the connection of several train lines. So the adjacent development mirrored the diagonal nature of those railroads. The railroads then continued out from the heart of what is now "underground" Atlanta and moved outward in all major directions. The railroads basically sprawled out in each direction from Atlanta.

Atlanta Interstate in the 1970's Just South of Downtown

In the 1960's, another road was then built from the heart of Atlanta and has also sprawled out from its core. The interstate bulldozed its way right through the center of our city, and from the interstate, suburban development has enveloped the city of Atlanta. Suburbs sprang up as if from nowhere, and these new smaller, closer communities became and still are an enticing reason to move to Atlanta. But with population growth comes more congestion, and so now the small towns like Lawrenceville, Roswell, Conyers, Kennesaw, and Douglasville are mini metropolises of traffic and car mayhem. 

So what's the connection between the old railroads and the lifeline of our city, the interstate? The answer lies in the maps. Along every major interstate and highway in Atlanta, a railroad runs parallel with it. Coincidence? I think not! The highway developers of the 60's and 70's purposefully built the interstate right next to the rail and rail towns already built. It was the best way to provide a route in and out of Atlanta in connection with the other nearest cities. So as the rails that built Atlanta began losing its prestige and importance, the interstates took its centerpiece place. The novelty of driving your own car wherever you needed it became the defining characteristic of new Atlanta development. Walk-ability and smart development took the bench while new roads and single family homes became the new norm. The integral part of this system was the road that connected them all: the interstate. The interstate was our new rail, our new connection between work and home.

But today at the end of 2014 this driving novelty has worn off. With 4.5 million people living within the 10 county metro region and an expected 2.5 million more people to come by 2040, we have found out that our transportation system isn't flawless. Traffic backups are now a defining characteristic of life in Atlanta. Everyone complains about it, everyone hates it, and everyone has been stuck in it, but what has anyone done about it? Absolutely nothing! When the housing boom of the 1990's and early 2000's took hold of the city, our government officials did no planning to prevent the congestion that continued to grow everyday. Their mentality was to build, build, build, and people bought into the new, newer, and newest communities they were building. But never did they offer the suburbanites an alternative to driving. The new developments came along with a garage and a driveway because automobiles are the only way to successfully get around Metro Atlanta now-a-days. So it is not surprising that a 30 minute commute takes over two hours during rush hour. It's just the "norm" or a part of life in suburban Atlanta.

But this norm isn't attractive. When Northerners consider moving their homes and business south to Atlanta, they love everything about our lifestyle except the lack of transportation options. They want to take the subway, the commute train, or the bus because they know how efficient and easy public transportation can be, and they (like any normal person) despise traffic. It is not appealing to millennials looking to start their small business or family, it is not appealing to the elderly who want to retire in peace, and it is not appealing to white-collared workers because it takes away from their free time. Traffic has become one of the main deterrents to moving and living in Atlanta. So if Atlanta wants to continue to grow and expand, we can no longer ignore this traffic problem.

If you are asking, what are metro leaders doing now to help alleviate this problem, there is some good news. Suburban cities such as Suwanee, Woodstock, and Marietta are developing their communities into live, work, play communities where ideally you can have a home, go to work, and have a nice lifestyle in the town centers they have developed. All new development in these cities are now directed at this more sustainable and smarter growth pattern. The success these cities have had with this concept is now being transplanted in more suburban communities across the metro, but this has done little to help the Cobb or Gwinnett commuter who depends on the interstate daily to get to work and back. Interstate-dependent Counties and GDOT leaders have pushed for expanded HOT lanes (toll lanes) outside of the Perimeter. On these HOT lanes, GDOT can move commute buses back and forth from major work hubs and residential hubs, but the lack of advertisement, the lack of bus stations, the complicated system maps, and the interstate traffic they can't avoid have made these commute buses less successful.

But instead of blaming government officials for our traffic woes, its time to take some of the blame ourselves. Suburban counties could have MARTA service, but instead residents have voted down joining the system every time (except for now Clayton County). In 2012, when we could have provided city planners extra funds to fix our transportation system, the Metro area voted no to TSPLOST. Every time the government has offered an alternative to traffic and the interstate, Metro Atlanta has said no. So while we can complain and groan about the traffic and the smog and the waste of time, we also have to take responsibility for the predicament we are currently in.

Salt Lake City Commuter Rail (a system Atlanta can model itself after)

A solution to the congestion, I believe, lies in our past. Along every major suburban corridor in Atlanta, an old but still important freight railroad runs through each corridor. The same rails that I mentioned at the start of this post that first brought business and prosperity to Atlanta can once again do the same. Adding commuter trains and train service to suburban communities on these railroads will help alleviate traffic congestion from the interstate. Both the interstate and the railroad runs through or near major Atlanta work hubs such as Buckhead, Midtown, Downtown, and the airport, so providing Atlantans an alternative to the highway with the final destination being the same will draw thousands off the highway and onto commuter trains. Also, the commuter trains will be able to connect Atlantans to all the other major urban corridors throughout the city. For instance, the same railroad that travels through Carrrolton, GA also runs through Athens, GA. Providing Metro Atlantans with this kind of connectivity in public transportation for a low cost will increase business and help build a strong economy dependent of gas prices and cars. The benefits outweigh any drawbacks from providing commuter rail service to Metro Atlanta.

This being it's time to cut the commute. Commuter trains can provide direct transportation access to all of Atlanta's major centers on both sides of the Perimeter, its rail corridors are located in Atlanta's most densely populated areas and are located near millions of residents, and its service can cut commute times in half by offering an alternative to the automobile, the interstate, and the traffic. We can no longer afford to depend entirely on one transportation mode. By establishing a private-public partnership with county governments and and the business community called "Friends of the Commuter Train," the government can gain support for bringing commuter rail to entire metro, but in the end, the only way we can bring an alternative to the interstate is through the community. If Atlantans, the everyday people, demand an alternative, someone will provide. Whether this happens through a government-owned transportation system or through a private company, it doesn't matter, but if Atlantans demand for commuter rail, we will receive. We own this city in addition to its destiny, so it is up to us to call for more action, more options, and more change to the urban metropolis we call home. It's time to cut the commute, and we can do this through our past: through trains.  

Why Clayton County Can Change Atlanta

After an exciting midterm election and a tight race to the finish, Atlantans are warn out from negative
attack ads, canvassers knocking on their doors, and weekly phone calls from political phone banks. It's a lot for a city where our politics has remained fairly consistent over the last few years. And while progressive candidates unfortunately lost to candidates who favor moving Georgia backwards across the board, Clayton County citizens made a progressive statement of their own this election. Clayton residents voted to expand MARTA service into their county, and this measure passed with a whooping 72% yes.

What this means for Clayton residents is that by passing a 1% sales tax, Clayton County will join the MARTA  system which already services Fulton and DeKalb county. Starting in March,  MARTA will start servicing limited bus service to Clayton County, and starting next year, MARTA will provide full bus service throughout the county. The rest of the sales tax will go into a fund for either commuter rail or bus rapid transit. By 2020, MARTA is hoping to get the permission and have the funding to start construction on Clayton's commuter line. 

Alternative forms of transit in Clayton has had a bumpy past. Back in the 1960's when MARTA was forming, the predominanty white suburb voted against joining the transit agency because they were afraid of crime coming to Clayton from the inner city. Over the years, the demographics of Clayton has changed causing the county to become more diverse. Eventually county officials started C-tran, a transit agency that provided bus service and handicap service to Clayton residents. Due to funds, C-tran was never able to fully service all of the county. In 2010 though, county commissioners decommissioned C-tran due to massive budget shortfalls. This left thousands of Clayton residents stranded in an urban county without access to public transit. Residents dependent on C-tran to get to work were left in the black due to the effects of the Great Recession. This year marks a turning point for alternative transit there though. Over the summer, county commissioners approved allowing MARTA  to service their county and this previous Tuesday, Clayton residents voted yes on receiving MARTA service for their county. 

While this doesn't seem like such a major development for Atlanta, I believe this signifies a new trend in Atlanta transit. People are tired of high gas prices, lots of traffic, and cars everywhere. It doesn't matter whether you are a wealthy Alpharetta resident or a lower income resident in Jonesboro, people across the metro desire more walkable, livable communities. Driving everywhere is just no longer a feasible way of movement, and by supporting MARTA expansion in Clayton county, residents are demanding an alternative to what they have always known to be the norm. 

For MARTA, this is the first major expansion since it's conception. This means several things for the 9th largest transit service in the country: 1) more ridership from Clayton commuters now traveling in town, 2) more funds from an expanded service base, 3) innovation through new forms of transit (eventually commuter rail or BRT) and making transit effective in a suburban landscape, and 4) more advocacy for expanding the service throughout Metro Atlanta. It's crazy but true that this is MARTA's first major expansion in over 40 years, and it's first expansion into a new county. Transit services in Washington DC and San Fransico started at the same time as MARTA have added over a 100 miles of rail to their service. MARTA on the other hand has collectively only 42 miles of track, and they haven't added any rail since the 1970's. But Atlantans now have the chance to change this by buying into public transportation and voting yes on SPLOST and transportation measures in upcoming elections. 

MARTA as a result of this election now faces many challenges on how to implement effective public transportation in the sprawl of the Atlanta suburbs. The agency needs to ensure premium services and effective routes to provide the most for Clayton residents and their local economy. MARTA has the ability to kick start more development around bus routes and transit hubs in the county, so their routes have to be effective and beneficial to its citizens. Adding circulator bus routes around the town centers and major residential centers is one possible solution to the sprawl since it will kickstart local economies by adding more connectivity and cohesion. Another option MARTA can look into is implementing the huburb concept to its stations in Clayton. The University of Toronto and Toronto's transit has applied this concept  they created to their city's sprawl, and it has allowed the city to provide beneficial transit across their region. This clustering of development, education, and business has attracted Torontons to use transit more. 

While there is little precedent about how MARTA should handle implementing public transit to a suburban area with so much sprawl, I trust in their leadership and Atlanta innovation to provide the most for Clayton citizens. MARTA realizes it has the ability to change transportation not only across Atlanta, but also other Sunbelt cities with how they service Clayton County. There will be a lot of positive change coming from Clayton's monumental vote.