Why More MARTA should build the entire Atlanta BeltLine with rail.
With the recent announcement of DeKalb County Transit Master Plan, now more than ever is the time for More MARTA Atlanta to not fund the entire Phase 1 of Clifton Corridor, between Lindbergh Center and Emory, but instead set aside City of Atlanta’s fair share of the Light Rail Transit line to match with future DeKalb County funds and potential State funds to build the line.
More MARTA can instead use those funds to build more Light Rail Transit on the BeltLine, as the proposed 1/3 of the loop is not enough to provide equitable transit to Atlanta residents; more than 2/3 of the loop is missing.
Several census blocks along the red portion of the BeltLine corridor, of which now the City of Atlanta owns 80% of (Southside BeltLine and Kudzu Line), have some of lowest percentages of car ownership in the City of Atlanta.
Completing the goal of the Atlanta BeltLine, using More MARTA would improve equity and connect affordable housing to jobs and amenities. Let’s finish what we began in 2007, when then MARTA’s Board decided that BeltLine should be built with rail transit along the entire loop. This is the best and probably last chance we will have, in our lifetimes, to fund and build rail transit on the entire BeltLine loop.