Tracking the future

Want to get a vision of the transit metropolis that Atlanta can become? Check out this outstanding map by rail enthusiast Jason King. Although Jason calls it a "fantasy map", it's based on either current plans or past studies. I've posted the commentary he sent me on the map below. Keep in mind that his map does not include commuter rail or street cars...

Blue Line: This is the current North-South line extended to Windward Parkway. There would be five new stations on the northern end of this line.

Red Line: This is the current Northeast-South line extended into Gwinnett county. There are three new stations: International, Pleasentdale, and Presidential.

Other new stations on the red and blue lines:
Jackson Terminal - The new international terminal at the airport will have its own station.

Firefly & Whitehall - Both of these station are in old industrial areas ripe for redevelopment. The proximity to downtown, interstates and the main transit line would almost guarantee success. Current plans for the green line show it intersecting the red/blue lines at West End station but in reality West End is a good distance from the green line right of way. Building a new station as part of a larger mixed use development would be the reason for the Firefly station.

Yellow Line: This line would be an extension of the current Proctor Creek and East/West lines. Six new stations would be built deep into currently underserved southern DeKalb county.

Purple Line: This line would also travel along the current East/West line. At the west end would be one new station, Fulton Industrial. The east end of the line would terminate that the Avondale station. Avondale is alread slated to be transformed in a mixed use TOD. This, along with a connection to the gray line would make this station relatively busy.

Black Line: Not currently on any long range plan or study, the black line would have four new mini-stations in the rapidly densifing Midtown and Downtown areas. The new underground station platforms would be small, servicing trains with only two or three cars. The purpose of the black line would be to reduce the time between trains, making use of trains more appealing to intown residents who would like to live car free. MARTA was designed for 90 second headways. Currently the time between trains is as short at four minutes on the main line during rush hour and as long as twenty minutes on the northern sections during non-peak hours.

Green Line (light rail): This light rail line is most likely the first line to be built. It enjoys strong support from the neighborhoods along the path of the rail lines and is being championed by the president of the city council. This line would likely be built with private funds by developers along the route who see it as a way to open old industrial properties into high density mixed use.

Orange Line (light rail): When MARTA was originally conceived, a northwest line to Marietta was part of the plan. The residents of Cobb county opted to go with more roads instead of transit. Times have changed and Cobb is more open to a rail line. Besides the green line, this line has the second greatest chance of being built. The new 17th Street Bridge over the downtown connector includes a lane for the orange line.

White Line (light rail): One of the problems with the current rail system in Atlanta is that many residents of the northern suburbs have jobs that are located in another part of the gridlocked sprawl from where they live. The white line would help move riders across the northern part of the metro, connecting the various employment centers together.

Brown Line (light rail): The brown line would help connect south and west DeKalb county residents to the rest of the transit network. It would also service Turner Field.

Gray Line (light rail): There has been strong opposition to rail lines by neighborhoods along the gray line. For this reason, I've left the stations off this line since the route would have to be carefully designed to prevent opposition. Emory and the CDC have been very supportive of rail proposals and would certainly have at least one station on this line.

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The name GReAT came from my belief that the name MARTA has been tainted and will never be accepted outside of Fulton/DeKalb. I also left Atlanta out of the name for pretty much the same reason. I think people in other counties would be more accepting of a state run system. While MARTA does have its problems, I think it doesn't deserve anything approaching its current poor reputation.

Of course, it would be even better if development was built in such a way as to allow people to walk more places and not need their car or transit for most trips. Since you walk to work also, you know what a joy it is to avoid commuting.

Sometime in the near future, I'm going to try to flesh out the gray line some more. It is the one line that I haven't been able to find documents showing where stations would go (other than Emory/CDC). If you have any opinions on this one, feel free to share them.