MARTA Launches Station Overhaul, Calls For $100B Transit Investment

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority announced several ambitious initiatives and called on the city of Atlanta to invest $100 billion in transit over the next 40 years, Katie Pyzyk reports in Smart Cities Dive.

At the State of MARTA event, CEO Jeffrey Parker unveiled a comprehensive plan to renovate all of the system's 38 stations, as well as to encourage transit-oriented development around them. The agency will also hire a Chief Customer Experience Officer and create a Rider Advisory Council.

The recently approved More MARTA plan will devote $2.7 billion to the regional transit system, and the agency has pursued a number of transit projects over the past year, including new commuter rail. Together, the initiatives aim both to boost economic development and to expand transit access beyond the Atlanta city center, as the region's population is projected to increase 50 percent over the next 30 years.