Atlanta’s First Bus Rapid Transit Route to Break Ground This Week

Officials from Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and the city of Atlanta will gather later this week for a ceremony to commemorate the groundbreaking on a new bus rapid transit (BRT) route—the first in the city.

“The five-mile BRT route—MARTA’s first new transit line since the Sandy Springs MARTA station opened in the year 2000—will link downtown to neighborhoods such as Summerhill and Peoplestown before ending near the BeltLine’s Southside Trail. Along the way will be connections to MARTA’s heavy rail system at Five Points, Georgia State, and Garnett Stations,” according to an article by Josh Green for Urbanize Atlanta.

“The region’s first BRT line, according to MARTA officials, will operate with new electric buses. About 85 percent of the corridor will have dedicated bus-only lanes with transit-signal priority, meaning buses shouldn’t be bogged down in traffic and that travel times should be quicker,” adds Green.

As noted in the article, the project has been delayed from an originally scheduled 2022 groundbreaking date. According to Green, “the project was dogged by skyrocketing building and labor costs, in addition to MARTA’s inexperience with creating new transit lines over the past two decades.”

Previous Planetizen coverage of Atlanta’s BRT plans:

• Atlanta Proposed Rail Line to Become Bus Rapid Transit (February 2023)
• MARTA Reveals Renderings for Bus Rapid Transit Stops (March 2023)
• Atlanta Gaining Two New ‘Arterial Rapid Transit’ Lines (April 2023)
• What Is ‘Arterial Rapid Transit?’ (June 2023)

More project details, including renderings of planned stations and a system map, can be found at the link below.