Atlanta City Leaders Call on MARTA to Expand Weekend Service

Atlanta transit advocates are calling on the  Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to restore consistent and frequent weekend service, arguing that cuts to weekend transit are having a detrimental impact on  cultural events and the local economy. The city is hosting major sporting events in the coming years, which will require the agency to move hundreds of thousands of attendees.

According to an article by Alex Ip, “An investigation by The Xylom shows that tracking-related service cuts have slowed down the frequency of trains on the north-south route for almost 80% of weekends since October 2023, according to our weekend service cancellation dashboard created using publicly available data from MARTA.”

The agency took almost 5,500 weekend trains out of service last year, Ip adds. “Since the pandemic began, MARTA has ramped up single-tracking — which means it runs trains on one track instead of the usual two — and has experienced operator shortages, all of which disrupt rail service and necessitate ‘special schedules.’” This has amounted to long wait times and packed trains during major weekend events, concerts, and to and from Atlanta’s international airport. 

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said MARTA should consider expanding services to accommodate the anticipated spike in ridership. “While building out new rail transit infrastructure will take time, restoring consistent weekend service is low-hanging fruit for MARTA to bring back more riders.”