Atlanta's Subway System is Surprisingly Decent

But what we really need is more lanes, right?
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[@brianpaulsen8118]

Marta could be better but I admire its ability to even function under a state government that is actively hostile towards it

[@deanc9453]

+

[@maniak1768]

'What if Atlanta was just more like Houston, a total traffic success story, wouldn't that be so cool?' They said to themselves, probably.

[@sammymarrco47]

@@maniak1768more like transit is 4 the poors

[@maniak1768]

@@sammymarrco47 Sounds plausible, too.

[@memesthatmakeyouwannadie3133]

That it even got built in Georgia in the 1970s is an absolute miracle. Thanks to Jimmy Carter, I guess.

[@sowokehaha]

Marta is a lifesaver. I commute from Hall county to downtown. To drive to doraville Station in Dekalb County then park and ride marta saves me an hour in traffic each morning.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Agreed that the Civic Center station being built as a bridge above the highway is wonderful because again, the benefit about trains is waving goodbye to all the cars that have to deal with traffic! Peachtree Center was built by tunneling through solid gneiss, a granite like rock formed of layers of quartz and mica. It is the Stockholm Metro station of the MARTA system! The facade they kept in Five Points is from the Eiseman Building. The Eiseman Building was constructed in 1901 to house a haberdashery and clothing store. It was the idea of John Carlsten, an Atlanta architect, to incorporate the turn-of-the-century sculpture into Five Points station. The name "Buckhead" comes from a story that Henry Irby (who purchased over 200 acres there) killed a large buck deer and placed the head in a prominent location. Prior to this, the settlement was called Irbyville. Decatur was named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur, a popular early-American naval hero. Stephen Decatur was born in 1779 in Maryland and was raised in Philadelphia. At the age of 19 he joined the newly formed US Navy, and rose rapidly in rank.

[@scpatl4now]

I was just getting ready to comment on the facade but the Supreme Leader was first of course. The airport station is extremely convenient. You go downstairs and you are right at Delta ticketing and baggage claim. I used to have a job that I flew out every week and I would not even think about driving. I used to park at the Lindbergh station.

[@Unmannedperson]

That's a gneiss fact!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The jingle at 0:12 is the same jingle used on the Miami Metrorail, which I really like! I love when stations have amazing art that represent their respective neighborhoods. The artwork in Ashby station at 1:26 is a glass mosaic called "Labyrinth of Phoenix" by Lev Mills and symbolizes "the early home lives and the first black schools which originated here" according to the artist. That abandoned stadium Jeremy is talking about is called Herndon Stadium, which opened in 1948 and also hosted field hockey during the 1996 Summer Olympics, so even Atlanta has this curse of venues used for the Olympics that are now abandoned. It became abandoned because of hardships by Morris Brown College and they sold it. The fact that this system goes directly to the airport's North and South Terminals without needing to board a monorail or people-mover is a huge benefit, just like Cleveland and Denver! And I agree that the Marta Market thing is worth talking about! For those who don't have easy access to fresh produce but have access to a Marta station, what they're doing is great by putting two and two together and solving a food desert while further promoting that transit is more than just trains, it's all about accessibility and making so many lives better.

[@holly5234]

Thank you for noticing that too I thought I was going insane hearing that jingle that we use here lmao. It's sad knowing that many structures used for such a big event are now just sitting and slowly decaying knowing the history behind it.

[@freddysanders2826]

some LA metro stations use the same jingle too, but it's kinda inconsistent which announcements they use it for, or where

[@thefareplayer2254]

It sounds like a sped up “Here Comes The Sun.”

[@harrisonworden]

The Phoenix light rail uses that jingle as well

[@irecasts]

its not exactly the same but its also super similar to the valley metro light rail chime in phoenix

[@Whatneeds2bsaid]

Welcome to Atlanta! MARTA is the little (rail) transit that could! MARTA's biggest struggle has been for a very long time not the transit, but the *land use* around the station. We're doing some infill now, but much more is needed (ala Rosslyn-Ballston corridor on the DC metro)

[@garydubourjr3773]

Like Norfolk, Va's dinky light rail. The engine that could. At least MARTA serves some things that are useful. Also unlike Norfolk, Atlanta has PROFESSIONAL sports teams (Norfolk only has farm clubs). 😊

[@qolspony]

MARTA just shows us that heavy rail metros beat anything that is light rail. They're fast and don't compete with traffic.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

When Hamilton E. Holmes station opened in 1979, it was originally named Hightower station after Hightower Road (a section of Georgia 280), but both the road and the station were later renamed to honor civil rights movement hero Hamilton E. Holmes. Hamilton E. Holmes was an orthopedic physician! He and Charlayne Hunter-Gault were the first two African American students admitted to the University of Georgia. Holmes was also the first African American student to attend the Emory University School of Medicine, where he earned his MD degree in 1967! After he graduated, he served as an army ranger in Germany in 1969. He passed of heart failure at age 54 in 1995, and the station and road were renamed the year after. The yard at 3:27 is the CSX's Hulsey Yard and is named such because in the 1920s, a large portion of land owned by L.J. Hulsey (the son of W.H. Hulsey who was the 18th mayor of Atlanta) was sold for railroad-related expansion, thus eventually becoming Hulsey Yard. Bankhead on the other hand is named after the neighborhood which in turn was named after Bankhead Highway which has since been renamed the Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway for a civil rights attorney who lived near Bankhead. And Indian Creek IS within MARTA as DeKalb County is a member since they passed a sales tax increase to pay for it in 1971!

[@willp.8120]

Should have kept it Hightower Station. We used to catch the west line at Hightower Station throughout the 80s and 90s to go to events downtown.

[@terriwityofineass6068]

When I first moved to ATL I didn't have a car. I quickly realized that I didn't really need one. Marta made my commute very easy. Even after I bought a car, I mostly used it to drive to the train station to commute. Going to and from the airport when traveling was a breeze. I don’t understand big cities that don't have train service to their major airport. 🚅 ✈️ Breeze!

[@schmitty8225]

I've driven through Atlanta at least 20 times and I never knew they had a subway.

[@thatoneguy42145]

The MARTA red line tracks run through some of I-75

[@presto569]

@@thatoneguy42145 I believe your talking about GA 400, where the tracks run in the middle of the road?

[@litz13]

If you go right through the middle of the city, you actually go right under MARTA - the Civic Center station is a bridge over the highway.

[@AssBlasster]

I worked for a week in Alanta at GA Tech and didn't even know it was there too. Just experienced the miserable greyhound station

[@CalvinMarshall-r6v]

Marta crosses many locations over the 3 freeways over downtown atlanta

[@gacaptain]

12:40 Actually, for many years that was home to the GM Doraville assembly plant that manufactured GM minivans. It employed thousands of people.

[@portcybertryx222]

The Marta is so useful to go to the airport. Unfortunately it lacks many connections and should expand. But in other piece of great news we are getting a new rolling stock in 2025.

[@markwiygul6356]

Gwinnett County (northeast of Atlanta) just crossed a million in population this year. The Doraville Station stops right at the county line, but MARTA can't be extended into Gwinnett County because it voted against MARTA expansion a couple of years ago. But now, Gwinnett is fixing to vote again, not MARTA expansion into the county, but BRT and Microtransit throughout the entire county. Its on the ballot Nov. 5th 2024, and if it succeeds it's going to cost 1% additional sales tax inside Gwinnett for 30 years. so as I type this, it's going to be voted up or down in a few days

[@markwiygul6356]

Update, it failed by a few percent, much closer than a similar referendum in neighbor Cobb County. (Gwinnett is the second most popular county in Georgia, just behind Fulton County [City of Atlanta])

[@-Cece]

Miles, you have friends wherever you go. And they spend time with you as you enjoy the transit system. I think it's cool. Stay safe.

[@jonasgraham9250]

It's pretty cool that you can take MARTA straight from the airport, hwhich is more than you can say for a lot of more famously "transit-oriented" cities, like Montreal. And it seems to serve DownTown Atlanta pretty well. As a tourist, you can easily take Marta to World of Coke and CNN and the King Center is just a short street-car ride away. Southern US cities, in particular, seem to have a stereotype of having poor transit. Atlanta certainly defies this stereotype!

[@Awedomeness]

even NYC subway doesnt go to the airport.

[@dragon32210]

It would be nice to see the City or MARTA advertise this as an advantage at the airport

[@Cain-x]

@@Awedomeness To be fair, JFK has the AirTrain from Jamaica or Howard Beach but that 8.50 fare is public robbery. Similar with Newark AirTrain. LGA needs a rail shuttle or subway extension but not enough political willpower to make this happen.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

You can see a lot of trees covered in vines and it is because that is kudzu, a climbing vine species from East Asia that has become invasive in much of the US. Kudzu kills plants by smothering them under a blanket of leaves and by breaking branches or uprooting entire trees. Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the US at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Atlanta itself was founded in 1837 as the end of the Western & Atlantic Railroad line and was first named Marthasville in honor of the then-governor's daughter. It was nicknamed Terminus for its rail location, and then changed soon after to Atlanta, the feminine of Atlantic, as in the railroad! In honor of Aleena's crested gecko at the end, here are some gecko facts: Crested geckos are found only in southern New Caledonia as in the southern part of the main island of Grande Terre and the Isle of Pines. The crested gecko was first described in 1866 by French zoologist Alphonse Guichenot. This species was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 during an expedition led by Robert Seipp. Besides crested geckos, other cool geckos found in New Caledonia are gargoyle geckos and Leachianus geckos, the latter of which are the world's largest extant geckos. Grande Terre localities are capable of growing 14 to 17 inches long, with a weight range between 250 and 500 grams.

[@Foxy_AR]

You really want to be a statistic, don’t you?

[@WaluigiLebron]

Thank you Kim Jung Un

[@homogenized]

I rode MARTA from Avondale to Georgia State every day in college! It was great! Now I live in Gwinnett County and I keep voting yes on expanding MARTA out here. It hasn't happened yet... but they do have a new Gwinnett bus route that connects to a MARTA station, so that's something. I'm glad y'all enjoyed your time in my city!

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

Blame the numbskull peabrain clowns in your county!

[@mastermind6065]

You're saying "yet" as if it will one day. Its good to be optimistic. Having all those buses in a county the size of Gwinnett easily contributes to traffic and while the fear seemed to have been a rise in crime, MARTA would have created a rise in value from transit-oriented development.

[@295g295]

4:00 - Cobb County is the NIMBY. The MARTA rail system was not built to there forty years ago.

[@EthanNeal]

Yup, I lived in Paulding County (next county west) growing up. We had 1 bus stop that connected to any Atlanta transit. I had to drive to Hamilton E. Holmes any time I needed to go to downtown Atlanta. It was so nice when I moved to Denton, Texas and could walk to a train station a couple miles away from where I lived and go almost directly to downtown Dallas and both major airports.

[@indecisive.325]

there's a reason why every time there's a big event in Atlanta, especially at Mercedes Benz stadium, that the MARTA trains are absolutely jam-packed with fans of said event. Look, MARTA sucks, but it can get us from point A to point B, and we're glad to have it.

[@mmrw]

That’s like the light rail in Denver too, it’s generally not very crowded but all the stadiums are very transit accessible and it gets the most packed when there’s a game

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

The people that oversee marta sucks and some of the native Georgia people suck to, keeping marta from expanding!

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

The MBTA be like

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

@@mmrw Literally, every Green Line train whenever there's a Red Sox game at Fenway Park is filled to the brim with people. Same with the Green and Orange lines during Bruins/Celtics home games.

[@yourmomisgayaf]

My guy Marta does not suck, but hell about 6 years ago it did everything was outdated but now its an amazing subway that's saved me they really have revamped it

[@SamRoss68]

I came from the metro NYC area to ATL. I originally thought the system was basic in comparison. After some years I see the general charm MARTA stations have. The uniqueness of the stations and the general greenery and other sights you can see makes it a pretty interesting ride most times.

[@PDXLibertarian]

MARTA is a well-built heavy rail system, but the problem is they never finished it, so it doesn't have network coverage like DC.

[@hoodboyzAtl]

Marta was the only system that didn't get any government funding

[@CalvinMarshall-r6v]

The of state of Georgia Legislative elected Officials are the main reason for MARTA not exspansion . Beside WASHINGTON DC and Miami, only Atlanta has heavy rail subway. Heavy rail subway system looks 👌 more impressive than light rail . In the new future, I see MARTA's exspansion over more Metro Atlanta suburban counties made possible by a significant demographic shifts in the next decade in the Metro Atlanta Region. Only after this needed shift in metro Region will we see voters and taxpayers agreeing 👍 🤔 on Metro Atlanta Region public transportation (MARTA) exspansion. The U.S census bureau has named the metro Atlanta region the 6th largest and 3rd fastest growing metro region in the United States (bypassing Washington DC and Miami Metro Regions👏. This region will continue to add millions of peoples in the coming decades. It time for the state of legislative elected Officials to stop holding back the metro Atlanta growth (fortune five hundred companies exspaning to the metro Atlanta region

[@michaeltravels2672]

Let’s goooo! I’ve been waiting for you to do Marta for so long because I live in Atlanta!!!

[@michaelpepe105]

Miles riding all of marta makes me want to visit my hometown and ride all of marta. Love your videos. Never stop! You gave me the idea to try Septa Regional Rail and try NJ Transit...thank you for spreading the word about transit!

[@MilesinTransit]

Thank you so much!

[@madnessofmen]

Just saw this video again and reminded me of the one negative thing that happened to me on Marta, and it had nothing to do with the trains, I was leaving one of the stations I was about to pick the elevator when it smelled really bad, I look into my right and I see a literal pile of human poop in the corner of the elevator, was about to get on and I warned them. Thankfully, Atlanta has an app you can use to report stuff like this.

[@Megasteel32]

i ride marta 4 days a week, the bus service is ass where I live but the trains are fairly reliable

[@ericfuchs123]

The subway is great to get from the airport to the center of town, it’s just shocking how stupidly placed the baseball stadium is since it might as well be in Tennessee compared to how close it is to the nearest train station.

[@mastermind6065]

The placement of the stadium was probably part of a plan to get people in Cobb to realize the value of rapid transit. Had they approved MARTA the times it was proposed, there would be rail going to the stadium instead of shuttle buses adding to the crowd of traffic in that area. After all, that's still considered part of the metro area.

[@truelife974]

​@@mastermind6065it was said that the residents of Cobb mostly made up the crowd that frequented the games so they chose that location to shorten their commute.

[@SeaBassTian]

I love MARTA, stayed in midtown a few years ago and remember taking it all the way to Decatur (cool "streetcar suburb" btw) I also recall seeing a show in Buckhead which for some reason was more convenient to take a local bus. I also like their "racing stripes"!

[@RealCrimsonPeach_TSFTWDTFTL]

What I like about Marta is that its trains sound exactly like the R142A, R143, and R188 from the NYC Subway.

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

I agree

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

And the Green Line type 8s from Boston

[@ejdsndnj]

The unrefurbished cars didn't

[@hoodboyzAtl]

​@@ejdsndnjCQ310 CQ311 CQ312 Adtranz/Bombardier MITRAC 1508C. CQ310 CQ311 always had that sound

[@hoodboyzAtl]

Marta CQ310 CQ311 had that Adtranz/Bombardier MITRAC 1508C sounds way before the R1A2A R143 and R188

[@ninthwardchicago]

Ashby is near where I used to go to school at Morehouse College. I do like MARTA trains my only issue with them is that the system isn't as extensive as Chicago or perhaps other cities.

[@davidsp5936]

Except that the "Leafyness" is kudzu, a non-native invasive species that earned the knickname "The vine that ate the South."

[@Yeppo_]

Great vid! Love the train fronts.

[@bpeezy2254]

Excellent harmonization. This content just keeps getting better and better. Though Metro shouldn't win any awards for anything ever.

[@MilesinTransit]

Thank you so much!

[@marvinbone1379]

Great presentation. You guys let each other talk and didn't interrupt each other. I live in the Oakland Hills east of San Fran. This reminds me alot of BART (our rapid transit system) and the Oakland suburbs (gritty, blue collar, working class).

[@MilesinTransit]

Thanks for watching!

[@KSRailfan]

Oh, hey! Transit and MLS crossover content? Definitely here for this… even if it is ATLUTD. 😂

[@joshuatrower1698]

3:27 CSX's Hulsey Yard, (virtually all inter modal traffic is handled at Fairburn now), the city wants to develop it but CSX won't give it up. Originally it was the Georgia RR's yard in the city. MARTA is fine, it gets hate from state politicians for.....reasons.

[@garydubourjr3773]

MARTA has great service spans but could use a few bus lines that run overnight.

[@alk61695]

Nice. I rode maybe 75% of Marta when I was in Atlanta. I always liked the station announcement chime.

[@scpatl4now]

Marta has been going all in on BRT and Streetcar for their new expansion. I hope I am around to see the streetcar built out on The Beltline. They just broke ground for the Summerhill BRT line which will be their first. I hope they don't screw it up. They say it will be 85% in it's own ROW. MARTA has a habit of studying new lines for like 10 years before they even think of building...so we shall see what becomes of it all. I wish they were able to build more heavy rail, but with Cobb and Gwinnett refusing to participate that sort of constrains things.

[@tsivard1]

It's good to see Jeremy again!

[@JTNAnimator]

Glad you all enjoyed Atlanta! Public transit here in general could use a lot of work (the bus system is… not great…) but the train system is a great way to get around to the major hubs. I’ve taken it to the airport a few times and used to ride it up to midtown for work before I started working at home. I hear they’re planning on expanding the train system though so if they ever do (I’ll believe it when I see it lol) you def need to make a return trip for round two!

[@GeneralD187]

I'm glad to hear people talk some positives about Marta, we have so many NIMBYs and so much urban sprawl here in Georgia, its mindboggling. Hoping one day these train lines expand to the the massive feeder counties outside Fulton that would love a train ride instead a 2 hour drive on I-285. Those who know, know...

[@simonhutchings6073]

I’ve used the Marta from Hartsfield to Peachtree a few times when visiting ATL ,Always a good travel experience.😃👍

[@AaronTheHarris]

I rode it for a day during a long layover and coming from the west coast it was amazing.

[@dirtycommie2877]

WMATA and MARTA built their subway systems around the same time. The difference is that the DC metro area actually used a large portion if its interstate highway act funding to go towards the system instead. It's why to this day DC has a very small highway footprint within its borders.

[@hoodboyzAtl]

WMATA had government funding Marta didn't get any government funding

[@sentrygl]

Love the stations of MARTA but because of a lack of support from neighboring counties, i dont think it does a good job of connecting to popular destinations at all

[@marvinbone1379]

Loved your take on the quirky architecture and colors, almost retro'ish now. lived in atlanta for 4 years in the 90s. a bsmt apt way out on the northside (a high school friend from CT owned the house). Hiked to MARTA, rain, sleet, snow, heat. And never had to buy a car. The bus system was good and reliable and connected to the other multiple rail stations. [ I live in DC-Virginia now...use DCMetro....Much more extensive, and interconnecting, but MARTA seemed cleaner and more quirkier and neighborhood-eccentric.DC Metro was all very well-healed commuter$$$...marta's rail riders were more students, airport bound riders, blue collar, ofc workers

[@anderra88]

MARTA described the Civic Center station as an aerial subway station as it emerges from tunnels on both ends with West Peachtree Street on top of it and the Downtown Connecter (i75/85) is below it.

[@madnessofmen]

I do really appreciate Marta very well, especially since it helps empower me to be able to get to Atlanta from like an hour out of town for literally five bucks

[@andrewhaywood1262]

9:22 Sandy Springs, my mom has to drive through that shit twice a week. If you think it's bad during the daytime, you've never driven through it at nighttime after leaving a concert in Alpharetta. We live south of Atlanta so I highly doubt she'd be okay leaving her car in College Park, even if it would save a lotta time and frustration.

[@BoratWanksta]

I recall years ago my family(after visiting a family relative) parked at College Park, and we rode MARTA fine without any issues. My family's car was fine, when we came back to College Park at the end of the day to pick up our car and drive back to my relative. Is crime in College Park that bad? I get the sense it isn't as terrible around there, as say some of the areas that are close to MARTA stations on the west side of Atlanta. Plus it does have a campus for the private school Woodward Academy, so it must not be that bad of a place.

[@kevinpressley4999]

Miles in my new hometown. Love to see it.

[@j.p.obregon1415]

The system did actually have two expansions that were supposed to happen but got cancelled. There is still a stub tunnel off of the red/yellow line from Midtown heading towards Atlantic Station, and there is also a stub tunnel that splits off of the blue line around Decatur and Avondale that was originally supposed to go towards Emory, but got cancelled.

[@DuluthTW]

I'm learning so much about transit acronyms (MARTA = Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) and jargon by watching your videos. Also, if I ever get annihilated in Pub Trivia it's probably the SupremeLeaderKimJong-un or AverytheCubanAmerican on the winning team. I'm learning as much from your comments section as I am from the videos. Good on ya again for bringing back one of my favs, Jeremy, and hosting new special guest stars. Thanks for sharing!

[@AssBlasster]

why do their comments gotta read like wikipedia artcles though lol

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

@@AssBlasster That's just my autism kicking in...I've been called a Walking Encyclopedia by family and old classmates tbf lol

[@craigsmith9636]

That’s my old home system! I live in Pittsburgh now, and while I appreciate the light rail system here, I do miss MARTA sometimes.

[@Nonamer98]

I used MARTA during dragon con and thought it was perfectly fine to go back and forth from the airport. THOUGH I used the app to activate tickets, and sadly the bottom of the Civic Center station doesn’t have good cell reception, so when I went to the bottom and attempted to activate the ticket, nothing happened. I had to go all the way back to the surface to activate the ticket, then go down again to use it. Way less convenient than the WMATA Smartrip system, but I’m spoiled with that. 8/10 would fund again.

[@joermnyc]

A really mixed fleet (Belgian, Italian and Japanese built), and it looks like they are buying something from Stadler to replace it all. That could be a mistake. If there’s an issue with the trains, the whole system goes down, but if you have multiple manufacturers, you can at least run service with a partial fleet.

[@cooltwittertag]

stadler subway trains here in berlin have been extremely reliable and comfortable tho

[@garydubourjr3773]

The speed limit for the cars is likely 60. I rode MARTA in 2013 and enjoyed it. The MARTA staff was super helpful including when I had an anxiety attack at Kensington Station. They helped me through that. Thankfully I'm over most anxiety attacks these days. MARTA was very convenient and handy between its buses and trains (I had the privilege to ride both)

[@valf1733]

They're 70. They hit 70 on the median of 400 on the Red Line and some parts of the Blue and Gold lines.

[@hoodboyzAtl]

The speed limit is 70 MPH

[@BenriBea]

I'm starting to think the speed limit is 70

[@fenderbender4294]

wow, the spanish announcements are great! I feel like they should include that on all in-train announcements. this was a really interesting video, atlanta seems so cool!

[@ge009]

I’m surprised they don’t have those on the NYC subway and other areas with larger Hispanic populations

[@rykilg]

I think MARTA may have the loudest announcements of any system I’ve ridden. Headphones are required

[@ejdsndnj]

I was born in 2010 and I grew up with Marta until 2020. Back in the 2010s, there were no announcements on anything. and you had to read the LED signs hanging on the ceiling when a train would come, or use the yellow lights that flash by the train tracks when a train would come lol

[@peabody1976]

Fort Totten and National Airport shout out! Woohoo, WMATA!

[@BenWDuffy]

The subway part of MARTA should be renamed to Atlanta Subway System just for the acronym

[@jakebarker1269]

The thing at five points is from the eisemen clothing building built in 1901 when five points was being built in the 70s the architects carefully preserved a potion of this historic building

[@sonuchadalavada5193]

Seattle could have had this 😢

[@GregoryHager2011]

When I lived in Atlanta. Ashby was my closest station. an easy walk from home to the station. It is really the best way to commute from home to work every day.

[@leonb2637]

I was in Atlanta in May. I was staying in a motel a short drive away from a MARTA station and had free parking (at your own risk - but had no issues). It was very good to get around the key places I visited including the Civil Rights Museum, Centennial Park, The US Park Service Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Park area. There is a great market place near the MLK park area with food stalls. I ate at one that features 'soul' food and it was good.

[@WilliamAkins-rw2hv]

Atl native here and I've never done this! great idea!

[@justingerald]

I took it straight from the airport to my hotel in April and it really wasn't bad. Just don't try to go anywhere outside of those lines...

[@jackjohnson3024]

Fun fact for you - at the East Lake station on the blue line, one of the signs that says east lake now says: "Fast Lake" Which is an improvement. Also there are no lakes here so idek

[@ivanoffw]

When I visited Atlanta in the early 2000's I had no idea there was a metro system. When I visited D.C. I was made aware that D.C. has a metro because of the signs on the highway for the park and ride's, so in D.C. I did ride the metro so I could visit the mall. I am guessing that Atlanta would like people to forget that they have a metro system, and just get on the Interstate Highway system for all of your needs.

[@kylevarnedoe2761]

Not true at all, plenty of the park and ride stations have signage from the highway (Lindbergh off of GA 13/old 85, Chamblee and Doraville off of 85, North Springs off GA 400). Even the train viaducts have mini MARTA signs facing the highways they fly over. One of the biggest selling points of MARTA was to get people off the highway, the mayor at the time of the referendum chartered a helicopter to fly over traffic jams and stump for the system

[@JWill951]

There are signs on the interstate for all of the Marta stations and the Park and Rides

[@dag221]

The Five Points Station is like being in a M.C. Escher drawing with no signs.

[@tvguts]

Recently moved to Orlando from ATL and this video made me kinda homesick, lol. I don't miss the traffic-- but I miss the MARTA!

[@anderra88]

That facade came off the face of the main public library. This was one of the many libraries built by millionaire Carnegie in the early 20th century.

[@edwardrosemond7169]

I love MARTA man!

[@aqathomas]

Miles you gotta let us know the next time you're in Atlanta! We can show you all the good stuff :)

[@shreychaudhary4477]

I respect that you could actually hear the intercom announcemnents on MARTA

[@yourmomisgayaf]

Its more than decent my friend it literally saved me so many times.

[@croatia0728]

I use marta every day to get to georgia state from reynoldstown, i love it and its usually pretty crowded on weekday mornings.

[@ATLIEN333]

Lord ... The facade at Five Points station is from the Carnegie Library that was torn down. MARTA has not expanded because it's the south and you have so many backwards people when it comes to public transportation. You know NIMBY types and some. We are still ahead of many Americans cities .

[@asaharyev]

George Bello is a great deep cut AUFC jersey

[@glowingfish]

I like this video because it showed a lot of the transit system---but I have to admit, I was curious to know more about the surrounding communities and who the transit system was supposed to serve. But I also understand that if you want to keep the video down to under 20 minutes, it is hard to include all that information!

[@trainman1971]

So ironic that Atlanta is getting a shiny new Greyhound station while they are closing bus stations in other major cities in favor of storefronts and street boarding. It's definitely a mess in Philly now..... I went on a day trip to Atlanta in 2015. Took the Crescent down on Monday, arrived Tuesday (only 40 minutes late), took all day to ride and video at a number of stops on the MARTA rail system (except West Lake to H. E. Holmes, because I was running out of time), and caught the Crescent back that evening (it was 95 minutes late, but they kept the diner open for us boarding at Atlanta). And damnit, I keep starting to call it Hightower out of habit.... It was a good trip!

[@MilesinTransit]

A Crescent day trip from Philly, wow!

[@trainman1971]

@@MilesinTransit I was just glad it wasn't too late going down.... I knew I'd need every bit of the 12 hours I was in Atlanta. As it was, I barely had about a half hour to spare time at Five Points to get a little bus action.

[@vinylcabasse]

that's an awesome trip. i should try the reverse!

[@nnadir__]

I find places where people just decided to raise the street level a couple of floors fascinating.

[@thomascanary6313]

A surprising amount of WMATA discussion in this video, we love to see it!

[@thyagarajannatarajan6234]

This is gonna be a long one, so I totally understand if you ignore this. TLDR: I first want to put out, I am a huge fan of Miles in Transit. 5PM EST Wednesday is my favorite thing ever. You have inspired some of my planned trips (Greyhound to Boston, Amtrak to Providence--your points run was very great). You are a very influential person within the transit online world. Watching least used Amtrak, great races, "apparently a trip reports", stupid deviationfests or random content is just so iconic w/ you. So now that I have put this out, here is really why I am here. I want to talk Middlesex County person to Middlesex County person. You being from Cambridge, MA a very well transit connected city has made you such an expert on what transit should look like in neighboring cities/close suburbs. I resided outside of Framingham, MA a while back. I'm pretty sure you know what I am talking about. You made a blog post on it in 2017 (where you gave it a 7--I was incredibly disappointed that we didn't fare better but at least we were better than back bay) and have created multiple MWRTA posts. Back to Framingham Station, it is incredibly terrible. For one of the busiest commuter rail stations as well as one served by Amtrak it deserves more. However, it doesn't seem like Framingham is doing anything. Similarly, MWRTA operates minibuses around the MetroWest area. Supposedly. these buses have a schedule, but they seem to show up when they do like SEPTA trains. They also operate microtransit. Me personally, in theory believes in microtransit however it doesn't work in practice. It is too reliable and, in most places, where it is effective it is too costly. I truly believe that microtransit doesn't have a future in Framingham. What could they do to improve this? Take Newton MA. It borders Boston so some villages are covered by the GLD. It also has 3 commuter rail stops. Alongside that, MBTA runs buses into here and so does the MWRTA. Newton has a population of 87k people. Framingham has about 72k people. Framingham has some major "neighborhoods" such as Coburnville, Downtown, City Center, Pheasant Hill, Nobscot and Saxonville. Adding a lightrail-streetcar system to Framingham would be expensive and would take a ton of work. They could operate bigger buses like the LRTA but that could require re-routes and would take up space in the Banana Lot that isn't there. Now if we got rid of the MWRTA that would mean that a lot of other services in smaller cities would be cancelled and that would affect a ton of people. What if we moved the MWRTA hub to Natick Mall (biggest mall in New England--I couldn't find any restaurants w/ combo 1 there at least 2 auntie annes are at this mall). Natick Mall is a preexisting major transfer point. However, this could send some buses onto a deviationfest (not that you wouldn't mind). What about commuter rail? Could Framingham use any commuter rail extensions? Could it be the hub to a new Commuter rail agency? Now if there were more commuter rail lines then definitely station renovations would be necessary. There aren't enough tracks. Preexisting tracks connect onto Fitchburg/Leominster as well as Central Falls RI. I don't see commuter rail service being necessary to these cities. These and other tracks are also owned by CSX so delays will arise just like the MBTA Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail in the 90s. The Framingham and Lowell Railroad used to have a line through Sudbury, Maynard & Westford. This is a line that would prove incredibly practical as many people commute between these cities. However, this track has been demolished so it is not feasible. Yeah, Lowell has much better transit. On another note, I wish MBTA still had commuter rail to Nashua & Manchester as well as Westerly, RI. So, if you made it this far, Miles, please give me your thoughts on what Framingham should do w/ transit? Do you agree w/ me? Do you think the MWRTA is effective? Do you think that Framingham could get Light Rail? I would much oblige your insights.

[@tarasaurus98]

Oh, I had a chance to ride Atlanta's subway when my sister's family took me to a football game there. I had no idea what I was doing but it was certainly convenient.

[@gacaptain]

The second KZbin vloggers I've seen tour MARTA all excited and anxious about taking the spur to Bankhead. Completely oblivious to the fact that Bankhead is the absolute most dangerous neighborhood in the city. Lol.

[@MilesinTransit]

And yet we survived...imagine!!!!!

[@antonsmith9788]

MARTA’s chime sounds like the LA Metro’s chime! 👊❤️👊

[@COASTER1921]

They single track all the time, the fact that they needed to announce that they were NOT says a lot. My impression of the system when I was visiting a few months ago was terrible, but it was a single tracked Sunday schedule. But at least it does get some ridership thanks to the excellent airport connection

[@dbclass2969]

They usually only single track on the weekends. People get really bad impressions of MARTA service but on the weekdays it’s great. Bus system sucks though.

[@maniak1768]

They really just need one more lane on those 10-lane highways to finally solve traffic for good. Pinky-swear!

[@alexlowe2054]

I know it's because the train only stops for a brief moment, but it's somewhat sad to not see any of the stations on the north/south line. There's a crazy crazy long elevator at one of those north/south stations, and we didn't even get to see the rock station walls. You can even tell where they drilled small holes to break apart the rocks. It's pretty neat. After riding Marta to college for like, multiple years, the trains are pretty decent. They're reliable enough and fast enough. The main problem is the bus routes connecting everything together. The busses never take you where you need to go, and they're often ~10 minutes late, and sometimes early, which is even worse. And some bus routes run only every 45 minutes. It makes it basically impossible to use Marta for regular transit, since the only way to use Marta is if you live right next to the train stations, and those property prices are all crazy. So you basically need to own a car anyways, because that's the only way to get to the train stations. I wish there were more frequent busses, and better bus routes. And there's only a single bus connection between neighboring Cobb and Marta. That bus is crazy packed, and the route is frustratingly long. A single good rail connection to the cumberland mall and Braves stadium area would make such a positive difference for being able to transit to some nice destinations, but that's never going to happen. Bleh. A system with so much promise, ruined by bad management.

[@TheOneAndOnlyMart]

Love this video !

[@MilesinTransit]

Thanks!

[@michaelevans1543]

Please Atlanta, you’re killing me with these 20 lane highways. Build a commuter rail, have more than 1 Amtrak a day. Expand Marta. Please….

[@EthanNeal]

You gotta get through to Cobb County, first. Problem is they're the worst turbo NIMBYs in the country.

[@zachgaskins3731]

As for light rail, the railroad companies are in bed with the freight companies. Freight will always be more lucrative per mile because you don't have to make it comfortable.

[@zachgaskins3731]

@@EthanNeal That's changing demographically, which is why there's such a slapfight going on in local government right now because they know the winds are changing.

[@noeonoohno4219]

You guys have the energy of a bunch of furries out of your fur suits. Loved the video.

[@MilesinTransit]

Huh! I wouldn't know!

[@joezegers]

4:19 Well, the propulsion on the trains is the same as some NYC Subway trains (specifically the R142A, R143, and R188), so technically...

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

And the MBTA Green Line type 8s in Boston.

[@hoodboyzAtl]

Adtranz/Bombardier MITRAC 1508C. CQ310 CQ311 CQ312

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

Marta donated one rail car cq310 to NY trolley museum, 97 miles north of NYC

[@WilliamThorsson-zg4yy]

YAAAAS Cleveland getting a shout out for having the best rail-airport connection in the country!!

[@jakebarker1269]

The w 3 is actually Marta is one of the few systems that do label and so here is what it means you are in the west line and you are 3 stations away from five points

[@tombowers3681]

The only time we took MARTA was from Doraville terminus on the gold line to the civic center stop. Looks like that is possibly the worst part of the system. We made the mistake of using the system on a college football day when thousands of people were using the system to go downtown somewhere in ATL for a football game. I mean it wasn't bad, but ATL is difficult anyway because it's so sprawled that when you get off the train, nothing is close other than windy streets and closed office buildings

[@MilesinTransit]

Although if thousands of people are using it to get downtown for a game, that's something that's nearby!

[@GeorgeMacon]

Probably a Georgia Tech game. Bobby Dodd stadium is like 3 blocks from North Avenue station, though one of those “blocks” is the bridge over the connector (15 lanes there last time I checked).

[@TransitAndTeslas]

That chime is the same chime here in Phoenix, AZ!!

[@MilesinTransit]

And Miami!

[@jordanthomas5718]

Wish we had this in Dallas or Houston

[@vinnyoh4274]

Jeremy's short hair is fyre 🔥🔥🔥

[@metropod]

00:16 We are MARTA, you will be transported... resistance is futile.

[@scpatl4now]

Are you old enough to remember when the plane train at the airport had the Cylon voice from Battlestar Gallactica? THAT was cool!

[@metropod]

@@scpatl4now I have never been to Atlanta…

[@cj4607]

with special guest Tilda Swinton!

[@williamerazo3921]

😮😮😮😮😮