This is your opportunity to show the MARTA board members that you support their voting in favor of moving the Streetcar East Extension design plan from 30% to 70%.

At this crucial meeting, the MARTA board will vote on whether to accept a contract and allocate funding to hire HDR, a design firm with national expertise that is also known for its strong focus on public engagement during the design process. BeltLine Rail Now supports this decision by the MARTA Board of Directors Planning and Capital Programs Committee, and we need the full MARTA board to vote in favor as well!

• Please plan to get to MARTA headquarters by 1pm in order to gain access to the meeting. 

• If you can get there earlier, please join BeltLine Rail Now in front of the MARTA headquarters as we gather with signs to provide visibility in support of a favorable vote.

Please plan to attend this critical meeting and show your support for the Streetcar East Extension! 

RSVP HERE!!

• If you are unable to attend in person, please email your comments or make a phone call in support.

Email: public@itsmarta.com Recorded Phone Message: (404) 848-6000

Comments received prior to 1:00 P.M. on the day of the meeting will be acknowledged at the beginning of the meeting. All comments received or postmarked by the date of the meeting will be acknowledged by the Board and will become part of the official record of the meeting.

Need more info on why you should come out in support? Here’s some background on the importance of the Streetcar East Extension:

The 2.25-mile (SCE) is part of a much larger rail system planned by the city and MARTA. This project was always planned as the first phase of BeltLine rail and the first rail project in More MARTA. It will make the existing streetcar relevant by giving it high-density, high-profile, high-traffic destinations all along its path, from Centennial Park to Ponce City Market. With improvements to the existing loop, the combined project will become an effective transit project as the current route nearly doubles in length. In the years since 70% of Atlantans voted for More MARTA, the resulting tax dollars have fully funded the SCE. It is not the case that MARTA decided to forgo federal funding because the project would not qualify. On the contrary, additional money to build the SCE is not needed. 

As City Council Transportation Chair Amir Farokhi recently said, it’s time to stop planning and start building to make an infrastructure investment in our future. It will never cost less than today. Investing in light rail and streetcars, as over 30 American cities have done, is a sure way to make an investment that is permanent and can adapt as the population grows.  A single streetcar vehicle holds 180 passengers with bicycle storage inside. BeltLine rail is a high-capacity transit project, projected by the Atlanta Regional Commission to move 31,000 passengers per day.

Interestingly, many who are anti-BeltLine transit complain about traffic and lack of parking. Thousands of new parking spots have become available on the BeltLine in the last 10 years, with more than 2,200 at Ponce City Market alone. The SCE, through its connections to the entire MARTA system, will alleviate the need for so much parking. Many who now walk or use LIT on the BeltLine would prefer to take transit, and many of those who drive to access the Eastside Trail would prefer to get there on MARTA. Others might combine their trip using multiple modes for all kinds of reasons. The BeltLine has always been about trail and rail transit together in a greenway, providing choice while increasing sustainability and green mobility in a dedicated right-of-way immune to traffic. 

We hope to see you at this crucial meeting. If you’d like to make a sign we’ve got a list of catchphrases we’re happy to share. We’ve also got t-shirts and other merchandise at our store. We hope to see you on 7/13 at the MARTA Headquarters!

RSVP Here

Additional reading:

• Press Release from MARTA regarding HDR as the chosen design firm.