Category Archives: public transit

State Rep. Marin Calls for MARTA in Gwinnett County

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(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Pedro “Pete” Marin (D-Duluth) held a press conference to introduced his resolution, HR 1033, asking the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to work to ease the traffic congestion and listen to citizens’ demands to increase mass transit options.   Marin said he wants to continue the conversation to make sure Gwinnett County is not left […]

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MARTA Rail Expansion Half Penny Passes Senate Committee

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(APN) ATLANTA — Transit funding just got a boon, as SB 330, sponsored by State Sen. Brandon Beach (R – Alpharetta) passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, February 18, 2016, by a vote of eight to three.   The committee had to move rooms twice in order to accommodate the large crowd, and heard testimony from various […]

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MARTA Privatizes Paratransit, Despite Public Outcry

keep marta public

(APN) ATLANTA — Despite public outcry, MARTA Mobility, the paratransit service for Atlantans with disabilities, will soon be run by a private company instead of the local transit authority.   On November 05, 2015, the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) unanimously to approve a three-year, 64.9 million dollar contract to MV Transportation Inc. to […]

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Organizing Begins to Bring MARTA to Gwinnett County

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Photograph by Gloria Tatum   (APN) ATLANTA — Following a recent poll that 63 percent of respondents are saying yes to MARTA service being extended into Gwinnett County, environmental activists and Democrats are among those beginning to organize for a possible future referendum.   On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, Art Sheldon with the Sierra Club’s Greater Gwinnett chapter attended the […]

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Georgia Transportation Bill Ignores Public Transit

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(APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal is expected to sign an historic transportation spending bill, HB 170, that lawmakers approved toward the end of the 2015 legislative session.   This bill has come a long way from the original version, which would have sharply reduced revenues for local governments in order to boost funding for the Georgia Department of Transportation […]

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APN Legislative Wrap-Up: Georgia General Assembly 2015

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With additional reporting by Anna Simonton and Matthew Charles Cardinale.  Photograph by Steve Eberhardt.   (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015 legislative session on Thursday, April 02, 2015.  There were a few progressive highlights in the majority-Republican Legislature, including a solar power lease agreement bill; a limited medical cannabis bill; and more flexibility for MARTA […]

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Republican Transportation Bill Would Divert Revenue from Localities

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(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla) recently introduced HB 170, a bill to increase state funding for transportation projects by one billion dollars, a measure that might seem, on its face, to be a step in the right direction.   But in order to come up with the money, the State of Georgia would divert millions of dollars […]

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Clayton County Citizens Will Get to Vote on MARTA Penny this November

(APN) JONESBORO — In an eleventh hour, nail biting, last ditch effort, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, in a three to one vote, on Saturday, July 05, 2014, agreed to let Clayton citizens decide on the one penny sales tax to fund MARTA services in a November 04, 2014 referendum.     Chairman Jeffrey Turner, and Commissioners Shana Rooks […]

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Clayton Commission Approves Half-Penny MARTA Referendum, MARTA Requires Full Penny to Join

(APN) JONESBORO — The Clayton County Board of Commissions met Tuesday night, July 01, 2014, to vote on whether to allow a referendum that would allow Clayton voters to vote on levying either a half penny or a penny sales tax in Clayton County, to expand MARTA bus, rail, or high capacity transit throughout the County.      At issue […]

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MARTA Promotes Safety with New Music Video

(APN) ATLANTA — For the last four weeks, the music video for a new dance called the MARTA Slide has been going viral on Youtube.  The MARTA Slide is now showing on the MARTA  website as well as, without sound, on MARTA trains. The video is available on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9cFVdWQiaw The video shows as Star, the mascot for the […]

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Beltline, Not MARTA Line Extensions, on Penny Tax Proposed List

  Beltline, Not MARTA Line Extensions, on Penny Tax Proposed List By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, The Atlanta PRogressive News (APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, August 04, 2011, the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable, narrowed the list of major projects to receive full or significant funding, as part of the Atlanta regional transportation wish list, down to […]

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MARTA Rail Proposals in All Directions but South

(APN) ATLANTA — When the Atlanta Regional Roundtable considers proposals to include as part of the finalized regional wish list for the 2012 penny sales tax vote, there will be several MARTA Heavy Rail Line Extensions on the table: East, North, Northeast, West; extensions for every existing line but the one heading due South.   Conceivably, a MARTA Heavy Rail […]

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GDOT Returns Revised Transportation Wish List to Atlanta Region

(APN) ATLANTA — The second step in the process which will lead to a Metro Atlanta region vote in 2012 on whether to levy a one penny sales tax to support transportation projects in the region, has been completed. The Georgia Department of Transportation has reviewed the Metro Atlanta region’s initial, unconstrained wish list, and made some changes.  The changes […]

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Beltline to Clarify Statement to Council Cmte, BAHAB to Give Update

(APN) ATLANTA — At the Tuesday, March 29, 2011 meeting of the Community Development/Human Resources Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, Council Members Natalyn Archibong (District 5) and Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) requested that Atlanta Beltline, Inc., come to the Cmte to clarify their statement regarding the original BAHAB recommendations; and that BAHAB, the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory […]

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Street Car May Endanger Auburn Avenue Small Businesses

(APN) ATLANTA – If all goes according to plan, Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue will get a street car line by July 2012.  [Of course, US House Republicans could attempt to pull all federal funding for the project, so aside from that.] The Atlanta Street Car, which was approved by the City Council of Atlanta in December 2008, is said to […]

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