Atlanta Streetcar

Atlanta Streetcar

When my parents (now in their 80’s) grew in in the Atlanta area, you could ride the Atlanta Streetcar, or trolley, from downtown Atlanta to Decatur and on to the Stone Mountain area.  It was a great way to get around and “mass transit” has never been more user friendly.

MARTA came along and promised to make mass transit the way to get around Atlanta, but politics and business deals left the train stations at locations that did not best serve the community.

The train system is just now becoming a feasible way to navigate some of the Atlanta market but politics still prevents MARTA from being the best commuting alternative for many Atlantans.

Now comes an opportunity for Atlanta to score major Federal dollars for mass transportation and we are going to blow it on another tourist boondoggle that will not be economically feasible.  And even more egregious, will not alleviate our traffic or pollution problems.

Give me a break, an Atlanta streetcar line between Centennial Park and the MLK Center.  Not going to benefit any one but the convention goers.  And these folks are not likely to use it unless it stops at Cheetah III or other establishments that cater to the Convention folks.

MLK is a jewel and I take all our of town visitors for a tour.  Centennial park, yea another tourist mecca.  Ned for mass transit to these sites: hmmmmm….not so much.

Why not run the Streetcar up and down Peachtree.  Why not spend the dollars on a rapid rail system that runs beside the perimeter (I-295).  These are the arteries that need mass transit as a real alternative.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle spills the beans about the Atlanta Streetcar Initiative