![]() Ĭonstruction began on MARTA's heavy rail system in 1975, with the first rail service commencing on June 30, 1979. In 1971, the agency agreed to purchase the existing, bus-only Atlanta Transit Company the sale of the company closed on February 17, 1972, giving the agency control over all public transit in the immediate Atlanta area. Gwinnett County remains outside of the MARTA system, but in November 2014, Clayton County voters passed a 1% sales tax to join the MARTA system, reversing its decision in 1971. Although a 1968 referendum to fund MARTA failed, in 1971, voters in Fulton and DeKalb counties successfully passed a 1% sales tax increase to pay for MARTA operations, while Clayton and Gwinnett counties overwhelmingly rejected the tax in the referendum, fearing the introduction of crime and "undesirable elements". In the same year, four of the five metropolitan area counties (Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett) and the City of Atlanta passed a referendum authorizing participation in the system, but the referendum failed in Cobb County. MARTA was formed by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1965. These were the five original counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and to this day are the five largest counties in the region. MARTA was originally proposed as a rapid transit agency for DeKalb, Fulton, Clayton, Gwinnett, and Cobb counties. Map of the initial plan of the MARTA system from the 1970s As of 2014, the average total daily ridership for the system (bus and rail) was 438,900 passengers. MARTA also operates a separate paratransit service for disabled customers. MARTA operates almost exclusively in Fulton, Clayton and DeKalb counties, with bus service to two destinations in Cobb County ( Six Flags Over Georgia and the Cumberland Transfer Center next to the Cumberland Mall) and a single rail station in Clayton County at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting of 48 miles (77 km) of rail track with 38 train stations. It is the eighth-largest rapid transit system in the United States by ridership. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA / ˈ m ɑːr t ə/ is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area. ![]() Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit AuthorityĤ ft 8 1⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm) ( standard gauge) Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority File:Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (logo).svgįebruary 17, 1972 51 years ago ( ) (buses) For other uses, see MARTA (disambiguation).
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