ATLANTA — It’s a new day for the Atlanta Streetcar. “MARTA is behind the wheel now, we’ve got this,” says agency spokeswoman Stephany Fisher.
Sunday, Jul. 1 marks a transfer of control of the troubled downtown transit line from the City of Atlanta. The streetcar’s operation has had plenty of bumps in the road since it debuted in December 2014.
The streetcar was free to ride until 2016, but ridership fell dramatically once a $1 charge went into effect. There were threats made by the Georgia Department of Transportation to shut the line down over unaddressed concerns with the system. Problems were addressed by the city, as ridership increased 16 percent last year. But the first three months of this year, passenger trips were off nearly a third compared to the same time in 2017.
“Ultimately that’s one of our goals, is to increase ridership, to integrate the streetcar into the broader MARTA footprint, and to expand the route and have more frequent stops,” MARTA’s Fisher tells WSB Radio. “We’re maintaining the one dollar fare, the route will remain the same, and after a few months of analysis and taking a bigger look at what we can do with it…we’ll go from there and make some decisions about expanding the service.”
MARTA police chief Wanda Dunham earlier told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the $1 fare is needed to allow its officers to enforce a “no loitering” rule on the Streetcar. Past complaints by riders have included homeless people often riding the streetcar.
MARTA says riders can expect a police officer on every streetcar so they can feel safe.
MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker will join his police chief to recognize its agency’s takeover of the line, with a ride on the streetcar Monday morning.