We want more transit, and we love the Beltline.
That’s why we’re urging MARTA and the city to rethink transit on the Beltline.
Rail on the Beltline is inequitable, unnecessary and extravagant. It threatens precisely those qualities that make the Beltline a success.
It’s also extraordinarily expensive. We estimate that the entire project would cost around $3 billion — conservatively.
Our leaders must consider whether to commit the lion’s share of the city’s transit dollars over the next 30 years to a project with so many red flags.
We have an opportunity instead to build on the Beltline’s success as a unique, urban greenway and to fund a transit system that actually serves riders.
Imagine a better path. Literally.
Imagine connecting all Atlantans to the Beltline by funding transit that helps people get to the Beltline. Imagine a city that makes it easier for Atlantans – via foot, bike, wheelchair, bicycle or transit van – to get around their communities, reach rapid transit, and travel that last half-mile to their destination in the healthiest, most environmentally friendly way possible.
Imagine the Beltline living its best life as an active transportation corridor by leaning into the idea of micromobility (and potentially other emerging technologies). Imagine empowering all people – no matter their means and abilities – to enjoy the benefits of a human-scaled greenway.
This isn’t an idle dream. It can be attained at a tiny fraction of the cost of a rail line. And it’s within the city’s power to get done.
Imagine a beautifully landscaped second path enhancing everyone’s experience and safety by separating pedestrians, wheelchairs and dogs from bikes and other wheeled vehicles.
Better Atlanta Transit is a coalition of transit advocates, urban planners, environmentalists, business people, academics, equity leaders and neighborhood activists. We back equitable, effective and sustainable mobility for all Atlantans.
The streetcar would work against those values. It could consume more than half our local transit dollars for a couple of generations, while projects that would do more for both mobility and equity continue to go unfunded
Rail would forever alter the Beltline – we think for the worse. Greenspace would disappear. Tracks and barriers would constrict pedestrians, cyclists and other travelers. During and after construction, access onto and across the Beltline would become much more difficult, jeopardizing jobs and the small businesses that contribute a sense of place to the Beltline.
A project in search of a problem to solve.
For two decades, ardent activists and bureaucratic inertia have pushed Beltline rail along. But it’s based on a 25-year-old master’s thesis, not a plan to address Atlanta’s transit needs. The truth is that it’s never stood up to the rigorous study appropriate to move forward on a $3 billion transit line.
What little evidence we have points to paltry ridership. More pedestrians and cyclists use the Eastside Trail today than are projected to ride the streetcar in 2040!
Far from advancing equity, the streetcar would serve an elite ridership. Funding is doubtful beyond the first phase, which will serve the second wealthiest stretch of the Beltline.
It’s unlikely to be completed.
In 2016, Atlanta residents approved the half-penny More MARTA sales tax to invest in transit across the city. Before the vote, the list of potential More MARTA projects topped 70.
In 2018, that was winnowed down to 17. Then, in 2023, MARTA scheduled only nine “Tier 1” projects to go forward this decade. The other eight? Later, if there’s money left. Five of the original 17 were for the streetcar. But even they wouldn’t complete the 22-mile loop.
A likelier scenario: We’ll be left with a rail stub that serves the upscale east side. It will crowd out pedestrians and cyclists — doing little to get cars off the road — while parts of town that actually need transit go wanting.
BEFORE
AFTER (based on actual design specs)
The signals are flashing red.
En route to the Beltline through the King Historic District, two sets of tracks will be crammed down residential streets that are too narrow even for one. Some King District residents are furious.
On the Beltline itself, a 40-foot-wide strip will be cleared of trees, meadows and public art to make way for tracks, barriers, platforms and overhead wires.
The tracks and barriers will make it more difficult to get onto the Beltline or to cross to shop, grab a bite or hang out. Restaurants and shops fear losing business because — both during and after construction — customers will have a harder time reaching them.
We have wonderful opportunities.
We can do so much more for transit, equity and the Beltline by freeing up land and money otherwise wasted on unnecessary rail infrastructure.
Wheels and heels
The Eastside path is dangerous. Scooters and bikes belong on a separate track from pedestrians.
Why not give pedestrians (including wheelchairs, children and dogs) their own lovely path through the trees and meadows? Think: Highline, Atlanta-style.
The existing path could be enhanced and given over to bikes, scooters and the like — creating a safe, efficient “micromobility” corridor. Without cramming in a streetcar, there could even be room for a separate running track.
Transit to the Beltline
The Beltline streetcar won’t reduce demand for parking near the Beltline or improve access to underserved communities. But transit to the Beltline could do that. The More MARTA project list includes four MARTA infill stations on the Beltline and seven crossings with bus rapid transit lines. But those projects are competing for funding with the streetcar.
The arterials and crosstown BRTs would make the Beltline accessible to many more people, while also doing a better job of getting workers to Downtown, Midtown and even Buckhead.
It’s time for a new direction.
Atlanta has more urgent transit needs than an extravagant project for well-to-do neighborhoods. There are better ways to enhance the Beltline as an innovative mobility corridor.
Mayor Andre Dickens has taken a courageous step by ordering a review of mobility on the Beltline. His proposals for four new MARTA heavy-rail stations along the Beltline and a BRT route along North Avenue and Hollowell Parkway are promising.
But we believe it’s time to go further. MARTA and the city must halt the Beltline streetcar and free up resources for projects that actually solve our transit needs. All of us must consider anew what the future holds for both the Beltline and mobility in Atlanta.