MARTA was born from ambition. In the 1970s, MARTA’s founders dreamed boldly. They built a metro rail system longer than those in Rome, Prague or Amsterdam, and opened it just 7.5 years after voters approved funding. Their vision wasn’t just about moving people. They imagined “cities within the city” that would absorb one-third of future regional population growth in walkable communities at MARTA stations.
The 1971 MARTA Board included civic giants like Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy and African American business legend Jesse Hill Jr. who dreamed of growth without gridlock. But today, that dream is at risk.
MARTA now carries fewer riders than it did in the 1970s, when it operated solely as a bus system — before the 48-mile heavy rail metro was even built…