Thread ATL

There's an interesting passage inside this article on the struggles of the Atlanta Streetcar.

"MARTA board chair Robbie Ashe said the transit agency also learned another important lesson from the streetcar’s struggles. Expect the next round of plans to include a separate transit-only lane for the blue cars. “Dedicated right of ways are important so you’re not running a train that has the opportunity to be stuck behind a car,” he said."

Can dedicated lanes be worked into a ro...ute that connects the current streetcar to the Beltline? Is Atlanta ready for the idea of losing lanes of car traffic for the purpose of adding new street rail? We'd better be ready -- otherwise we're squandering the potential for streetcars to be true alternative to driving.

When it comes to big, transformative projects in the city's center, the design should move Atlanta toward a better transportation future -- rather than simply being a reflection of the car-centric, recent past.

In these old photos of Union Station in Downtown Atlanta you see a small amount of car parking and a whole lot of train capacity. In 100 years time, the priorities of this parcel have flipped.

This space that once housed Union Station is roughly where a state-owned p...arking deck currently stands. A parking deck that the City of Atlanta wants to obtain from the state so that it can provide even more parking for Underground Atlanta.