It's been more than 40 years since MARTA was founded. And in that time, it has really failed to live up to the "Metropolitan" portion of its acronym. Not that it's MARTA's fault. With today's vote in Clayton County, however, there is a chance the system could expand to a county other than Fulton and DeKalb as, you know, it was originally intended to. And maybe this will be a bellwether of things to come.
Far from making the system comprehensive —Clayton has a population roughly 15 percent the size of Fulton and DeKalb— a "yes" vote could serve as a catalyst for other counties to consider consolidating the alphabet-soup of transit organizations that ply the metro streets (GRTA, CCT, GCT, etc.). Taking the ballot result as a litmus test for the future of transit in the Atlanta region, it should be interesting to see how opinions have changed since that unfortunate boondoogle known as T-SPLOST.
—Michael Kahn
· Region's rail backers watching Clayton County's MARTA vote [Saporta Report]
· After 40 Years, Will Atlanta's MARTA See a Major Suburban Expansion? [la.streetsblog.org]
· Clayton MARTA: Vote yes or no? [AJC]
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