MARTA wants your 2 cents on bus network expansion, overhaul

Josh Green

Thu, 01/23/2025 – 14:33

Over the next month, metro Atlantans can play an important role in helping shape the future of transit across this growing region, according to MARTA officials.

MARTA has scheduled more than 30 chances for the general public to weigh in on the agency’s draft NextGen Bus Network plan, a far-reaching, multi-county effort to provide thousands of more Atlantans with streamlined, modernized, and more efficient bus services.

The series of in-person and virtual meetings kick off with an open house at 10 a.m. Saturday at MARTA’s headquarters in South Buckhead.

Other meetings this month will be dotted across the metro, from Alpharetta and Decatur to the City of South Fulton.

The NextGen Bus Network plan is described as a strategic redesign of more than 100 bus routes across metro Atlanta’s “rapidly changing landscape.” MARTA’s goal is to make its bus system faster and smarter—prioritizing access to jobs, education, essential services, and communal hubs— as the region evolves, per officials.

One new feature would be 12 on-demand service zones—dotted across metro counties—that would extend bus routes into lower-density areas MARTA doesn’t currently reach.

Under the draft plan, all bus routes and on-demand zones would see service seven days a week. That would eliminate “peak-only service hours to meet riders’ diverse schedules,” per MARTA.

MARTA’s current bus network (left) versus the draft NextGen Bus Network plan. MARTA

Some other NextGen Bus Network highlights, according to a breakdown provided this week by MARTA:

Expanding frequent service areas from five corridors to 18, making it easier for riders to reach destinations;
Increasing 20-minute service routes from nine existing routes to 13 planned routes for shorter wait times and quicker trips;
Streamlining fixed bus routes from 113 to 79 to create a simpler and more navigable network, with minimal impact on current service areas;
Offering greater accessibility for residents and workers, with 95,000 more people and 103,000 additional jobs within close reach of frequent transit service that runs every 15 minutes or better. (Additionally, 143,200 more residents will have access to service running every 30 minutes or better.)

Public engagement events will conclude with another open house at MARTA headquarters on Saturday, Feb. 22. In between will be a variety of in-person options, plus virtual meetings that include “lunch and learn” sessions designed to accommodate midday, work-week schedules, per MARTA.

According to MARTA, public comments and insights collected through the period of meetings and events will refine the NextGen Bus Network plan.

Below is a rundown of the first week of public meetings. Find a complete schedule (and RSVP) right here.

MARTA