What’s going on with rail on the Atlanta Beltline?

Atlanta hasn’t seen a new rail project since the 2000s — MARTA is to finally build the first segment of rail on the Beltline as originally envisioned, by 2028.

Introduction

This is the Atlanta Beltline. Its a walking and cycling trail circling the whole city of Atlanta. People live on it, work on it, and use it to get to their friends house.

It like our water front, seawall, or Venice Beach? and it can get… chaotic. People, bikes, scooters, skateboards, unicycles, you name it.

Which presents a problem. With so much density cropping up around the Beltline, it’s getting more difficult to traverse the thing.

Which means we should add more Beltline, more lanes, double-decker Beltline — No, there’s a better solution.

This, is a train. It moves people. It could even move people on the Beltline. Luckily, the Betline has always been a light rail transit project.

If we take a walk on the Beltline, we can literally see where this train is supposed to go. See all that green space? Yeah, that’s for the train. They’ve always planned for this.

But it’s 2023 and were still asking… where the train?

Background on MARTA & Streetcar

But first, some context. Public transit in Atlanta is… controversial. But If you’re not familiar with Atlanta, you might not know about our heavy rail subway system. Despite Atlanta’s sprawl and comments people make, you might be surprised that it’s actually pretty great to get around the city by public transit a lot of the time.

Back in the 80s, the federal government funded the creation of subway systems in several cities: Washington DC (WMATA), The San Francisco Bay Area (BART), and… Seattle!

But, Seattle rejected the funding by an extremely narrow margin, and that funding went to us. So now we have four rapid transit train lines, that actually run quite frequent on weekdays.

But lets not forget the Atlanta Streetcar! Running since 2014, the Atlanta streetcar is a short, 2.7 mile loop that runs on tracks with cars, around Downtown to most of the tourist destinations.

Unfortunately, the Atlanta Streetcar is cited mostly as a colossal failure. The project didn’t connect anything meaningful to locals. People use transit to get things done. is important for connecting destinations, with residents. And the Downtown Streetcar, didn’t really do much significant connecting for locals, at all.

The problem

Now, this is where the present day project comes in. Plans are, to extend this thing east onto the Eastside Beltline.

The problem: the Beltline has actually gotten, too busy. Its become a vital connector through many parts of the city.

But luckily, the Beltline has always been a transit project at it’s heart. Ryan Gravel outlined the plan decades ago designed it as an equity and sustainability project, with a vision of rapid transit and transit oriented development circling the city, all the way back in 1999.

But really, this Eastside Extension project is really just a small a part of a much broader plan. Its the foot in the door for new rail in the city.

Most of Atlanta isn’t very dense. Its hard to argue that high capacity transit is effective in large swaths of the city. Places like this just cannot support more than a local bus in ridership.

But the Eastside Beltline now, is different. Its become an intensely dense area, with Old Fourth Ward around Ponce City Market becoming its own urban center in its own right.

Zooming out and looking at the broader rapid transit plan the Atlanta Planning Commission has developed over the past few decades, we can see that this Eastside Extension is a first step into forming a true transit network.

The city hopes to bring rail to all parts of the Beltline, connecting into the downtown loop, forming a true network of frequent convenient, transit between the Beltline, and MARTA rail.

Ridership and numbers

The Eastside Extension is promised to be completed by 2028, which will extend the current Atlanta downtown streetcar loop onto the Eastside Beltline, up to here, at Ponce City Market.

You might ask, why this extension, and why now? I think it’s important to ask ourselves what makes this project different from the rest. Why extend the failed streetcar?

Looking at population density by census tract on the Eastside Beltline, we see the area is now averaging densities of over 10,000 residents per square mile — the ballpark figure for density that can support rapid transit.

And in the context of Atlanta — per MARTA’s 2014 ridership projections, the project will see an average of 2140 daily boardings per mile. This is one of the best bang for the buck transit projects Atlanta could build right now.

Proponents against the project argue that Rail is outdated; we now have e-bikes, e-scooters, and other micro-mobility options to get around the trail. Despite the increasing density, they say there’s no need for transit here.

But this is a pretty elitist argument to make. Not everyone can ride a bike, or afford a lime scooter, and nor should they. The Beltline is an equity project after all, and transit makes the project more accessible to all types of users, such as wheelchair users, elderly, and lower income people.

Another comment often made is that the rail will ruin the vibe of the Beltline. But I don’t think people realize what the project will actually look like. Much of the right of way will use grassy tram lines, which are beautiful in their own right.

Look at this shot from Amsterdam, courtesy of Not Just Bikes. Notice how well people and the tram coexist?

Twenty years ago, this was just an abandoned train line, and no one was walking here. Cities are constantly changing, and if we don’t build the rail, what kind of message does this convey about the goals of our city?

NIMBYism

Unfortunately, the problem with building the trail first, and then the rail second, is now that the effects of real estate speculation, gentrification, and displacement has occurred on such a massive scale, the people that people moving in are actually anti-transit. And are fighting the project, tooth and nail.

The most recent drama involves a newly formed 501(c)(4) nonprofit, called “ Better Atlanta Transit.” Yeah, a good name for an organization fighting a transit project right?

The most important point I notice, is that they think that rail will disrupt the public space of the Beltline. They see the trail as their own public park, their own backyard — with the primary complains being about “the noise” or "disrupting the park environment.”

But looking deeper, I don’t think that’s really what’s going here. Better Atlanta Transit is a dark money 501(c)(4) non profit, and per Twitter user Alex Ip, this group is being managed by the lobbyist Billy Linville , who has previously represented:

• Blackstone , 30th largest global CO2 emitter

• Delta , the second largest global Airline, HQ’d in Atlanta

• Tesla , the only non unionized US automaker

• Racetrac , the national Gas station chain.

Alongside this lobbyist is Atlanta real estate developer attorney Sharon Gay , former Jamestown executive Walter Brown , and former CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, Renee Glover.

He says, “you can’t make this up” and I frankly agree. It’s plain and simple astroturfing: exclusionary corporate interests using scare tactics to get residents against the project.

_ astroturfing_ : the deceptive practice of presenting an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign in the guise of unsolicited comments from members of the public

On the other hand, most people support Beltline rail per the SaportaReport, 12 out of 16 neighborhood units support the Beltline rail, which doesn’t factor in population density, including midtown, which includes over 19,000 residents. More than 66% of people living within NPU-E support Beltline Rail.

Stuff like this you just can’t take seriously, and with outlets like the AJC covering this story, it’s frankly messed up how wealthy backers can have such an influential input on the public space.

Positivity?

At an estimated $230 million , the Eastside Extension seems like a daunting project to build.

But compared to highway projects the state is putting forward, its a relative bargain. For example, the GA 400-285 interchange current under construction at $803 million.

Its not a monetary issue — its an issue of political will — and its up to our leaders to make the right choices for our future generations, and to decide who we’re building the city for.

That’s where I’ll leave it for now. Luckily, many of our civic leaders have expressed support for the project against this small opposition. Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens has voiced support, as well as Pete Buttigieg , and Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman.

Concluding thoughts

If you’d like to write your representatives on this issue, please do! I will leave various people that are relevant on screen.

I can imagine a future with rail. And I think it’s time to get back on track, and not derail the project.

Get involved

Contact your local representative to let them know you support the project. See below for a few relevant contacts, as well as the Beltline Rail Now organization, campaigning for rail progress.

• Doug Shipman
  Atlanta Council President
  dshipman@atlantaga.gov
  (404) 330-6052

• Amir R. Farokhi
  District 2 Representative
  arfarokhi@atlantaga.gov
  (404) 330-6038

• Andre Dickens
  Mayor of Atlanta
  adickens@atlantaga.gov
  (404) 546-1464

• Beltline Rail Now
  Organization
  info@beltlinerailnow.org
  beltlinerailnow.com

References

1. HistoryLink Staff. "Voters Reject Rail Transit Plan and Three Other Forward Thrust Bond Proposals on May 19, 1970." HistoryLink.org, 19 Sept. 2002, https://www.historylink.org/file/3961.

2. Gravel, Ryan Austin. "Belt Line - Atlanta as a Reflection of Public Policy." Atlanta Beltline, Inc., Dec. 1999, beltline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ryan-Gravel-Thesis-1999.pdf.

3. "Census 2010 Tracts." Georgia Association of Regional Commissions, 22 July 2021, opendata.atlantaregional.com/datasets/2e73cc4a02a441ba968e6a63a8b526f5/explore?location=33.765689%2C-84.372389%2C15.00.

4. "2020 Census Map." U.S. Census Bureau, 2023, maps.geo.census.gov/ddmv/map.html.

5. "Technical Memorandum 3: Ridership Modeling Analysis and Results." Atlanta BeltLine, Feb. 2014, beltline.org/resources/ssp-tech-memo-3-ridership-modeling/.

6. Bagby, Dyana. "Beltline Rail Project Challenged by New Group of Business Community Leaders." Rough Draft Atlanta, 20 Oct. 2023, roughdraftatlanta.com/2023/10/20/beltline-rail-project-challenged-by-new-group-of-business-community-leaders/.

7. AlexIp718. "Day-to-day Ops of the Anti-Transit Group Is Run by Lobbyist Billy Linville Who Represented: Blackstone, 30th Largest Global CO2 Emitter; Delta, 2nd Largest Global Airline; Tesla, Only Non-Unionized Major US Automaker; Racetrac, Gas Station Chain. You Can't Make This Up." Twitter, 12 Oct. 2023, twitter.com/AlexIp718/status/1712637120194728139.

8. Wheatley, Thomas. "Beltline Rail Opponents: 'Better Atlanta Transit'." Axios Atlanta, 16 Oct. 2023, https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2023/10/16/beltline-rail-opponents-better-atlanta-transit.

9. Saporta, Maria. "Time and Time Again, Atlantans Have Spoken: Build BeltLine Rail." SaportaReport, 23 Oct. 2023, saportareport.com/time-and-time-again-atlantans-have-spoken-build-beltline-rail/columnists/mariasmetro/maria_saporta/.

10. Green, Josh. "MARTA Picks Designer for Streetcar Extension to Ponce City Market." Urbanize Atlanta, 22 June 2023, atlanta.urbanize.city/post/marta-picks-designer-streetcar-extension-ponce-city-market-images.

11. Wickert, David. "Metro Atlanta: Get Ready for a Decade of Road Construction." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 Aug. 2021, https://www.ajc.com/politics/metro-atlanta-get-ready-for-a-decade-of-road-construction/SVH4QLKAF5F6TE4DVIVEQK6GUM/.

12. Wickert, David. "Dickens Supports Atlanta Streetcar Extension, Unsure About Clifton Corridor." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2 Feb. 2023, www.ajc.com/neighborhoods/atlanta-intown/dickens-supports-atlanta-streetcar-extension-unsure-about-clifton-corridor/EATWRXQXDVHFXA6Q445GIFLSUU/.

13. Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. "U.S. DOT Secretary Buttigieg and Congressional Delegation Visit Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. Offices." Atlanta BeltLine, 27 May 2021, beltline.org/2021/05/27/u-s-dot-secretary-buttigieg-and-congressional-delegation-visit-atlanta-beltline-inc-offices/.

14. atlcitycouncil. "Atlanta City Council President @DougShipmanATL Said That Transit along the Beltline Has Been Approved by Voters, the City Council and Neighborhood Associations. Opponents of Light Rail along the Trail System Call for Increased Public Engagement." Twitter, 25 Oct. 2023, twitter.com/atlcouncil/status/1717187859793297703.