MARTA ridership up in Perimeter
A budget surplus at MARTA this year will allow for more frequent train service, MARTA General Manager Keith Parker said at a joint luncheon of the Sandy Springs/Perimeter and Dunwoody chambers of commerce on April 8. “Because we’ve been able to find some fiscal relief, we’re investing some of those dollars back to customers,” Parker said. “We’re practically doubling train frequency during the day.” The change will take place in May. Trains that now arrive every 15 minutes will arrive every 10 to 12 minutes. Trains that now arrive every 10 minutes will arrive every 5 to 7 minutes, Parker said. Parker also reported that ridership at stations in the Perimeter area is up. From July 2013 to February 2014, average weekday rail entries increased over the same months the previous year, he said. The bump in ridership was 1.2 percent at Medical Center, 2.3 percent at North Springs, 3.9 percent at Sandy Springs and 7.3 percent at Dunwoody. He said State Farm, which recently announced plans to locate its headquarters in Dunwoody, is “using our Dunwoody station as a catalyst.” “They’re working with us to make that station as free-flowing and friendly to their campus as possible,” Parker said. Development is also planned at other MARTA stations around Atlanta, including Brookhaven-Oglethorpe, Avondale, Edgewood-Candler Park and King Memorial. Parker said the goal is for these transit-oriented developments to include...
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