MARTA To Address Dependability Issues with New Buses
MARTA announced its plans to roll out hundreds of new buses over the next three years on Wednesday, promising to improve rider satisfaction and mechanical reliability with the new vehicles.
Antwaun Martin says he rides MARTA’s bus system every day to and from his job as a manager at Wal-Mart, sometimes riding as many as 10 times a day. But Martin says the system isn’t always dependable.
“You know, they’re not really on time,” Martin says. “They say Atlanta rapid transit. There’ve been times when I waited a full hour just to catch one bus. There’s been times when I’ve been late to work because of MARTA.”
Improving reliability is why MARTA says it will spend $166 million over the next three years to replace half of its bus fleet. MARTA will roll out 88 buses this year. A total of 265 buses will be gradually introduced over the next three years, and they will paid for with the help of federal grants and funds from other jurisdictions that use the system.
MARTA CEO Keith Parker says financial issues forced MARTA to delay updates to its bus system in recent years.
“As a result, we have lots of buses that are still out there right now that are in our service that need to be moved on,” Parker says.Broadcast audio of this story.
Parker says some buses that will be replaced are more than 13 years old and far beyond the suggested 500,000 mile lifespan.
Chief Operating Officer Richard Krisak says the new buses will be equipped with trouble shooting systems that track mechanical issues in real time.
“It’s easier to fix it and troubleshoot it and get it back in service with the new systems we have,” Krisak says.
The new buses, one of which was on display Thursday at five points MARTA station, also include interior LED lighting, temperature-controlled interiors and surveillance cameras. They’re roomier, they will run on cleaner-burning compressed natural gas, which MARTA says will provide 5 percent savings compared to the old buses.
As for what Antwaun Martin thinks of the upgrade, he’s reserving his judgment on the new buses until he can test it out.
“A bus is a bus to me, as long as it gets you there on time,” Martin says.
The new buses will start to roll out in the next two weeks.
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