CHAPTER 2 // My First Rapid A-Line Ride

Project Lead: Floyd Hall, Journalist & Cultural Producer

MARTA’s new BRT route brings the past, present, and future into focus, but will it resonate?

On a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, I was downtown visiting a couple of favorite stores on Mitchell Street: Village Books bookstore and CRATES record store. It was a few ticks shy of the 6pm closing time, and as I exited onto Mitchell Street, the sounds from the CRATES’ in-store DJ were ringing in the air, filling that cavernous stretch of storefronts as if it were a block party and I was the only guest. I looked to my left and spotted one of the new MARTA Rapid A-Line buses stopped at the red light at the corner of Mitchell & Forsyth Streets. In an instant I checked the crosswalk timer, looked both ways, and made an impulsive sprint across both directions of traffic get to the new elevated bus stop before the light turned green. Just in time. The smiling bus driver waved me on, gave me some quick instructions about the new service, and took off towards Atlanta City Hall.

The Rapid A-Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route is the newest, most visible reminder of MARTA’s new service changes—the purple bus colors and bright red “BUS ONLY” traffic lanes are hard to miss—in addition to new train designs and fare gates at the rail stations. BRT features a few distinctions that distinguish it from normal bus service: exclusive lanes, traffic signal priority, and enhanced bus stop design features. As a transit lover, that’s enough to pique my curiosity.

Settling into my seat, I inhaled that new bus smell and looked up and around and out, taking in the views from my window seat. I reminisced on visiting some of these familiar parts of the city—Peoplestown, Summerhill, and Hank Aaron Drive—in my youth that tend to feel more foreign as times change. I grew up near Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and would come to this area a couple times a year for Braves games. Center Parc Stadium still evokes memories of (Ted) Turner Field, even as it’s easy to soak in the ambitious new energy in the area since Georgia State University acquired the property in 2016. Those efforts, combined with more recent commercial developments that appear to be spurred along by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, create a new facade of residential and retail activity along the Rapid A-Line route that balances the blocks of government buildings that anchor South Downtown.

Before I could really think about it any further, it was time to hop off. It turns out this BRT route is a relatively quick ride, a five-mile loop in less than 15-minutes—just long enough to daydream and get lost in thought in the city on this beautiful day. But what about beyond the daydream?

(Image Credit: MARTA)

If you’re a longterm bus rider, you might still be adjusting to this new bus service as part of MARTA’s NextGen Bus Network, a recently implemented overhaul which features revamped and eliminated routes plus the introduction of MARTA Reach, its on-demand, curb-to-curb service. If you’re a nearby resident who doesn’t normally rely on public transit, BRT might be viewed as asset as you’re navigating anticipated increased traffic and significantly reduced street parking options downtown. If you’re a visitor from out of town or elsewhere in the region, BRT provides a quick, carefully curated trek around a few of the newer developments in some of Atlanta’s venerable in-town neighborhoods.

As I walked back to my car, I pondered what it will take for residents of Atlanta—a city and region that constantly grapples with the best way to move people around—to actually adopt this latest transit idea as a viable staple in an everyday context, both in this introductory phase and should it expand in the future: More routes? Suburban stops? More rider services? An influencer campaign? A population shift? Whatever the catalyst might be, the BRT journey from novelty to necessity starts now with how well the new service fulfills the public’s needs and expectations—during this World Cup magnifying moment to start, but more importantly in the critical months and years ahead for those who remain after.