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r RAPID TRANSIT ss METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY " MA-C:,l"'T"1A " ~ . J . . ~ REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE IT SERVES .. .,._.....,,._......,_....,...,...,...,.=-=--------_,..,..:a:::,....,.....,,,_==....,....,a=_.-..,__..,...,__ _,,_,___,_...,.;;;a.__.__ FEB. -MA RCH 1968 V O L . 3 . N O . 2 CANADIAN RAPID TRANSIT PLEASES DEKALB VISITORS Six prominent DeKalb visitors returned from a recent trip to Toronto and Montreal to inspect those cities' rapid transit operations, and reported that what they saw was "most impress ive," "fantas tic," "fi rst cl ass," and "mag nificen t. Th ey concluded that "we should proceed as rapidl y as we possibl y can" in developing a rapid transit system for Metropolitan Atlanta. Those in the group were Brince H . Manning, Chairman, DeKalb County Board of Commissioners; William C. Painter, Mayor Pro-Tern , City of Decatur; William H . Breen, Architect and member of the Decatur City Commission ; Tom McCord, President of Tom McCord Construction Company and C hairman of Decatur Planning Commission ; John H. Ingram , President C & S Emory Bank and Chairman of Decatur/DeKalb Rapid Transit Committee; and Aubrey C. Couch, Executive Vice President, D ecatur /DeKalb Development Association. The six members of the group discussed their impress ions and evalu ations of the two systems at a news conference held in the DeK alb Commission chamber on February 9. Manning observed that "we came away from Toronto and Montreal with different impressions from those we had gotten from just reading literature. Certainly we ought to get on to DeKalb group in Montreal Station . Left to right, William H. Breen, Tom McCord, John H. Ingram, W illiam C. Painter. Rapid Transit train approaching Eglinton Station with highrise building and parking decks using "air rights" over tracks. the job one way or the other because we need to be able to move people. We have to have a totally integrated system with automobil es, buses, and possibly even trackless trolleys, as well as rail tra nsit. "I think the thing we here in this area have overlooked so much in the pas t is the impact that this will have not only on land values but also on the development th at will come and the terrific increase in the tax digest which will arise from this development. We saw pl ans that could fit into almost any area th at we have in DeKalb Count y or the City of Deca tur or the whole metropolitan area of Atlanta, of development whi ch has res ulted fro m rapid transit . "Certai nly we ought to move forward with the program if we are go ing to have it ; and if we don't move forward , we wi ll all regret it in years to come. Breen, an architect, was unequivocal in his enthusiasm for the speed of the system and for the design of the stat ions in Montreal. He stated, "The most summarizing thing yo u could say abo ut the whole trip was th at I ca n come back now and say that 'rapid transit works - I have seen it .' " "The system is fan tastic," he said. "A system that allowed me to get on at one end of the line in Montreal, cover 15 stops �METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY 808 GLENN BLDG . AT L ANTA. 0 120 MARIETTA S T . . N.W . GA . 30303 • P H ONE 524 - 5711 · " DIRECTED BY THE GEORGIA STATE LEGISLATURE TO DEVELOP A RAPI D TRANSIT SYSTEM FOR THE S · C O UNT)'. METROPOLITAN ATLANTA AREA ." Edited by KING ELLIOTT BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFF I CERS: Rt C H AllD H. RI CH, Clrnirmrm HERB ERT J. OrCK SON, Treasurer R o Y A. 8Lo u :-,;T, //ic e Ch airman Eo:\tUND W . H uc HES, S ec retary CIT Y OF ATL A:'<T A: L. D. 1\ 111.TON RonEHT F . AoAM So:-. R1C 1J A RD I-1 . HJCH B.AW SON J-IA \'E ltTY CLAYTON CO NTY: EocAR BLALO C K .., DEKALB CO NTY : Ro v A. On. SA:-.Fono ATwooo BLOU NT F ULTON COU:'iTY: J OHN c. STATON '.\JJTCHELL ( . B I S HOP GW I NN ETT COU.:\1TY: K. A. :\lc:\l1LL10 :v CODB COUi'-TY (Obsc,vc,) Ons A. Bnt::'\TIIY, J n. H. N . ~IA RTA STAFF : Genaa/ M anager Chief Engin eer of Pu blic In fo rmation As.~i.~trml lo G eneral Manag er L. STUA RT , EARL W. Nt:r.so;-;, KIN c ELLIOTT , Dir ecto r J O H NSON, Adminis trative l·I ENl!Y ti in 13 miles, let everyone get on and off who wished, and have spent no more th an 15 minutes, is reall y moving people." "The thing that I saw as an arch itect which was most impressive was the definition of this th ing 'corridor impact.' I've heard this thing discussed, and seen it in papers, graphs, and charts, but in Mont real I saw it all in flesh and blood and in architecture. I certainly want to compliment the architects who handled the situation in Montreal. "The ex.tensive development aro und rapid transit stations in Toronto and Montrea l ind icated to the group what might be accomplished in the Metropolitan Atlanta Area, with good planning before and during rapid transit development." McCord stated, "What impressed me was that rapid transit made the backbone of the future deve lopment regarding bui lding and other developments. In the city of D ecatur's planning, we have just been through workin g ove r our documents again and we are real concerned that property va lues wi ll not onl y stay where they are, but will continue to go up. As yo u know, we have had urban renewal and this has bee n a great boon . We now have several high-rise buildings here includ ing the new county courthouse building. We would like to think that we could help the people who own property in Decatur to continue to have valuable property. If rapid transit would make the land values continue to go up near the stations, then we wo uld like to be involved where the stations wo uld be and to help plan for the future. We are not talking about a one or twoyear plan, we are talking about a fifteen or twenty-year plan. " Painter agreed with McCord's observation abo ut development in Toronto and related that to the futu re of Decatur. "The city of Decatur will be in a very critical spot in this whole metropolitan area transit. We fee l that rapid transit in the city of Decatur will be an exciting and meaningful development for the entire citizenry. It will not only mean a mode fo r moving back and forth in the downtown area of Atlanta, but will also be the backbone for the development that you have just heard about. The residenti al development will be more signi ficant to Decatur because we have always been an area where people like to live. High-rise developments will be avail able. We saw there in Montreal and Toronto many high-rise apartments, and good rentals can be obtained in these because of the proximity to rapid transit. We feel th at what we saw there can be related to Decatur in a very, very meaningful way, and we fee l that our citizens will support it." Ingram was particularl y impressed with the speed with which the Montreal system was developed and the speed with which the system moves large numbers of people. "Mont real had talked about rapid transit for some fifty yea rs but when the decision was fin ally made to act, they accomplished what they now have in a short period of time of about five years . "We were impressed with the speed with which they moved 350,000 people each day in the city of Montreal and moved them in quiet and in comfort and with efficienc y. "Each of these cars will carry about 160 people and they will run about 10 cars to a train, so abo ut 1,500 people can ride on one train . The trains are spaced something li ke two or three minutes ap art, so you can visualize how fast you can move people into Atlanta, or out to Decatur, or out into DeKalb County. "We found out that the public attitude abo ut rapid transit had changed quite a bit. People in that area feel that it is no longe r to th eir adva ntage to drive automobiles to work . Th ey know now that they can ride the rapid transit system , have no parking problem , and arrive at work much more quickly. It is certa inl y easier th an the way they were able to do this before." " The cost of the system was certainl y large; one car for example, will cost an average of about $ 123 ,000 and this was fi ve or six years ago. We are talking in the Atlanta area abo ut some 52 miles of track. The las t figure I recall was in excess of some four hundred million dollars, and this keeps goin g up every year. We feel in the interest of Atlanta and D ecatur and this great area we all li ve in , th at we have got to translate this talk and these discussions into action as soon as possible." Couch, too, concluded that after visiting the Montreal system, "We cannot afford not to build a system in A tl an ta, and speed is of the essence. We rode the system in Montreal as the average person would ride it. We stayed in the Hotel C hamplain in Montreal , rode one floor down on the elevator and were in the rapid transit system at that point. We paid a quarter, and, as far as we know, yo u could ride all day long for the price." "The opportunity is so great and is so stagge ring th at I don't think anybody can really understand what an opportun- ity this a rea has . I have seen METRO in P aris and I have seen the subway in New York and I must confess, the subway in New York did not impress me. But what I saw in Montreal, and to a larger degree in Toronto, was so different that I came away with the same feeling that Mr. Breen mentioned - rapid trans it works. " "They have done magnificently," Couch emphasized , "and if they can do it in Montreal and Toronto, we can do it here in Atlanta and we must with the greatest speed possible. " Manning agreed with McCord that, " the longer we wait, the mor~ it is going to cost. This entire project will have to be sub mitted to the people and we should move forward with the progra m. " Manning concluded , "Certainl y we should move forward with the program if we are going to have it, and, if not, we are going to regret it in years to come." The inspection tour February 1-3 was arranged and sponsored by the Decatur / DeKalb Development Association ; transportation was by private plane owned and piloted by Tom McCord. Breen sa id , "There is one thin g I would like to say. This general conversation has related to Metropolitan Atlanta, Decatur and DeKalb County and the number of stations and extensions of the routes . If there are any interested persons in counties which are not in favor of rapid transit, I would like to recommend to these persons and to persons in other parts of the State that they give their attention to two things : "First, I recommend to any one that befo re they reall y become set against rapid transit that they make an effort to take a trip to Toronto and Montreal. After . our trip, we are enthusiastic about rapid transit and see that there is a real need for it. "Second , rapid transit adds a fac ility or capability to a city which in our case would ge nerate new economy throughout the whole State. This is something that would lift Atl anta up out of a questionable area of whether it is indeed a great city or not quite great. I think rapid tra nsit would help make the whole Metropolitan Atlanta area and all of its environment including D eKalb County and D eKalb municipalities part of a great area of high density hab itation . T hi s could not help but affect economy of our State. If I were in Valdosta, Thomaston, or some other part of Georgia, I would be in favo r of rapid tra nsit. " RAPID TRANSIT EXHIBIT WINS . FIRST PLACE AW ARD An exhibit on rapid transit won a blue ribbon for four Chamblee High School students at the Science Fair in DeKalb County in Febru ary. The exhibit, titled " Rapid Transit for Atlanta," used plaster of paris, wood, plastic, to ys, parts of a train set and other materials to show the basic layout of the rapid transit system now being developed . The " mushroomshaped.". objects in the picture above are signs depicting station locations and the time/distance from Transit Center. T he "Blue Ribbon" in the upper left corner of the display indicates a First Place award. The display was developed and built by Carol Pitts, Dianne Coffee, Jud y David and Barbara Wilson, all ninth-grade stu dents at Chamblee H igh School. Ken Moore, World Geography I ,.,..-.....·.. ,.!~ ~ DeKalb County School Superintendent Jim Cherry listens intently as Chamblee student Carol Pitts explains the display she and three other students built, depicting rapid transit plans for Metropolitan Atlanta. "We saw it, we rode it, we like it!" William Painter (l) with Ingram and Breen; and, across the aisle, McCord with DeKalb Commission Chairman Brince H. Manning (r), as they rode the Montreal rapid transit trains. teacher at C ha1nblee, was the s upervising teacher for the project . T he project took approximately 60 "girl-hours" to complete, and won a "Fi rst Place - Blue Ribbon" in the DeKalb competition. A total of more than 600 project was entered in the Scie nce Fair. DeKalb School officials say the fair provides '·an opportunity for students to develop research skills and engage in individual and in-depth studies as they learn to distinguish between fact and opinion while exploring a more e ·citing approach to learning." �MARTAnswers The following questions were asked by newsmen and were answered by m em bers of th e D eKalb group which recently toured rapid transit system s in Toronto and Montreal. QUESTION - Did you get any feeling from the people there as to whether they were glad to have rapid transit and depended ?n it or whether they wished it had never been built? BRINCE MANNING - I personally did not ta lk to any public officials or to anyone connected with rapid transit. We went to get the feelings of the average person in these two great cities and the opinions of business people who have their places of business around rapid transit and also the attitudes of those who live around rapid tra nsit. I did not get the impression in either city that the public was against it. Two or three people did say that t),ere was opposition to it in the beginning but they felt as a result of the completed system , that most of the people are in favor of it. QUESTION - How well do you feel the new systems were integrated with existing neighborhoods as well as with the new de velopment that took place after the stations were ~uilt? WILLIAM BRE):,N - In the neighborhoods, the stations were largely underground as far as size and volume were concerned. Portions of the neighborhood stations which actually occupied ground and sp ace above ground was very small . You could have had two or three of them around our court square, for instance, without disrupting any of our present operations. People walk to the stations. The only exception was where the automobiles and buses came to the stations; there they have drive-in stations which allow rapid transit riders to get to their cars or to buses which feed out into the neighborhoods. QUESTION - You mentioned the possibility of expanding the system in DeKalb County with more stations and longer lines. Do yo u have any specific idea as to wh at and where? MANNING - Well , the initi al line in DeKalb Count y is to come out along the Georgia Railroad, College Avenue and D eK alb Avenue throu gh Decatur, on out p ast Sams Crossing to Avonda le. It is our thinking that because of the traffic p attern set up by the Perimeter Highway that the initi al line should be extended beyond the P erimeter Highway. The reason for this is the limited crossings of the perimeter, not only for private a utomobiles but also for bus t rans portation. Q U ESTION - You also want more stations along the line than a re now in the pl annin g? ,, 808 GLENN BLDG . MANNING - Yes, sir : I believe in Toronto the stations are spaced about a mile and a quarter apart. You can see the development at each station, and I think if we have more stations, there will be a greater impact on every are~ in DeKalb County as well as in other counties in the Metropolitan area . I would like to say this - there has been a lot of talk about rapid transit as something which is just for moving people downtown. The two cities we saw defaults this theory. There is much movement out to the areas, shopping centers, and office buildings that have been developed as a result of rapid transit. I would say that people are going out to these more than they are going downtown. I think this would be true in the Atla nta Metropolitan Area and this suits me fine. The more people we can move out here to shop, to live, to invest their money in real estate development, the better of( we will be. MARTAcTION At its regul ar meeting January 15, 19 68 , the MARTA board of directors re-e lected Richard H . Ri ch as Chairman and Roy Blount as Vice Chairman. The Board was advised th at the followin g directors had been re-appointed to new terms: from Atlanta, L. D. Milton to a term expiring December 31, 1971 ; from DeKalb County, D r. Sanford Atwood to a term expir, ing Dece mber 31 , 1971 ; from DeKalb County, Ro y Blount to a term ex piring Dece mber 3 1, 1969; and from Gwin nett County, K. A. McM illan to a term expiring December 3 1, 1971. The Board ag reed to participate in an acce lerated program of the Atlanta Area Transportation Stud y. At its meeting in February, the Board of Directors au, thori zed the Genera l Manager to fi le an appli cmion with the U.S. Department of Housi ng and Urban Development for $ 166,666.00, to be matched by $83,334.00 of loca l funds for continuati on of the wo rk progra m in 1968. This program includes work elements on Preliminary Ownership Study ($49 ,000) ; Acco unting and Financial Control System ($25,000) ; Architectu ra l Studies ($32,000); T rans it Center Technica l Studies ($99 ,000) ; Socio-Economic Benefit Analysis ($30,000) ; and Impac t of Proposed System of Atlanta Transit System ($ 15,000). The Board also ag reed on MARTA's share of the cost of the acce lerated Atlant a Area Transportati on Stud y; MARTA and the State Hi ghway Department wi ll each contribute $ I00,000 toward this work. The next meet ing will be April 2. 3: 30 P.M .. Room 6 19. The Glenn Building, 120 Marietta Street, N .W .. Atlanta. R.A..PID TR.A..NSIT BULK RATE PROGRESS PAID METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY 120 MARIETTA ST .. N . W . U.S. Postage Atlanta, Ga . Permit No. 705 ATLANTA , GEORGIA 30303 PHONE 524-5711 ( AREA C O DE 4 0 4) FEBRUARY-MARCH 1968 - VOL. 3, NO. 2 Mr. Da n E. Swea t , Jr ., Director of Go ver~mentat Lia i s on, Ci ty of At la~ta City Ha ll Atlanta. Ga. JOJO, �