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SUMMARY OF MARTA REVIEW OF "RAPID BUSWAYS" PROPOSAL,
As requested by Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. on June 28, 1967,
MARTA and its staff and consultants have reviewed the proposal made
by the Atlanta Transit System for "RAPID BUSWAYS" in Atlanta.
The proposal was given serious and objective consideration
and study over a period of approximately five weeks. Contact was
made with Atlanta Transit System personnel and additional material
was obtained from them.
MARTA reports three basic findings:
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The costs to develop the busways were seriously under-
estimated. MARTA estimates that the costs would be
three to four times the amount noted in the proposal.
Time schedules also were seriously underestimated. No
busway could be made operational in less than 34 years,
the same time required for the East Line of rapid transit.
The interim between completion of busways and completion
of rail rapid transit would range from a minimum of one
year to a maximum of three years.
The amount of busways coinciding with MARTA routes is
no more than 50 percent, and quite likely would be no
more than one third and require considerable expendi-
tures which would never be recovered by MARTA.
MARTA makes two recommendations:
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Because of the high cost for very short term relief, im-
plementation of the "Rapid Busways" proposal should not
be attempted.
If the public interest demands an experimental develop-—
ment of busways, it is recommended that any experimental
busway be built first along MARTA's East-West Line.
The attached report provides details for the above findings and
recommendations.
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CLOSING SUMMARY
Based on MARTA's study and review of the "Rapid Busways" pro-
posal, MARTA concludes that the implementation of the busways proposal
as it now stands is not practicable.
--The time required to complete a specific busways and rapid
transit line (except where subway is concerned) is virtually
the same. The “interim" between operational busways and
operational rapid transit would be almost entirely consumed
by the laying of tracks for rapid transit.
--The total cost of busways is not $52 million as described in
the proposal, but, according to MARTA engineers, more like
$150 million.
--While $150 million is indeed much less than the cost of rapid
transit, busways so constructed would not do the job of
relieving traffic as will be required for a permanent long-
range solution for a city of 2 million people.
--Although there is a great differential in costs, it would be
much more wasteful to spend $150 million for an inadequate
interim system than to spend $350 million for permanent and
efficient relief.
MARTA therefore:
1.
Disapproves of busways as a permanent solution and
recommends against its implementation as an interim
measure;
Concludes that the experimental route proposed by the
Atlanta Transit System as an interim solution would be a
waste of public money;
Recommends that if it is deemed necessary by the Atlanta
city officials to develop an experimental section, that
the experimental section should utilize MARTA‘'s East-West
Lines, and use them exclusively and not attempt to use
rights of way which will never be of any value to MARTA.
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