The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) announced it is advancing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative Project.

Alternatives 1A and 1B (see attached) feature BRT from Lindbergh to Avondale rail stations; alternative 1B includes arterial rapid transit (ART) to Decatur rail station, according to MARTA's news release.

The project would connect existing heavy rail lines and provide high-capacity transit along a developing residential, institutional, and mixed-use corridor. Key destinations include Emory University, Emory University Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta - Egleston, and Atlanta VA Medical Center. Both alternatives include bus shuttles to the VA Medical Center.

“BRT makes sense for this corridor, providing fast, efficient transit in dedicated bus lanes,” said Shelley Peart, MARTA assistant GM, planning. “More and more transit expansion projects across the country are considering BRT due to its ability to provide rail-like service more quickly, with less impact, and at a lower capital cost. Those features improve the project’s overall rating and therefore its competitiveness for federal funding, which we’ve known since this project’s inception would be critical to its completion.” 

MARTA said it has recommended BRT for other projects including along Campbellton Road in Atlanta, on State Route 54 in Clayton County, and the first BRT project in the region, Summerhill.

A Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the Clifton Corridor project was previously adopted by the MARTA Board of Directors, but due to changing conditions in the corridor and new funding and technology opportunities, MARTA engaged in further alternatives analysis and public outreach with the goal of identifying an LPA that maximizes community and stakeholder support, minimizes environmental and community impacts, increases the potential for federal funding, and supports community needs.

“Through this process, we’ve whittled the alternatives from ten to three and now down to two. Our team is taking the BRT alternatives to the public this week and will recommend an alternative to the MARTA Board this spring. Then, we can get to work on submitting this project to the FTA,” said Peart.