{Photograph} courtesy of MARTA
I really like driving the bus.
In my 20s, taking the quantity two MARTA bus up Ponce de Leon Avenue for lengthy, friendship-filled afternoons on patios helped me discover my place in a brand new metropolis. Bus-aided bar crawls—inevitably ending at MJQ Concourse—ensured I made no less than one good alternative on a drinking-heavy night time out. On one surreal New Yr’s Eve bus tour, deliberate for each most eating delight and MARTA comfort, I barfed within the bogs of a number of stunning eating places between Decatur and West Midtown, six days after discovering out I used to be pregnant with my second little one.
A number of years prior, I used to be taking the bus with my first child, then two weeks previous, to my husband’s firm Halloween occasion, each of us wearing his unofficial work uniform of darkish denims and an oxford button-down; we have been successful. I’d missed my first bus, fumbling with a child service wrap and crying in frustration, however caught the following one and had quarter-hour to sway and relax between locations—a present in these early, numbing days of parenthood once I couldn’t drive even when I’d needed to. One other time, on the identical cease the place I obtained off for the occasion, my husband infamously exited a clumsy work dialog by stepping straight onto a bus that arrived simply in time. Bus ex machina!
On nights when ride-share surge pricing and drunk drivers rule Atlanta’s streets, the bus is an absolute haven, notably in rail-service useless zones. Due to lopsided funds necessities that prioritize capital enhancements over environment friendly service, MARTA buses, whereas not all the time on time, are good: well-appointed, clear, and vibrant. My youngsters are fans too. On a sluggish weekend, you’ll typically discover our household hopping on and off buses in pursuit of pastries and playgrounds, following the enjoyment of being taken past our recurring, well-trodden routes. Atlanta is all the time altering, and driving the bus is among the greatest methods to see what’s new.
Taking the bus has turn into its personal event, guaranteeing engagement with the broader world. My private bus rides really feel like a secret time-maximization hack: I can get the place I have to go and learn my e-book? Let another person handle issues—of me—please. In an over-obligated life, an oblique route offers one the present of time.
Like all public transit, the MARTA system is commonly topic to criticism. A few of it’s justified. Sure, the arrival frequency is wanting; sure, the schedule generally appears to function like a suggestion; sure, runs are dropped, sometimes and crucially, and infrequently on occasion weekends, when the chance to reduce Atlanta’s congestion can be most significant. These points are well-known and, fortunately, being addressed by way of MARTA’s NextGen Bus Community, a major enlargement of bus transit all through metro Atlanta. I consider the bus future seems to be vibrant and inexperienced, identical to these synched visitors lights.
Frustratingly, an entire lot of the criticism leveled compares driving the bus to driving, and it’s often by individuals who have by no means stepped foot on the bus and conveniently overlook all of the annoyances and risks of automobiles. True, the bus could take longer, the vacation spot being merely handy as an alternative of actual, and it’s true that strangers can be there. However your time is your individual, you don’t need to pay for parking, you’re in an enormous, secure chariot, and possibly you’ll watch these strangers hug a good friend once they get off the bus, a lot to your delight. The bus isn’t excellent, but it surely positive is nice. The following time you suppose, I ought to take the bus extra, bear in mind: You’re proper.
This text seems in our March 2025 subject.
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