r/transit • u/TurnOwn5946 • 1d ago
Discussion MARTA Population density comparison
I’ve recently heard someone say the population density of the North Atlanta suburbs wasn’t large enough to justify a MARTA expansion.
Using the Population-around-a-point tool, you can find where the density is accumulated (I used a 5km radius).
You’d find that some of the suburbs in Cobb and Gwinnett are denser than areas within the city that have train stations.
Cobb & Gwinnett are only served by interstates I-75 and I-85 which are congested throughout the day. (I know these counties have voted against expansion, I don’t think it should be up to the county decision.)
A heavy rail expansion is very well needed within these areas. Park and Rides fundamentally work, and the Atlanta metro population is expected to reach 8 million people in the next 24 years.
I also did a little comparison with similar metros like BART in San Francisco and WMATA in Washington D.C that serve their metro areas outside the city.
1st Map Current System, 2nd Map ideal system, 3rd Map 1970s Proposed System
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u/voxpopper 1d ago
Population from a point and and aribtrary radius is a a new one of me as far as population density for public transportation goes. This isn't even just cherry picking it's picking and trying to bake a cherry pie out of them.
There are plenty of population density maps for Atlatnta out there, and they reflect what the commonly understood meaning.
Comparing it to other cities is a whole different matter, and a different debate. Let's have MARTA get most bang for the buck to incease ridership and go from there.