Ever wondered why your city's transit just doesn't seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.
If you're interested in getting to know more about me and my thoughts on transit, as well as keep up to date on all the important transit news here in Canada and around the world, make sure to subscribe and turn notifications on, follow me on Twitter & Instagram, and drop a line down in the comments below to let me know your opinions!
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3:99 if they adopt 140km train it has no merit at all. It has to be over 200km at least.
I’d like to see a high speed rail connect all capitals of each state and territory, except Tasmania of course… Brisbane -> Sydney -> Melbourne -> Adelaide -> Perth A spur of the HS line could go from Adelaide to Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin. A fast and greener way to get from one end of the country to the other, and will compare Australia nicely with the likes of Japan, South Korea, China, Germany, France and to some extent the UK.
Now do Miami! The truly forgotten Great Society metro
Just imagine if all the money that's gone towards expanding the highways over and over went to MARTA instead...
Amazing points! Just moved to Atlanta from Philadelphia, and comparing the pros and cons of MARTA and SEPTA has been a super interesting adjustment for me.
Another great vid!
My grandfather was an engineer who moved to the Atlanta area to be a project manager for the MARTA system as it was being constructed. Partially due to his own interest in trains, he was a staunch advocate for expanded rail service in the Atlanta area, which tended to alienate his fellow suburbanites. When I was a teenager interested in trains and transit systems talking with him in his final years, he complained that Gwinnett county residents (probably including some of my own family) had always remained adamantly resistant to rail expansion whenever a referendum was issued, sometimes blaming it on racist attitudes. His experience with MARTA gives me somewhat of a personal interest in seeing the service expand, and aided by a litany of proposals and examinations of historic/existing right-of-way, I’ve collected various ambitious ideas that could transform transit in not only the Atlanta area, but possibly the whole state. Original MARTA maps had plans for stations going out to Marietta in Cobb, Norcross/Duluth in Gwinnett, and parts of Clayton in the south. Given how much the city has expanded since the 1970s when these plans were made, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to imagine the Blue Line expanded east to Stone Mountain, maybe Conyers and west through Six Flags to Douglasville, the Green Line either becoming an inner loop or extending northwest to Kennesaw or Acworth, the Red or Gold lines branching out to Stockbridge, Fayetteville, Fairburn, and other such places spurring TOD along the way, and the Red Lone going north to Alpharetta and the Gold Line northeast to Buford with a Lawrenceville branch. Branches with smaller trains and lighter service would combine at trunk lines into larger trains or more frequent service, giving suburban passengers a one-seat ride to the downtown. Additionally, the Belt Line could be used to alleviate ridership demand and circulate passengers around the interior suburbs to facilitate crosstown commutes bypassing the center. Given that the Atlanta metro stock can go faster than many older subway cars, I don’t think there should be much problem with running the metro similar to an RER or S-bahn, so services so far afield can probably get to a central multi-modal passenger terminal within an hour. To serve even further locations within the state (and possibly beyond it), there can be commuter operations out into Floyd, Cherokee, Forsyth, Bartow, Hall, Barrow, Oconee, Clarke, Newton, Morgan, Henry, Butts, Spalding, Fayette, Coweta, and Carroll Counties, ordered clockwise, and maybe Paulding and Pickens depending on demand. The rail corridors for these areas (except in Forsyth) already exist and could be used following some upgrades, ideally double tracking in parts and electrification throughout. This would also augment a regional system centered in Atlanta and serving Chattanooga, TN (the A&WP is already state-owned, as it has always been); Greenville, SC (possible services extending to Charlotte, NC); Augusta, Macon, & Columbus, GA (last one would require tearing out some trails); Montgomery, AL (would have common trackage with the Columbus service at least to Newnan); and Birmingham, AL. Longer services through Macon to Savannah, Brunswick, Valdosta, & Florida (Atlantic or Gulf) could also be possible, as would Albany via Columbus or Macon. Unfortunately, given the state government’s aversion to funding public transit, widespread opposition to transit expansion throughout suburban Atlanta, and a mayor who I’ve been told would probably run some high-tech pod nonsense through the city if he wanted, this is all much easier said than done. Even if we had the political will and resources to construct these things, it all probably would not be complete until 2050. But I guess I can dream, can’t I?
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS OMG
I really like Atlanta except for the Transit. But that airport to downtown trip is easy and nice.
We have the same problem in Melbourne, Australia. Buses often have very low frequencies (often every 30-45 minutes) and have very indirect routes in an attempt to ensure almost everyone is close to public transport, but this generally results in very low ridership because even in places where the closest train station is 40 or 50 minutes walk away, it is usually quicker to just walk. But of course in practice this just leads to these bus routes running with less than 5 or so passengers most of the day and a lot more people driving, either to the train station or to their destination. I agree that more direct, longer & higher frequency bus routes would help fix the issue - it might take some people 20 minutes to walk to instead of 10, but this would be more than made up for by increased frequencies and reduced journey times. This has already been proven with our smart bus network, which provides long and direct radial routes and are the only ones I see at least half full most of the day. Now we just need to apply the same principles to the rest of the bus network.
Please show maps of the entire transit system at some point in your videos. You do it every once in a while, and it makes the mode of transit you are highlighting in a given city make sense. For example, it would be quite helpful to know about Atlanta's streetcar lines, to be able to understand the fuller picture of public transit in Atlanta, and how the metro lines fit into it. Are there just 2 streetcar lines? Are there 5? Is one a circular line that connects to the metro lines? I have no idea from your video
Can you do Baltimore Subway
I FREAKING LOVE PUBLIC TRANSIT!
Can we please give the distances in km, as well as miles...
I usually do!
DLR is brilliant. I always enjoy a ride on the DLR.
We're rebuilding the main central station five points... it's going to be shut down for pedestrian access for ~3 years and as far as i understand they've not even hinted at platform screen doors. A huge investment for what i see as essentially a new structure with very few benefits. All while they're not running busses and trains at 100% because of understaffing. We have desperately needed expansion since it's inception. GDOT is planning on expanding hwy 400 with express lanes and has 'hinted' at some partnership with BRT up the express lanes. but if you look a few years back marta had outlined heavy rail expansion down the same corridor :( I appreciate the coverage.
Sadly, like in many US cities, classism and racism are highly tied into why MARTA is not as extensive as it could have been nor receives the funding and or development it should have over the decades.
I do think the US should build new Metro systems.
Watching this while riding MARTA home from work
Their Amtrak station is terrible, I was surprised it was so small and run down considering it's in such a big city
I lived in Atlanta for a few years back in the 80's. The system they have now was meant to expand far beyond what is currently there. They have abandoned the original system plan that the people voted for back in the 60's. I keep hearing excuses across the country about cost. Yes it is expensive in this country to build transit, but they need to stop complaining and just get it done. As you can see on the current rail map Bankhead was part of the original design that has not been completed. What sense did it make to install switching and 1 new station. It was meant to be expanded through the northwest part of the city. I don't know what happened to the city leaders and planners they use to have, but it is sad that innovation that was once there is now gone.
if only canada is as competent as you made it sound, look at all levels of government and ull see why absolutely nothing gets done. You are from vancouver so u must know the massey tunnel replacement that flopped 50 times that was needed 15 years ago, patulo bridge again flopped 50 times where replacement needed 20 years ago, and a 3 bridge to north van needed 15 years ago that never even flopped cuz there aint even any plans. The entire burnaby is stuck daily cuz of the backing up from the bridges onto highway 1. Then there's the canada line where they mustered not enough funds and only built it to accommodate 3 cars with no possibility to expand, then there's the UBC extension that again, was needed 20 years ago but no money so just had 99 deal with for now and the extension is being built but still not going to UBC. I graduated in 2022 so maybe by the time my grandson goes to UBC he may be able to enjoy the ride. It's ridiculous.
Love this video, Reece! As a former Atlanta resident, I have been begging for people to support the expansion of MARTA for over a decade. Just north of Arts Center station and just before emerging above I-85, there are stub tunnels branching off the main line that MARTA built in anticipation of constructing a proposed line towards Marietta, but when the MARTA measure in Cobb County failed they discontinued construction on the line. There are a couple of these stub Unfortunately Cobb and Gwinnett County funding is critical for further expansion of new branches, but as other commenters have said the broad public is digging their heels against it for very stupid reasons. If I was in charge of planning MARTA's expansion, I would focus more on connecting the satellite communities (Marietta/Kennesaw, Alpharetta, Duluth, Snellville, Conyers, Douglasville, etc.) to downtown Atlanta and along 285, since that's where the bulk of the commuter traffic is concentrated. Downtown Atlanta proper is fairly traversible in the existing configuration for now, although future proofing is a good idea. For instance, you mentioned expanding rail service to Georgia Tech, but it is pretty well covered by the University's free Tech Trolley system that also serves Midtown Station.
As a long-time Atlanta suburban resident, I definitely agree with every point in this video 😅
They totally nerfed the Clifton corridor that was supposed to be a highly used line.
Is it just me or is the audio really muffled on this video?
In my city, there are two different bus routes that are basically the same, run by two different operators. One a local operator and one the regional operator
Here again asking for a video on Glasgow please xxx
I actually just got back from visiting some of my cousins in Atlanta. I think MARTA is supposed to be a bit more commuter-rail like metro system, like BART. This would explain why there is no commuter rail system. However, I think this makes it so there is no excuse to extending MARTA further out into the suburbs and creating new lines. Also, it would benefit if the streetcar got extended and turned into a proper LRT for increased connectivity in central areas of the city.
One of my biggest problems with MARTA when I used it was that it needed a lot more track branches. The last time I was over at Georgia Tech, I thought it was weird there wasn't a closer station.
if MARTA can at least increase frequency of its service, I think many more people would actually ride it since Atlanta's highway/freeway traffic is SO ATROCIOUS, like L.A.-level bad 💀
It's also funny that the Atlanta suburbs are turbo-NIMBY about MARTA expansion while here on the Colorado front range we're like "GIBS US ZE TRAINZ" they can't get the front range regional rail built fast enough, funding wasn't around in the 2010s to get the RTD line to Boulder built when US36 was rebuilt in 2016.
Bring back Flexible buses with the cracked floors.
May 2024 update: Delhi Meerut RRTS 17Km priority corridor is up and running for 7 months now and has transported some hundred thousand riders. Trials for extended section starting from Anand Vihar and Ashok Nagar - two stations in East Delhi - have been recently announced. High hopes!
How’s it have 1 station?
Oh don't worry MARTA will not be expanding the current mayor has said "don't worry, we're only going to build some nice and slow people movers", he wants to do pods on the belt line. IMHO the belt line rail trail should be turned back into rail as an expansion of MARTA. I agree that any rail expansion should just be on the MARTA system and not a "there we did a transit" diesel commuter line likely using second hand CalTrain rolling stock, because those gallery car "prison trains" need to be relegated to the dustbin of transit history.
I lived in Atlanta for a while, and took MARTA. It's not too bad, just with a lot of politics-related handicaps. Two stations to marvel at: Peachtree Center, which is the one you showed with exposed rock, and Civic Center, which is built over an interstate and is simultaneously underground and elevated.
please look into WHY we don't have the lines in those other counties. 1. we don't get ANY state funding 2. out of the 6 counties in the metro ATL area only 2 of them are funding MARTA, the rest have their own systems that barely interconnect. This isn't as simple as drawing maps.
Would you be able to do a video on Dominican Republic metro system , buses,and cable carts in its main city Santo Domingo. Or any suggestions on how they could expand and fix it
Extend red line to milton. Extend green line to bolton on the west and stonecrest on the east via scottdale. Clarkston. Stn. Mtn. & lithonia. Extend red line south to palmetto. & extend gold south to lovejoy. This would be an upgrade with little issue...i think...
Edmonton and Calgary strive to do everything wrong when it comes to rail. You'd think it would be a priority to link the city to the airport like most reasonable places on earth. No. Why would they do something logical and convenient when building out the light rail network?
Urbanism succeeds when enough people want it. Historically, at least during most of the 20th century, North America didn't want it. Now sentiments are swinging back.
Great work! I love to see channels that try to provide answers to actual problems.
It is extremely disappointing to know what marta could have been & could be if more time. Money. & energy were put into creating a true top tier southern transit system...it hurts
tunnels threw downtown that can have 30 trains an hour (and only has 5) and a belt line that can have level crossing duel lines on 98% of it without buying any land!!!! Atlanta has the potential to have the best Metro system in America if they just expanded all of their metrolines out.
Unfortunately, MARTA doesn't receive funding from GDOT which makes expansion tricky.
Great try at covering the London suburban network. It would be mean to be critical as I'm not sure that I could do any better and I've lived here for 40 years. Maybe a video on the various London termini might be worth trying as many people have a favourite and personally mine's Marylebone as it has a great backstory and a more human scale than many of the others
Hate to tell u but we ain't building no high speed least better not I wouldn't go near it lmao
Atlanta rail system is a total joke. We literally only have two directions. Atlanta has been victim of car centric civil engineering
EXPAND MARTA TO ALL OF THE SUBURBS DAMN!!!!