(faq.) “Can’t people disagree with you?” I’m answering those and all your top questions about transit and the Atlanta Beltline to the best of my ability. The purpose of this FAQ is to address renewed interest in transit and new rounds of meetings happening now and in early 2024. Please consider this a working document and feel free to propose another question or edit an answer – just message me.

DISCLAIMER: These are personal responses to questions I get about rail transit on the Atlanta Beltline. They do not represent, nor are they even vetted by, any of the many people, agencies, or partners that are actually in involved in the implementation of the project. For official project information, please visit www.beltline.org/transit and for more about me, see about.

I should be clear, I’ve never been in a position to drive decisions about the Atlanta Beltline’s implementation. This FAQ is just me answering basic questions about its transit component in the spirit of Friends of the Belt Line, the nonprofit we lost to politics way back in 2005. FBL’s mission had been to advance community interests as a partner in moving the project forward, which is all I’m still trying to do. Enjoy! >>  Ryan

Note that I’ve given some questions multiple answers. Also note the original version of this FAQ is dated 11/29/2023. New or edited questions or answers will be marked NEW or EDITED in blue and include a date. I’m starting with about 75 questions organized into ten categories:

1. Current Events
2. Beltline Users
3. Beltline Route
4. Existing Streetcar
5. Transit Technology
6. Guideway Design
7. Project Costs
8. Alternative Investments
9. Transit Naysayers
10. My Journey

A. CURRENT EVENTS

A1. Q: When will the first segment of transit start running along the Atlanta Beltline?

A: I remember back when the answer was 2010. Today MARTA says 2028 – I guess I’ll take them at their word. Check Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and MARTA for updates about new rounds of meetings underway and in early 2024.

A2. Q: What is it about the Beltline that makes it so special, so unique? What captured our imagination and makes us love it so much?

A: The set of ideas transforming this old loop of railroads is incredible, but look underneath the transit, trail, parks, and art – below all the new investments, quite literally – and there you’ll find the Beltline’s real magic. From both metaphorical and practical viewpoints, one of the most amazing things about the Beltline is how its right-of-way slides through the city in ways that can’t be recreated – no city street makes these connections. We’re taking this old barrier between places and opening it up as a linear public meeting ground – looping around the city, connecting people and places in surprising ways along an incredible, free-flowing, and traffic-free transportation corridor. People love how it connects them together – across the tracks and down the line. It’s an opportunity we can’t afford to waste.

A3. Q: What do people most often misunderstand about transit on the Beltline?

A: Some people don’t realize that just like the trail, rail transit is a means to an end. It’s a tool meant to deliver a set of outcomes. The Beltline doesn’t chase after the growth of a city nobody asked for. It incentivizes growth to come on our terms. It starts by designing the future we want – a walkable, equitable, resilient city that includes everyone. And it works – the built parts of the project are already doing their job. If we don’t continue to shape that growth with rail transit and the other unbuilt parts of our vision, we’re not going to get the outcomes we want. We have to follow through on this promise. We have to do all the work and make all the investments to make sure it delivers for everyone.

A4. Q: Wasn’t transit on the Beltline literally the original vision? What happened?

A1: Yes – and it still is. According to this article, at the State of the Atlanta BeltLine event in October 2023, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, “The promise of transit will serve to integrate with — and not disrupt — what Atlantans have already fallen in love with on the Beltline.” Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs said, “Transit is the DNA of the Atlanta Beltline… we’re doing this for our grandkids, our great grandkids.”

A2: Yes – since the beginning. Rail transit was the leading idea of my graduate thesis. More importantly, the original grassroots movement that brought the Beltline to life was centered on transit. People of all stripes from all over the city came together, and for whatever individual reason they loved the Beltline – parks, trails, housing, art – they agreed to work together and build the whole thing. Without rail transit, our fledgling Beltline idea would never have had the political support it needed or gotten its transformational redevelopment plans approved by community groups – the Tax Allocation District (TAD) would never have passed and the whole idea would have been shelved. Quite literally, if there was no transit, there’d be no Beltline at all. Anyone who doubts the weight transit carried in our early movement should watch this first promo video from 2003. And if you want the full story – read my book.

A3: Even before my thesis, Atlantans were always reimagining transit on parts of the Beltline.

A5. Q: Aside from increasing traffic, what’s at stake if we don’t build transit on the Beltline?

A: I’ve traveled the world telling this story. Global leaders working on climate mitigation, public health, housing, or any one of innumerable other crises are surprised that Atlanta, of all places, has such a remarkable model for getting its future right. They’re equally shocked we would consider dropping the ball so disastrously – and so deliberately – by not following through with rail transit. Talking with them reminds me we’ll only get the benefits the Beltline promised – for our economy, climate, and quality of life – if we build every part of our vision.

A6. Q: Do people who live near the Beltline still support rail transit?

A: Yes – overwhelmingly. The nonprofit group BeltLine Rail Now! released a report in October 2023 that, “showcases the approval of 12 out of the 16 NPUs… [which] had a resident population of 255,000 in 2018 [plus] another 32,000 residents [that] belong to 5 neighborhoods that supported the petition in NPU-E, which did not approve the petition as a whole. This indicates a sustained and overwhelming support for BeltLine rail.” Download their full report here.

A7. Q: Where else is there something like this?

A1: There’s really nothing like the Atlanta Beltline – literally – anywhere in the world. I’ve been looking for twenty years. There are tons of other awesome ideas, of course, but because of its size, loop formation, programmatic breadth, capacity for transformation, and the incredible progress we’ve made, Atlanta’s Beltline stands alone.

A2: Everywhere in Europe, of course, and increasingly across other corners of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. In the United States, there are light rail lines under construction right now in cities large and small – and a lot of new innovation in rail-based design and technologies. US corridors that combine rail transit with a trail include Charlotte’s Blue Line through South End, which has been operating for years. Our trail is more contiguous and wider, and our tram will be newer and better, but go check it out if you want – it’s just a few hours away.

A8. Q: Isn’t the Beltline still awesome without transit?

A: What we see today out on the Beltline is the beginning of an awesome idea, but it can only remain awesome if it helps shape the city’s growth for the better. Without rail transit, the City of Atlanta will continue to attract growth, more than doubling its population, but we won’t have the tools we need to manage that change. We will have failed future generations who also need and deserve an awesome Beltline. 

A9. Q: The trail is enough. Why does it have to be more?

A1: Because the Beltline’s trail was never just a trail – it was always about more and that matters. I don’t know about you, but I can’t look my kids or my neighbors’ kids in the eyes and tell them they only deserve “good enough.”

A2: Atlanta is transforming before our eyes. Not changing is not an option. Growth and density are coming whether we want them or not, and along with the urban core of Atlanta, the communities along the Beltline are likely to at least double their population over the next twenty years. The Beltline is uniquely positioned in the city to help us manage that growth, and with street traffic only bound to increase, we need free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit on the Beltline and other corridors. There are plenty of other trails in the region for anyone who wants to live without transit and density, but there is only one Beltline – and it needs to accommodate growth.

A10. Q: But why transit on the Beltline – aren’t there other alternatives?

A: Scooters, e-bikes, and other forms of micro-mobility are cool, but they’re not transit. They don’t work for everyone, they don’t work in the rain, and they don’t carry the capacity we need. At the same time, the thoroughfares crossing the Beltline are increasingly clobbered with traffic – buses can’t run reliably there until Atlantans are willing to give up traffic lanes for dedicated, traffic-free busways. In the meantime, we need to be building real, reliable rail transit on the Beltline. It slices through the city in ways we can’t do in our cars – connecting us to different parts of the city and with connections to MARTA rail, to the rest of the region.

A11. Q: I like the idea of transit, but what are the tradeoffs?

A: If we don’t build rail transit on the Beltline, other aspects of our lives will suffer. Against the incredible growth of intown Atlanta, every trip to work, school, or the store that might be accommodated by Beltline transit will be forced onto city streets, exacerbating traffic. The lack of functioning transit will worsen our housing crisis, racial and income disparities, and other negative outcomes of Atlanta’s incredible growth. Rather than improving our lives, growth without transit will impoverish them.

A12. Q: How can we trust MARTA and the City of Atlanta to get this right?

A: Great question. Let’s debate our options, but deciding whether we should build transit or not based on assumptions about the answer doesn’t make sense. With that attitude, we’d never build anything at all. The hard fact is that Atlanta is growing up. We need to invest urgently in our future – in the infrastructure needed to manage growth and in the politics needed to govern it. We don’t have a choice. We have to figure this out.

A13. Q: How do we keep transit from ruining what is now the city’s most used park?

A: The Atlanta Beltline is not a park. It is a transportation corridor. This was a very deliberate legal distinction made by the City and its partners in the early days of the project so that it would be eligible for federal transportation funds.

13b. (new 11/30/23) Q: Ok, but wasn’t greenspace the original vision, too?

A: In a way, yes. The Beltline’s greenspaces are part of its bigger, more expansive idea. The old railroad rights-of-way, however – the Beltline itself, specifically – is a transit greenway, a transportation corridor that connects various new and existing greenspaces like Piedmont Park and the new Westside Park.

A14. Q: How does transit help keep the Beltline for everyone? What about gentrification?

A: The Beltline is physically open to everyone, but so far, the impacts of the Beltline are uneven. Transit ensures everyone has access to every part of the Beltline, as well as its connections to other parts of the region through MARTA. This helps our more vulnerable neighbors manage change and helps ensure the Beltline’s benefits are shared. Transit can’t solve affordable housing, economic opportunity, fair wages, or other equity goals, of course, but it’s an essential part of the puzzle. We have to do all these things simultaneously, and each requires significant effort, support, and resources from us and our leaders. We have a long way to go, but we’re making progress. If you’re looking for more ideas, here’s a link to the Atlanta BeltLine Equitable Development Plan from 2009.

A15. Q (x): Why fix something that isn’t broken?

A: The Atlanta Beltline isn’t broken – it just isn’t finished.

B. BELTLINE USERS

B1. Q: If transit is so important, why was the trail built first?

A: The Beltline emerged from an organic grassroots movement of people, and we didn’t have enough money to build transit in the first phase. Advocates for transit agreed to build the trail first if it reserved space for rail, and in most locations, it has. That made the trail more expensive, but it was worth the investment – look at how successful it is! Then, in 2016, City residents voted overwhelmingly to tax themselves for more transit. Although the Beltline featured prominently in the campaign leading up to the vote, however, we’re still waiting – and we’ve waited long enough.

B2. Q (x): Will there be room left for walkers and cyclists?

A: Yes, they’re out there already – surely, you’ve seen them. To give them more space, the trail has already been widened by nearly 30%. Rail transit will run alongside the trail, not on top of it. Nothing is being taken away – nothing will be given up for rail transit. The Beltline is designed to accommodate everyone.

B3. Q: What about e-bikes and scooters?

A: Yeah, they’re allowed, too – they’re already out on the trail.

B4. Q: Isn’t the trail already too crowded?

A1: The Beltline trail is only crowded on the Eastside, and even then, only on weekdays in the late afternoon and on weekends when the weather is nice. If you don’t like crowds, take a walk on the Westside or Northside. Or try the Eastside on a weekday morning, or at lunch – or take your umbrella and go in the rain – it’s quite nice. Honestly, if you don’t like crowds, try any one of the dozens of other trails in the region that aren’t so popular.

A2: The teeming social and cultural life along the Beltline when the trail is crowded is part of its appeal. It’s exciting – it’s one of the reasons we love the Beltline so much. I love going out in nice weather to watch people and enjoy the vibrancy of the city. My only problem in crowded conditions is when people think that would be a great time to zoom by as fast as they want. If that’s you, please slow down.

A3: The Beltline trail can’t solve all our problems and, like highways at rush hour or mall parking at Christmas, there will always be times when it’s crowded. The answer is to build more trails connecting other places, not a wider trail on the Beltline. If this free-flowing corridor is going to accomplish Atlanta’s transportation goals and carry more people, including those going longer distances or traveling in the rain, rail transit is an essential component.

B5. Q: Why not convert the transit guideway into more space for bikes and pedestrians? That’s what people using the Beltline really want.

A: The people using the Beltline right now are trail users because that’s the part of the Beltline we’ve built. We don’t notice transit riders out there simply because we haven’t built transit yet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t count! They’re probably stuck in traffic, trying to get home from work, the daycare, or grocery store. And while walking, biking, and micro-mobility are wonderful, those modes can’t get people as far as they need to go, or as comfortably as rail transit. They don’t work for everyone, and they don’t work at every time of day or in every season. Winter cold, summer humidity, pouring rain, driving snow, the dark of night, visual impairment, physical disability, physical injury, chronic pain, heavy or cumbersome loads, travel time, and long distances are all good reasons for putting rail transit service on the Atlanta Beltline.

B6. Q: How are we supposed to walk to brunch if they build transit on the Beltline?

A: I love brunch, too – I especially love bloody marys and even though I know the Beltline’s larger goal is to provide transportation options and help manage the growth of the city, that train’s not going to stop me. I’ll keep walking if I want – waving to anyone who might be taking the train – and fortunately, if I twist my ankle, get caught in a storm, or drink too many bloody marys, I can just hop on the train to get home.

B7. Q: Will mothers feel comfortable pushing babies in strollers?

A: This answer depends on the mother, so you’ll need to use your best judgement. Some mothers (or fathers and other caregivers) are comfortable being around people who are different from themselves and their babies, but some aren’t. Some mothers are able to keep their strollers from being run over by relatively slow trams moving along a separate, parallel track a few yards away, but others prefer to hurtle their babies across town through harrowing traffic in a tin-can driving eighty miles per hour.

B8: Q: Won’t transit make the Beltline dangerous?

A1: Nope. We’re not talking about fast-moving, heavy-rail trains like MARTA operates on its main lines. Beltline trams will put you at no more risk than when you’re walking down the sidewalk – and that’s way less dangerous than driving.

(new 12/30/23) A2: This Christmas, I traveled with my family through Bavaria and this spot in Munich made me laugh out loud about the ignorant pushback on Beltline transit based on uninformed preconceptions about pedestrian safety. I had to make this video to share what I saw. When transit is well designed and operated, it enhances pedestrian safety and improves the overall experience of the city.

B9. Q: Transit is going to bring a different “element” to the Beltline. What do we do about “those people?”

A: [stares blankly]… I honestly never got such an overtly racist/classist question in the early days of the grassroots movement that lifted the Beltline to life. Back then, people from all corners of the city saw themselves tied together by the Beltline – and that was part of the project’s appeal. Today feels different. I’ve heard questions about “those people” several times over the last year. It’s disturbing, and mirroring resistance to MARTA back in the 1970s and 80s, it captures a sentiment embedded less obviously in a lot of other questions about Beltline transit. The vision for the Beltline was always to include everyone – even “those people” – and it still does. If you don’t like that idea, no need to worry. In the same way you’re not obligated to walk on the Beltline’s trail, nobody’s going to force you to use transit. If your discomfort with people who are different keeps you away, that’s your choice.

B10. Q: How do we know people will ride it?

A1: Over the years, since the MARTA Board first confirmed the viability of rail transit on the Atlanta Beltline with their vote on the Locally Preferred Alternative in 2007, there have been a number of ridership projections for commuting and other trips. The numbers are good – we wouldn’t have made it this far if they weren’t. That said, negative ridership impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are lingering for transit systems across the country, including MARTA, and the Federal Transit Administration is updating their modeling process. Once that’s complete, MARTA and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. can begin updating their numbers based on FTA’s direction. That process should begin soon. Until then, we can continue to work, confident in what we see with our eyes: Atlanta is changing. And the clusters of destinations and density flourishing along the Beltline – despite the pandemic – is exactly what we always predicted. The capacity for more growth in Beltline communities is significant and it’s coming whether we want it or not. There’s no reason to believe that won’t translate into positive new ridership numbers.

A2: In August 2023, the Brookings Institute issued this article about the importance of transit systems in a post-pandemic environment, calling them “a necessary part of safe, productive, climate-friendly regions.” In terms of service expansion, it recommends investing in projects that sound a lot like the Atlanta Beltline: “Rather than focusing solely on getting remote workers to return to taking the bus or train to downtown offices, US transit agencies should focus on building public transportation networks that can serve all trips – not just commutes – in the areas where features such as density, mixtures of uses, walkable and well-connected street grids, and low automobile ownership make these transportation modes most viable.”

B11. Q: Why invest in transit that will only serve tourists, not locals?

A: Like the trail, locals will be just as welcome as tourists on transit. We won’t even have to pretend to be on staycation – nobody cares. Just hop on board. The Beltline is for everyone.

B12. Q: What about all the homeless [sic] people riding the downtown streetcar right now? Aren’t they going to discourage transit use? Do we want them on the Beltline?

A: [stares blankly]… Broader social challenges affecting the day-to-day operation of transit systems nationwide are not reasons for not making capital investments in transit. If the unhoused or unsheltered people you might find riding the streetcar today are literally the reason you’re not riding it, you really should rethink your values. They deserve more support than we currently offer. Here’s an article worth reading in Vice that says it well. “Amongst this mess, transit agencies are caught in the middle, tasked with doing something about a problem they had no role in creating and have no way of solving. (If you have other links worth sharing, please message me to add).

B13. Q: Where will people park their cars to ride Beltline transit?

A: Like the trail, Beltline transit is designed for people living, working, shopping, dining, or otherwise enjoying the city without cars. Visitors with cars will be able to park at a MARTA station and transfer onto the Beltline. They’ll also be able to park on public streets or in private pay lots – just like trail users do now.

B14. Q (x): Will transit harm Beltline businesses?

A: No – quite the opposite. Rail transit will help local businesses better serve employees and attract patrons, improving their employee retention, market reach, and impact. I’ve heard developers gushing about how many people arrive at their buildings on the Beltline already – imagine how many more are coming! At the annual State of the Atlanta BeltLine event in October 2023, Jim Irwin called the demand for transit from people who work in his new buildings “outstanding.” Irwin, a critical player behind the success of Ponce City Market who later founded New City Properties and is developing the best new buildings in Atlanta, told the crowd that about a third of employees at MailChimp already get to work by walking or riding bikes on the Beltline. If we take his advice to “keep this 100-year asset,” imagine how much further that commute range will reach when the Beltline is completed and connected to MARTA. >> Have more questions or trying to locate your business on the Beltline? Check out Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.’s one-stop-shop.

C. BELTLINE ROUTE

C1. Q: To truly work for commuters, the Beltline needs to connect to MARTA rail. How does that happen?

A1: Beltline transit is set to connect to MARTA rail at each of the four compass points. The North line connects at Lindbergh or ideally, at a new station in Armour Yard, which could also receive a future transit line to Emory University. It most likely connects to the East line by traversing Hulsey Yard to the Reynoldstown side of the Inman Park/Reynoldstown Station. The South line is most likely connected at West End, although recent development has complicated that connection. And because the West line is underground at this point and very difficult to link, it connects instead to a new infill station on the Bankhead line at JE Boone Boulevard. Beltline station locations should also anticipate transfers to existing bus routes and future transit lines coming in and out of the city along cross streets and other rights-of-way.

A2: People have always asked about new stations on the East and South lines at Krog and Lee Streets, respectively. After doing an infill station study for MARTA in 2007, however, I don’t believe they are viable due to the vertical slope and/or horizontal curve of the track. I’d love to be proven wrong.

A3: Side note – please remember Beltline transit isn’t only for commuters. Most people take several trips a day from their home and while there are a lot of parks, schools, shopping districts, restaurants, and cultural sites on the Beltline that people would like to access, as the city grows, there are bound to be even more.

C2. Q: What about Hulsey Yard and other barriers or pinchpoints?

A: The Atlanta Beltline is made of four historic railroads and the gaps between them and to MARTA need to be closed, but most questions are about Hulsey Yard. It seems like there have been a hundred redevelopment plans for the 70-acre site, including one paid for and completed by the community in 2019. Whatever form that plan ultimately takes, the idea was always to build a new tunnel for the Beltline’s rail transit and trail, parallel to the Krog tunnel and about a block and a half to the west. CSX has historically ignored pleas from the community to allow this connection. I think it will require coordinated and strategic alignment between the City, State, and CSX, but I am currently unaware of any such efforts. Other lesser gaps and pinchpoints have similarly straightforward solutions – but twenty years of studies are too much for me to post here. I’m happy to discuss them over beers sometime.

C3. Q: Why would people ride around in circles?

A1: This is a funny question, partly because it misses the point so badly and partly because the Beltline’s loop formation is actually part of its appeal – it’s one of the main reasons we love it. In a metaphorical sense, the Beltline ties us together – connects this diverse collection of communities with shared interests and rapidly changing futures and creates an infinite corridor of vibrant social and cultural life. More pragmatically, of course, most people will just be traveling a few stops to their destination or to a MARTA station to connect somewhere else.

A2: That said, the other funny thing is that I’m confident people will want to ride around in circles. It’ll be a great way to explore Atlanta – for tourists and staycationers alike. I always liked the idea of open-air, dog-friendly vehicles that circle the city on nice weather days and sell beer.

C4. Q: Why put transit where there’s nowhere to go?

A1: This is an old question because it’s already been proven absurd. This is what the haters used to ask – back before Ponce City Market, Krog Street Market, Lee & White, and other new districts opened. There were always plenty of places to go, of course – Piedmont Hospital, Piedmont Park, the Botanical Gardens, King District, Carter Center, Zoo, local schools, and shopping districts, etc. The idea, however, was also that the investment of the Beltline would spark the construction of a new city – and it has. Look at it flourishing in front of our eyes!

A2: When we do it right, cities use transit as a tool to intentionally shape their future. Atlanta hasn’t done that in a while, but that’s the intent of the Beltline – to create the future we want. As the City of Atlanta doubles its population over the next twenty years, communities along the Beltline will grow anyway, but rail transit will allow them to grow into a walkable, vibrant, inclusive, and resilient future. In the face of remarkable growth, the Beltline will lay the foundation for an inherently more sustainable way of life. More about Atlanta’s future here.

C5. Q: What if this is the only segment of transit we build. Is it still worth it?

A: Why would do that to ourselves?

C6. Q: Don’t we already have bus routes in these neighborhoods?

A1: Yes, but the intensity of growth on the Beltline deserves free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit and because our local buses don’t have dedicated lanes along major thoroughfares, they get stuck in traffic – just like our cars.

A2: Our major streets, and therefore our bus routes, connect in and out of the city like spokes on a wheel, serving a good, but distinctly different purpose. The Beltline travels laterally around the city, and with free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit, would connect emerging new districts like Memorial, Ponce, and Peachtree directly to MARTA rail. There’s no other corridor that does that – only the Beltline can slip through the city that easily, making it an important transportation corridor for all modes, including rail transit. 

D. EXISTING STREETCAR

D1. Q: Why doesn’t the existing streetcar work?

A: Unfortunately, the downtown streetcar was built with several shortcomings. I remember a few transit officials even acknowledging that at the time, saying it was unlikely to perform as well as streetcar projects in other cities across the country – almost by design. The nonprofit group BeltLine Rail Now! has some technical suggestions for fixing it. Check out their report, “Fixing Atlanta Streetcar problems will secure ABI’s vision for 22 miles of Beltline light rail.” Also, look for an outline of recommended fixes coming from MARTA’s consultant team in 2024.

D2. Q: Why would you want to extend the existing streetcar?

A1: When the downtown line was first built, many people were worried its pending failure would delay transit on the Beltline – and I think it has. Now, even though some of us still worry that tying Beltline transit to the downtown line and its struggles with traffic will delay the implementation of transit on the rest of the loop, that’s no reason to not build this project. It’s just a reason to participate in the final project design process in early 2024, support strategic fixes to the downtown line, and reevaluate how it operates as a system with Beltline rail.

A2: I think MARTA’s upcoming final design meetings should consider operating the in-street running downtown “A” line and Beltline-running “B” line independently. These are different corridors with different conditions, intentions, and opportunities, and through this public process, with relatively minor modifications, both lines could work much better. Riders wishing to go from Ponce City Market to downtown would simply transfer between the two lines – like people transfer through transit systems all over the world. If needed, a service track could connect Beltline vehicles to the “A” line’s maintenance facility at night.

D3. Q: The downtown streetcar is a failure – can it be removed?

A: We need to make strategic fixes to this line, of course, but the existing downtown “A” line should be the first phase of a larger streetcar network across downtown and midtown. I’ve never seen a realistic map of such a plan, however, and even if there is one, most of its lines would necessarily run in city streets. They’ll need dedicated lanes to be viable and I’m not sure Atlanta drivers are ready to give up those lanes just yet. After the current project is completed, I think we should prioritize future investments in free-flowing, traffic-free transit on the Atlanta Beltline.

D4. (new 12/05/2023) Q: How does it make sense to put Beltline transit down my street?

A: This FAQ is about transit on the Beltline and your street is not the Beltline. The Beltline is made of old railroads. The only part of MARTA’s current transit project that goes down a street is the extension of the existing downtown streetcar. How that segment and the first segment of Beltline rail transit work together and start to form a larger network is a great question for the public meetings MARTA will start hosting in early 2024.

E. TRANSIT TECHNOLOGY

E1. Q (x): Are we betting on a technology of the past?

A: No – this is the future. There have been a lot of advances in rail transit technology and right now, there are rail transit projects like this under construction all over the United States and around the world. There’s no reason we can’t make our trams autonomous or get rid of the catenary wires – anything as long as we get on with building a beautiful, high-capacity rail transit line along the Atlanta Beltline. Now is the time for our future.

E2. Q: What about autonomous shuttles or buses?

A: Trains can be automated, too. An autonomous tram is essentially a handful of shuttles linked together on rails, and we should be evaluating all those ideas. There’s no problem with automation – my problem with shuttles and buses – automated or not – is the roadway they need to drive on. It would destroy the experience of the Beltline.

E3. Q: What’s wrong with building a roadway along the Beltline?

A: It’s easy to get focused on automation and other transit vehicle technologies, but for the Beltline, the thing that matters most is the guideway. With the corridor’s topographic challenges, narrow rights-of-way, tree roots, and historic bridges and tunnels, the design of the guideway is critical. Despite claims it would save money, the Beltline’s physical conditions mean building a roadway is not really cheaper – but it would create stormwater and safety issues that don’t come with rail. And because the road would be disconnected from traffic, it would essentially operate as a limited access highway for emergency vehicles, maintenance trucks, and other regional buses and shuttles. Unlike rail, the resulting congestion would detract from the Beltline’s experience. That’s not me doomscrolling – I’ve seen it happen on busways in Pittsburgh and other cities, and it’s what a former MARTA general manager even proposed for the Beltline.

E4. Q: The catenary wires are so ugly – can’t we do something about that?

A: Yes. There have been many advancements in the technology of tramways like the Beltline, including hybrid vehicles that can switch between overhead wires, batteries, or in-ground power sources. The Saporta Report covered a few options in this article. Other advances include grass-track rail beds, which have, “become the world standard for new trams.” Watch this beautiful tram move through the French city of Bordeaux.

E5. Q: What speeds will it be able to go? I don’t want more slow trains.

A: Beltline stations will require trams to stop about every third to half mile, so they’re not going to go super-fast. That said, unlike the existing downtown streetcar, they’ll keep moving because they won’t be stuck in traffic. MARTA’s upcoming final design meetings will likely outline strategic fixes to the existing streetcar and operational improvements that keep Beltline trains free-flowing and traffic-free.

F. GUIDEWAY DESIGN

F1. Q: Why do you keep saying we should focus on design?

A1: I’m a designer, so of course that’s my thing, and the Atlanta Beltline is a project of city design. And as much as I believe the corridor will be even more beautiful with rail transit, I’ve watched projects like the existing streetcar suffer from poor design. I’m not talking about decorations and colors, although that’s a small part of the work. I’m talking about whether elements like the alignment, station locations, access points, seating, and shade structures are designed in ways that encourage people to use transit. I’m talking about whether the guideway is a soft green surface or a hard, nonporous concrete. I’m talking about how elegantly the tram moves through the trees on the greenway. It matters what we build and how we build it – we need to get this right. I think we can, but it’ll require us to keep pushing for quality.

A2: The Beltline is an aspiration for the city’s future and its goals should be reflected in the project design. The trail is being built to high standards, and we should similarly raise our expectations for the transit we run alongside it. Rail transit design was fully incorporated into the trail and other components of the Beltline corridor in the preliminary design effort led by Perkins+Will with Field Operations that began around 2010. More recently in 2022, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and MARTA commissioned a report “to provide concept-design best practices from case study analogies and data from Europe.” The report was conducted by IDOM, a global firm that provides consulting, engineering, and architectural services. Among other things, it recommends grass-track, smaller vehicles, and attractive landscape design. Check it out and start imagining how much more beautiful the Beltline will be with rail transit.  

F2. Q: The Beltline is already a successful pedestrian and biking corridor. Will transit conflict with that experience?

A: No – quite the opposite. If it’s well designed, rail transit will contribute positively to the experience of the Beltline, accommodating more people and helping them move through the city in new ways – even when the weather’s not nice.

F3. Q: Does transit fit? The right-of-way seems pretty narrow.

A:Yes, it fits. I know some spots look pretty narrow, but in most places, there’s more than enough room for rail transit – the trail was designed to include it. Beginning in 2010, prior to construction of the trail, the entire loop was laid out by designers and engineers, including the horizontal and vertical curves required to accommodate transit’s track and station locations. Work continues to refine those decisions, but the key point for now is that it definitely works. In some constrained conditions like the North Highland and Virginia overpasses, the trail was built in a temporary alignment and will need to be fixed when transit is built. Here are a lot more images that show how transit fits on the Atlanta Beltline.

F4. Q: What about all the trees that have to be cut?

A: It’s easy to forget all the trees that were cut for the trail – the Beltline was a moonscape in 2010. Almost every tree you see today was planted since then – just before the Eastside Trail opened in 2012. After transit construction, there will be more trees than there are now and in ten years, you’ll never even know they weren’t there. They’ll be healthier, planted in safer locations, and configured to improve our lives in all the ways trees can. Here are photos before and after trail construction looking north from a point just north of the Edgewood Avenue overpass. None of the original trees remain, but nobody even remembers them.

F4.5 Q: But I heard MARTA’s proposed tree removal for transit on the Eastside is somehow worse than the hundreds of trees already cut for the trail on the Beltline’s Southside and its extension north through Piedmont Park. Are they wrong?

A: Yes – they’re wrong. ABI has cut a lot of trees for the Beltline’s Southside trail – just like they did for the Eastside trail (see images above). Of the handful of trees that survived cutting for the Eastside trail, the only one haters can refer to as “42-caliper specimen” is shown here. Its health is questionable. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of trees get cut every day for the metropolitan growth of Atlanta and the Beltline haters say nothing…

F5. Q: Isn’t the grass-track farfetched?

A: Only if we set our expectations low, nitpick the project to death about its cost without acknowledging its remarkable benefits, and let the project get built without it. If we instead recognize all its advantages, including sound, stormwater, and particulate absorption, I think a grass-track guideway should be an essential design feature for the Beltline.

F6. Q: What about the noise and vibration?

A: I like this question because, rather than challenging long-established decisions about whether we build rail transit, it draws our attention to timely and important questions about how we build rail transit. Building on the previous question, for example, grass-track would help absorb any sound coming from the tram, so if you’re worried about noise and vibration, participate in the process, and make sure those issues are addressed through vehicle selection and guideway design.

F7. Q: Will the transit be fenced off from the trail?

A: This is another question to keep pressing on. From the beginning, our idea was always to make it easy for people to walk across the guideway – remember, these trams are not moving fast. We didn’t want barriers, except possibly in some especially close conditions where a low fence may be needed to keep trail incidents like crashing bicycles or crowds out of the guideway.

F8. Q: Won’t the train block our view or our way down the path?

A: Beltline trams will travel in their own guideway, not on the trail. Every few minutes, they’ll pass by in either direction, moving parallel to the trail and a few yards away. They won’t block our view – and if they’re well designed, they’ll contribute positively to the experience.

F9. Q: What colors will the trains be?

A: That decision hasn’t been made yet, but I like your energy.

F10. Q: Wouldn’t a separated bike path be better for busy sections of the Beltline?

A1: There was a lot of debate about this in early design discussions leading into the official preliminary design effort led by Perkins+Will with Field Operations around 2010. Cities across the country have varying experiences with the willingness of people to respect these distinctions – especially in high-traffic corridors like the Beltline. The design team looked at options for two trails, but Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and the PATH Foundation ultimately determined it would build a single, wider, mixed-traffic trail. Subsequent related decisions about construction of the current trail mean there is no longer enough room for a separate bike trail in most places without paving over sites for seating, planting, and public art.

A2: We need more Beltlines, not a wider Beltline. It’s worth repeating the Beltline can’t fulfill all our needs. There are a lot of other sidewalks and trails to explore throughout the city – and we could build more.

F11. Q: So if design matters so much, what questions should we be asking?

A: Let’s keep up the pressure for frequent service, a grass-track guideway, and modern stations built with sustainable and high-quality materials. Ask about station and wayfinding technologies, surface pavings, shade canopies, signage, public art, lighting, advertising, trash, recycling, and budgets for maintenance regimes. If catenary wires bother you, fight for batteries or other power sources. If it’s sound, vibration, or stormwater, make sure we get a grass-track. If safety’s your thing, ask about crossings and signals. Basically, keep asking for anything that ensures we’ll get the high-quality experience we’ve been promised all these years.

F12. Q (x): From linear park to urban heat island?

A: I’ve included this one because it’s a real question, but it’s so disingenuous it’s almost hilarious. Building reliable, free-flowing, and traffic-free rail transit is the most sustainable, climate-friendly thing metro Atlanta could do. Accommodating true urban growth and creating car-free lifestyles should be among our highest priorities. The suggestion that any marginal increase in urban heat island effect should make us change course is either wildly ignorant or insincere – either way, it’s dangerous.

G. PROJECT COSTS

G1. Q: How much will Beltline rail transit cost?

A1: The Beltline began as an audacious idea for land we didn’t own, to be paid for with money we didn’t have, in a political environment that was hostile to everything we were proposing. If we had asked this question when we first started talking, we wouldn’t be building any part of the Beltline at all – including the trail. Instead, we asked ourselves what kind of lives we want and then began to realign a small share of the billions of dollars we already spend to try to deliver those goals.

A2: We’ve always known transit would be expensive, but so are a lot of other things in our lives. We’re spending many billions of dollars right now to rebuild highway interchanges, for example. Literally, we’re spending more on those projects than we will spend on the entire Beltline – without asking them to contribute a fraction of the value to our lives that the Beltline has already made. They’re not addressing challenges for growth, climate, housing, or equity. The fact is, we have the resources to do this – we just have to reprioritize the way that we use them.

A3: The Beltline trail costs a lot more than most trails, but I haven’t heard anyone suggesting we not finish the loop. In fact, we created an extra tax district to pay for it.

A4: $2.5 billion – that’s the estimated cost for the entire 22-mile loop of rail transit. For context, that’s only about twice the cost of rebuilding the interchange of I-285 and Georgia 400, and rather than simply easing traffic for a little while, the Beltline will transform Atlanta into the kind of place we all want to live in. If we evaluated the true cost/benefit of every major project we fund, we’d realize that by comparison, rail transit on the Beltline is a bargain.

G2. Q (x): Where will we find $2.5 billion (or more)?

A: There are a lot of factors driving the costs of transit these days and they continue to change over time. The resources available to pay for transit are also changing. For example, in 2021, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said, “Beltline rail is exactly the kind of project the Biden Infrastructure Act is intended to fund,” when he announced the Act right here in Atlanta. If we’re unwilling to work for it, it’s easy to not find enough, but if we want a sustainable, equitable future for everyone and we’re willing to work, we’ll find the right mix of funding. As one recent example, in 2021, BeltLine Rail Now! assembled this report: “Blueprint for Transit Funding.”

G3. Q: Who is going to pay for it? Will others pitch in to help cover the cost?

A: Funding for every part of the Beltline has always and necessarily been a creative mix – and not only for rail transit. The protected rail guideway that runs alongside the trail should be considered an early investment. And when Atlanta voters finally had the chance to tax themselves for more transit in 2016, they supported it overwhelmingly. Beltline transit was featured prominently in all the collateral used to urge our support, but unfortunately, City Hall at that time did not tie our vote to a specific project list. In addition to the local resources we still have with MARTA and the Beltline’s Tax Allocation District, the Beltline will also likely draw on a mix of other federal and state transportation funds. Here’s a plan that outlines one possible answer.

G4. Q: The cost of transit is much higher than it was 20 years ago. Is it still worth it?

A: Yes. The cost of everything is more than it used to be. The cost to the city for not building free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit on the Beltline is also exorbitantly high – and those costs to our climate, economy, and communities are growing. Remember, the Beltline is about more than changing the physical form of Atlanta and making it more livable and sustainable. We’re changing our expectations for Atlanta – and for our lives. We’re making a way of life possible that wasn’t possible before, inspiring other efforts and in that way, addressing something much bigger than ourselves. That kind of culture change is worth every single penny we spend.

G5. Q: How do we even decide if a big transportation project is worth it or not?

A: That’s a complicated question that reaches beyond our government partners, and if the process was apolitical and transparent, it’s safe to say we’d make decisions differently. In the case of the Atlanta Beltline, however, twenty years of open public engagement that specifically and consistently delivered affirmation for rail transit should be enough. We spend billions of dollars every year widening roadways and rebuilding highway interchanges with essentially no public input, and those projects have far fewer benefits to our lives.

G6. Q: Transit is expensive. Why would we waste all that money?

A: Everything is expensive these days. The cost of transportation and other infrastructures is high and we need to find ways to keep our costs down, but unlike most other projects, the Beltline has already proven its value. It has attracted over $10 billion of private investment to the city – with billions more in the pipeline – on top of making Atlanta the viable, walkable, vibrant city full of culture and life we all love. So yeah, infrastructure is expensive and in the face of remarkable growth, rail transit on the Atlanta Beltline is our best opportunity to invest in our future.

G7. Q: It’ll never get built. Why are we even talking about it?

A: If that were true, why bother reading this FAQ? It’s like you don’t really believe what you said.

H. ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

H1. Q: Transit is needed in other corridors. Why wouldn’t we put our money there?

A1: There’s been a ton of work and engagement about other options over the last twenty years and rail transit on the Atlanta Beltline is consistently identified as our priority. We should continue talking about other projects, but we’ve waited forever to build. It’s time for Beltline Rail Now!

A2: For transit to work optimally, it must be designed as a network or system. In a big growing region like Atlanta, pitting one project against another when both are needed is an unproductive false choice. The Biden Infrastructure Act funding means there is more money available now than any time since MARTA’s heavy rail system was built in the 1970s and 80s. Let’s enlarge our funding pie, not fight over slices that will never be enough on their own.

A3: I’d like to turn this question around and ask why we’d put our money anywhere else. Unlike several other options, the Beltline corridor was designed to accommodate legitimate, high-capacity, free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit, organizing Atlanta’s anticipated future into a sustainable corridor and supporting revitalization efforts throughout the city. It is already integrated into land use, economic development, and mobility plans, and it has inspired monumental decisions about real estate development, job location, and social life. On top of all that, Beltline rail transit has enjoyed consistent public support over the last twenty years – as recently as this year. No other transit proposal in Atlanta that can claim that. Why would we make our next transit investment anywhere else?

H2. Q: What about our buses – shouldn’t we be investing in that?

A: Yes – but we have to do both. There are a lot of cost-effective improvements MARTA can make to our local bus network and that’s what our original penny sales tax is designed to fund, but without dedicated lanes, buses will continue to get stuck in traffic. When we voted in 2016 for another half penny, the idea was to invest in new projects that measurably improve our mobility, and because it travels along a free-flowing, traffic-free corridor, Beltline rail transit is one of the few proposals that does that. 

H3. Q (x): Is this really Atlanta’s highest transit priority?

A1: Yes. Metro Atlanta certainly has regional transit needs and priorities, but they don’t yet have sufficient funding or political support. Within the City of Atlanta, there are other good ideas, but they haven’t been properly vetted or for other reasons, haven’t made the cut. The reality is that our region needs a lot of new transit investment, but that requires years of planning and vocal, active, community and political support. The Atlanta Beltline has done all that work, so it has risen to the top of the list. This is our best opportunity right now to build free-flowing, traffic-free rail transit.

A2: Yes – and urgently. So far, the Beltline has attracted a lot of car-oriented real estate development, but when we have rail transit on the Beltline, we’ll get better outcomes. The financial investment and physical space committed to all those parking spaces can instead go to affordable housing and other priorities, attracting residents looking for transit-oriented lifestyles.

H4. Q: Why does the Beltline deserve rail while Summerhill, Campbellton, Clifton, etc. all get BRT?

A1: There are other good rail projects in Atlanta, and maybe we should revisit some from this list, but the decision to build these lines with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is no reason to not put rail on the Beltline. All the transit planning, community engagement, and technical studies done since 2003 have concluded time and again that a rail-based technology is the best and most appropriate mode for the Beltline. In addition to its higher operating expenses, BRT doesn’t work on the Beltline because: a) unlike other BRT lines, there’s no existing roadway so the cost savings versus rail is insignificant, b) the greenway quality of the Beltline experience will be ruined by the wide, paved roadway required, which would contribute negatively to noise, stormwater runoff, safety, lighting, and congestion, and c) the Beltline’s narrow right-of-way and its historic railroad bridges and tunnels easily accommodate rail, but the wider roadway needed for BRT or autonomous shuttles will increase complications and costs.

A2: Even though it’s not appropriate for the Atlanta Beltline, let’s still give a shout-out to BRT. If designed and operated properly, BRT could be a great mode of transit for metro Atlanta. A regional BRT system would be quick to implement, reasonably affordable, and if well designed, would sync well with MARTA’s existing rail system. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a high-capacity bus that employs many train-like features to improve service efficiency and passenger experience. These include traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection, multiple-door boarding, platform-level boarding, and stations that are similar to light-rail. The best BRT systems operate within dedicated bus lanes and have fewer stops along their routes compared to local buses.

H5. Q: Shouldn’t we be investing in transit dependent neighborhoods instead?

A: In rapidly changing areas like intown Atlanta, transit dependency isn’t something that defines an entire neighborhood and getting granular about which neighbors are “transit dependent” and which ones aspire to a “transit-oriented lifestyle” seems problematic for a lot of reasons. Both deserve transit service to the Beltline’s rich mix of existing, emerging, and potential employment centers, shopping districts, and city parks – not to mention MARTA stations and their links to rest of the region. Those are all destinations for Beltline transit and because our lives are interrelated, if we want to share our success and support everyone, we need the whole loop. We’re late getting started – so let’s take this opportunity and go!

I. TRANSIT NAYSAYERS

I1. Q: The world has changed since this project started. What’s wrong with asking questions about the viability of transit today?

A: Nothing at all. Ask all the questions you want. People have asked and answered many of the same questions thousands of times over the last twenty years. I only have a problem with questions about transit viability when you’re asking again simply because you don’t like the answer, or when they come with a sense of entitlement that would require the entire city to hit pause on its future until you are satisfied. If you don’t do those things, then by all means – ask away!

I2. Q: Can’t people disagree with you on rail transit?

A: Of course. This isn’t about me. I honestly don’t mind other opinions because I’ve witnessed Beltline transit survive twenty years of public scrutiny. My only problem with disagreement is when people frame it in deception or willful ignorance, or when they are clearly unwilling to go through proper channels. When “disagreement” pursues those tactics, it undermines all those voices and dissolves public trust in our process. And I care about that because for me, “those voices” aren’t abstract populations. They’re my friends and neighbors – people I love. Don’t dismiss their opinions, voices, and years of support and we’re good. Disagree with me all you want!

I3. Q: Shouldn’t the new residents of Atlanta have their voice heard?

A: Of course – and they can. In addition to ongoing public meetings about transit, the City of Atlanta has a deliberate process for community input where new residents can engage on issues like these in ways that don’t disenfranchise the voices of others. The NPU system was essential to building the support the Beltline still enjoys today. As a side note, I suggest our new neighbors also be careful they’re not being manipulated by long-time anti-transit individuals who have been working behind the scenes for decades. Please do your own research, ask questions, and decide for yourself.

I4. Q: Why have you said this latest round of questioning transit is anti-democratic?

A: Over the last twenty years, the Atlanta Beltline has enjoyed a robust public engagement – more than any project in the city’s history, hands down – and that’s a good thing. That work led to all sorts of related local and federal funding, zoning, redevelopment, design, and other implementation decisions. Again and again, that big process and all those efforts confirmed rail transit for the full loop and then followed through with decisions based on that expectation. The current round of questioning feels anti-democratic when people suggest there hasn’t been enough engagement – as if the last twenty years of support and decisions don’t matter, as if an entire generation of community voices and public process that consistently and overwhelmingly affirmed rail transit on the Beltline shouldn’t count.

I5. Q: Haven’t there always been people who didn’t want transit on the Beltline?

A: Yes, but aside from a few with various axes to grind, they were a relatively quiet minority. They knew as well as anyone that most people in our movement wanted rail transit, so they kept to themselves. They’ve been operating in the background since the beginning and for some reason, see an opening now. I believe they are trying to use the downtown streetcar’s legitimate challenges to put the kibosh on Beltline transit as well. Instead, we should be asking how to fix the downtown line as best we can and ensure Beltline trains can operate as intended – free-flowing and traffic-free.  

I6. Q: Who are the people behind the new anti-transit group?

A: The leaders behind this effort are retired lawyers, developers, and political operatives who apparently think the Beltline is their own private walkway. They’ve always been around, hanging on to Atlanta’s backroom ways of making civic decisions that affect everyone. Recently, their message has been amplified by new residents who weren’t aware of the plans for Beltline rail transit. In any case, my experience is that reasonable people who take the time to understand where the Beltline came from and why rail transit is needed get on board fairly quickly. We could use a robust education campaign.

I7. Q: This group has signs that say, “Trains on our Beltline?” Do you know who’s included in “our?”

A1: We don’t know exactly, but they talk about the Beltline like it’s their own private backyard, so the answer isn’t hard to imagine. In so many ways, their use of the word “our” seems to be saying the quiet part out loud.

A2: One of those signs hangs on the side of a building abutting the Beltline. I met the owner last summer and he told me, “you made me tens of millions of dollars,” presumably due to my unfunded role in the project. The eventual sale or redevelopment of his nearly 5-acre compound will make him many millions of dollars more, and good for him – I don’t begrudge that success. I just wish the people who are getting their part of the Beltline’s big vision would let the rest of us also get ours. It’s our Beltline, too.

I8. Q: Isn’t this group just asking tough questions?

A: No – and I only say that because frankly, their questions are easy to answer. For your reference, I’ve labeled them (x) in this FAQ and their wording is copied verbatim. Most founding members of this group have been around all along, so it’s disingenuous to suggest the answers they are supposedly looking for aren’t readily available. I think they just don’t like what they heard.

J. MY JOURNEY

J1. Q: What do you think about when you’re out on the Beltline?

A: I’m extremely proud of the ideas, work, coalitions, relationships, and people who brought the Atlanta Beltline to life, and I’m still hopeful we’ll get it right. Despite the fact I haven’t been able to stay involved in the way I intended, and despite some shortcomings in the project’s implementation so far, I definitely take the long view. The Beltline is ultimately about culture change – about setting new expectations for our city and for our lives – and in that sense, it’s working. It’s a long arc of change that continues beyond our lifetimes and I’m interested to see where it goes.  

J2. Q: Then why do you look so angry when I see you walking down the Beltline?

A: I’m not angry – that’s just what I look like. I have a mean resting bitch face. Please don’t take offense. I’m also sorry if we’ve met before but I don’t know your name. I meet a lot of people and I’m terrible remembering – especially if you’re out of context or wearing a hat, bike helmet, or sunglasses. Please say hello if you want – I do enjoy talking to people.

J3. Q: But somebody told me you really are pretty angry about all this?

A: Thanks for your concern. I love the Beltline, of course, but it’s been a long rocky road for me personally and professionally. The last few years have been especially rough on my mental health. That’s about more than the Beltline, but answering these questions again and again without getting paid for it can get tedious. So much of my life is wrapped up in this town and I’m tired of Atlanta not living up to its promise. I wonder if we’ve squandered our window of opportunity. In any case, I’ll be ok. And if you miss the inspirational Ryan with the rose-colored glasses and big ideas for the world, he still comes around – watch this video of my commencement address at Georgia Tech in 2021.

J4. Q: What frustrates you the most about the Beltline?

A: It’s kind of appalling that with less than a billion dollars spent on the Beltline so far, we’ve seen over $10 billion in private investment and yet, we’re not building rail transit as fast as we can. I want to be clear that that’s not a jab at anyone or any group in particular – this work is hard and the politics of building are harder. But the Atlanta Beltline has generated an incredible return on the City’s investment – not only for our tax base, but for improving our quality of life and attracting new people, businesses, and culture. It’s doing everything we always said it would do – in spades! It’s changing the face of the city, yet we’re dragging our feet, bickering about costs and details. That’s pretty frustrating.

J5. Q: What surprises you most about life on the Beltline?

A: How much people love it. People have always loved the idea of the Beltline, but as pieces get built and those ideas become real, you see how much it transforms their lives. It’s where people live, work, dine, and shop. It’s who they date and what they’re doing this Saturday night. Multiple people have told me it saved their life, introduced them to spouses, or otherwise inspired them to do something new. It’s why they moved to Atlanta – or why they stayed. It’s building a new urban culture – in Atlanta of all places – and that’s wild. That kind of culture change was literally my thesis, but it’s still surprising to watch it play out. Here’s one little example of a young man who clearly loves the Beltline. I’ve never met him, but he speaks better about Beltline transit than most people I know.

J6. Q: Why did you delete the last post on your blog: “Gravel > there’s something MAGA about this new anti-transit group”?

A: Because I was mad when I wrote it and used the term “hate group.” I’ve since learned more about that term and would never want to trivialize the harm done by actual hate groups in the world. You can learn more here about ADL’s global fight against hate and for all our civil rights. Anyway, I’ve cooled down and shifted to more constructive things – like writing this FAQ.

J7. Q: Why did you dismiss my opinion so quickly on social media?

A1: Sorry – like most people, sometimes I have a bad day. Sometimes your post is the last straw and I lose my patience. Thanks for not taking it personally – lol – unless it was.  

A2: I’ve been answering the same set of questions for twenty years and that can get old. I don’t know if this refers to you, but sometimes I get tired of hearing from people who’ve only thought about these subjects for a little while and rudely insist – over Twitter or Instagram – that I give their opinion the same weight as my professional expertise, which I’ve honed over my whole career – twenty years of which have been focused on the Beltline’s complexity, origins, outcomes, and lessons. It’s not that my mind can’t be changed. It’s just that I’ve most likely heard and considered your argument already.

A3: I also tend to lose patience with people who address me with a sense of entitlement and don’t seem to care about others. Any chance that was you?

J8. Q: Who are you to tell me what/who the Beltline is for?

A1: Good question. I agree. You don’t have to listen to me, but I’m surprised you’ve read down this far. My voice is just one in an ocean of opinions.

A2: Wait – who are you? After twenty years of robust community engagement, the burden to overturn collective decisions about who the Beltline is for should fall to the naysayers, not to me or other project partners.  

J9. Q: Why don’t you go back to being the wide-eyed graduate student with rose-colored glasses and big ideas for the world?

A: I would if I could. He comes around every once in a while, but I graduated with my Beltline thesis a near-quarter-century ago and I have to make a living. Life goes on, you know? I have had the pleasure of working on a lot of other big ideas for our future, though. If you haven’t already, check out the Atlanta City Design.

J10. Q: Don’t you think this FAQ is way too long?

               A: Not really – anyway, I don’t care. This is more for the public record than anything else. Y’all let me know if you have any more questions that I can help with. Remember to check out the official Beltline website for updates, along with BeltLine Rail Now!