YPT Atlanta Event on Regional Transit Governance

Aaron Fowler explaining the concepts of regional transit integration.

On Monday, YPT Atlanta hosted a talk on regional transit governance with ARC's Aaron Fowler. The Atlanta region is due for a reform in transit governance that would improve guidance on how to plan, fund, and operate transit as a region. In Atlanta, transit operates in silos with minimal synergy between MARTA, counties, GRTA, and shuttle operators. 

There have been coordination efforts in the 2000s (transit planning or implementation boards) that mostly resulted in the adoption of MARTA's Breeze Card as the regional fare card.

Efforts to streamline regional transit in Atlanta includes the following:

• Adoption of a common numbering system and consolidation of bus stop data,
• Creation of a common bus stop design for all transit agencies,
• Creation of a regional trip planner (ATLTransit.org),
• Aggregation of real-time information across multiple agencies,
• Single reservation/payment/checkin mechanism for paratransit.

Other factors that may have to be considered in the future:

• Creation/use of one master authority for all transit planning,
• Single fare structure with interchangeable fare products, eg a local ticket useable on any operator (revenue needs to be split by each operator - typically by number of boardings)

Two foreign transit systems might give some inspiration for a streamlined Atlanta transit system:

• Paris, France: all planning (including route schedules), pricing, and most funding now comes from STIF (Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France). STIF originally created the zoned monthly pass (now on smart card), made the famous metro ticket accepted by all regional bus operators, and designed the livery of new trains and buses. Pricing for rail and buses remains separate (no bus-to-rail transfers at this time.)
• São Paulo, Brazil: planning and funding comes from the state. State flag is found on all trains. A regional fare card with stored value is accepted by all operators (city buses, regional buses, 2 metro companies, and regional trains). The base price is the same for rail and bus, with a rail-bus transfer equivalent to a discount fare. The city contracts to a number of private bus companies (the livery is similar, each sub-region/company uses a different color).