Atlanta's MARTA Lacks Leadership, Severe Service Cuts Likely

Metro Atlanta's mass transit system is in a financial crisis and faces possible service cuts of as much as 35 percent...and there is no public outcry.

1 minute read

February 24, 2004, 7:00 AM PST

By C. Scott Smith

"There's a sense of urgency on my part because we are dying on the vine," says Nathaniel Ford, MARTA's general manager. "It's almost like a slow death with 1,000 cuts." Instead of an outpouring of aid for MARTA, state and local leaders are spending their time nitpicking and criticizing the system. Here is an agency that has cut 725 positions in the last three years and reduced its annual budget by more than $5 million. It has done that while investing nearly $1 billion in its infrastructure, trying to overcome years of neglect and deferred maintenance.

Thanks to C. Scott Smith

FULL STORY: Neglecting MARTA just crazy

Monday, February 23, 2004 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Transportation Georgia

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