Filed under: Transportation Alternatives, Green Daily
Flexcar partners with MARTA in Atlanta
I haven't spent a whole lot of time driving in Atlanta, but I've done enough to know that the city's highways can be a true nightmare. Wide roads that feel about 18 lanes across and all of them full of traffic. The crazy speeds some people drive there is enough to cause some folks to do "civil obedience" and drive at the 55 mph speed limit. So, for those of you near Atlanta who are sick of driving and have been wanting to give up driving a car most of the time, Flexcar and MARTA would like to speak with you.
The car-sharing service and the Atlanta area public transportation system have teamed up and are now offering almost 40 Flexcars parked at or near a dozen MARTA stations (there are about 100 Flexcars throughout Atlanta). There is also a new Flexcar driving credit available for MARTA users. If anyone in Atlanta want to chime in on the practicality of the stations where the cars are offered, that'd be nice. From the map above, there seems to be a NE bias to the Flexcar-MARTA locations. Does that work for a lot of people?
[Source: Flexcar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GreenBrave 2:56PM (11/19/2007)
Having grown up in Atlanta (and heading back to work there in a few months), I think the addition of Flexcars to MARTA is a big step (especially if they can get the word out). I think one of the big positives is that these flexcars are at stations without parking (white dot is no parking and black dot means parking available). I know several people that live near MARTA but refuse to take it because they are worried that they may need to drive somewhere during the day (and they don't want to deal with the buses).
Also, I think it might help with people who live in the city being more willing to take MARTA outward when they go to places like Decatur or Buckhead (both places very walkable parts of town but a car could be needed at times to get to residential areas and what not).
I think the locations on the North and East lines are appropriate, since that's where a large majority of the city's population is (although, I think they need to extend the E-Flex option up to Lenox and Buckhead stops).
Additionally, I hope that the additions of E-Flex and the Beltline project will make MARTA more useful and feasible for the large population of people in between the North and East lines that are currently unable to utilize mass transit due to lack of parking and significant inconvenience. I know when I move down that I will try to buy or rent a place close to MARTA (especially since my office building also has E-Flex cars available).
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