MARTA expansion projects approved for Atlanta ballot referendum

The Atlanta City Council yesterday voted unanimously to include a series of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail expansion and bus projects on a Nov. 8 ballot referendum.

If Atlanta voters approve the measure, some of the projects would be funded by a half-penny sales tax levy that would raise about $2.5 billion over 40 years, MARTA officials said in a press release.

Among the projects that could be built: a light-rail line that would connect areas of southwest Atlanta, a transit station at Greenbriar Mall, on-demand circulators that operate in neighborhoods, infill stations, additional fixed-bus routes and other initiatives that would link to the Atlanta BeltLine and MARTA's existing bus-and-rail network.

"Atlanta residents will soon have the opportunity to vote on projects that have the potential to transform their city in the years ahead," said MARTA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Keith Parker.