Behind the Ride:
MARTA Teamwork Helps Make NextGen Bus Network Launch a Success
The NextGen Bus Network launched on April 18, and during the first few days after the rollout, MARTA engaged with customers extensively to ensure a smooth transition during one of the largest service changes in the transit agency’s history.
During launch weekend, nearly 250,000 passengers rode MARTA, reflecting strong ridership and early adoption of the new network. To assist customers, 913 transit ambassadors were deployed across the system to help riders navigate new routes, answer questions, and provide real-time trip support.
During that time, our customer service teams also handled 4,785 calls as riders planned trips, asked questions, and adjusted to the redesigned network.
The NextGen Bus Network’s complementary on-demand transit service MARTA Reach also saw growth, with ridership increasing by 58 percent as customers used the new on-demand service across the 12 service zones more frequently.
These early numbers show what the bus redesign was built to do: create a bus system that is easier to use, more reliable, and better connected to how Atlanta moves today.
Historic
and Necessary Change
For more than 50 years, MARTA’s bus network has connected people across the region to jobs, schools, healthcare, grocery stores, and home. But as Atlanta grew and travel patterns changed, much of the network remained designed for the region as it looked decades ago.
Routes built in the 1970s were still trying to serve the needs of today’s riders. That is what made the NextGen Bus Network necessary.
As the largest and most comprehensive redesign of MARTA’s bus system since service began, NextGen represented a full redesign of the network focused on creating simpler routes, more frequent service, stronger connections, and better access across the region.
This was not a routine service change. Nearly every bus route changed to create a system that is more reliable, more efficient, and easier for customers to use.
Built
Around How Atlanta Moves Today
The goal of NextGen was simple: improve the customer experience.
That meant designing a network with more direct routes, more consistent seven-day-a-week service, and strategically timed transfers that reduce long waits and improve connections.
Instead of spreading service across too many routes, MARTA’s new bus network helps customers get where they need to go faster and with more confidence.
For riders, this means fewer missed connections, shorter travel times, and service that feels dependable and easier to navigate.
More
Frequent Service, Better Access
One of the biggest improvements in the redesign is with service frequency.
MARTA has more than tripled the number of corridors with buses arriving every 15 minutes or better all day, increasing from five corridors to 17. Nearly three times as many people now live near frequent bus service. That means less time waiting and more time moving.
The redesigned network also improves access across the region:
- Over 75 percent more jobs on corridors with buses arriving every 15 minutes or better
- More than 145,000 additional jobs near bus service arriving every 30 minutes or better
- More than 25 percent improved access to grocery stores within an hour’s ride
The redesign helps customers move more efficiently through their day, whether that means getting to work, school, medical appointments, or essential services.
Expanding
Service with MARTA Reach
Back in March, as part of the NextGen Bus Network, MARTA also launched MARTA Reach. This new on-demand, curb-to-curb transit service now operates in 12 geographic zones across the service area.
Reach provides more flexibility in areas where traditional fixed-route bus service may not be the most efficient option. Using small ADA-accessible vans, customers can request rides through the MARTA Reach app, online, or by phone for direct travel within their service zone.
Reach helps close service gaps and expands access in communities that need a different kind of transit solution.
The
Teamwork Behind the Redesign
A redesign of this scale required years of planning, public meetings, customer feedback, and coordination across departments.
The network was guided by the vision of MARTA’s Board of Directors and shaped by customers, jurisdictional partners, and members of the public to reflect a changing region.
Teams across planning, operations, scheduling, customer service, communications, and field support worked to prepare for the launch.
Operators trained on new routes. Maps, schedules, and signage were updated systemwide. Because when nearly every route changes, preparation matters.
A Better
Network for Atlanta
Looking ahead, the NextGen Bus Network will deliver more frequent service, stronger connections, better access to jobs and essential destinations, and new options like MARTA Reach to serve communities in different ways.
For customers, it means a system that is easier to navigate and more reliable to depend on.
For MARTA, it marks one of the most significant improvements to bus service in decades and creates a stronger foundation for how transit will serve the region moving forward.
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