FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2026
A BETTER BREEZE IS COMING! MARTA CONTINUES
SYSTEMWIDE INSTALLATION OF NEW FARE COLLECTION SYSTEM
Station Entrance Detours at Buckhead, Avondale
and Vine City Stations
ATLANTA – The
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) continues systemwide
construction and installation of its new fare collection system. MARTA’s Breeze
system, including Breeze cards and tickets, faregates and validators, ticket
vending machines, and the mobile app are being updated and modernized.
Construction and fare
equipment installation is being done in phases to ensure continued access to
rail stations and minimal disruption and will continue until the customer
transition period in April. This work will not cause changes to rail or bus
service.
Upcoming faregate construction dates and locations are as follows:
Starting Monday, Jan. 5,
2026 – Buckhead Station
South faregates (facing
Peachtree Road) begin construction. Customers should use emergency gates or
North entrance. Customers must pay fare at destination.
Starting Tuesday, Jan.
6, 2026 – Avondale Station
West faregates will
close. Customers should use bus loop faregates. Allow approximately three extra
minutes for travel.
Starting Monday, Jan.
12, 2026 – Vine City Station
West faregates facing
Electric Avenue will close. Customers should use the east faregates facing
Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Allow approximately three extra minutes for travel.
Fare equipment
construction is currently underway at the following stations: Civic Center,
H.E. Holmes, Midtown, West End, North Springs, Kensington, Doraville, Indian
Creek, Dunwoody, East Point, Lindbergh, Ashby, and Georgia State. For
information on station impacts and entrance detours visit MARTA.
Customers should pay
attention to signs and announcements at rail stations denoting which faregates
are closed for construction to ensure smooth travel. Note that this is a
systemwide project and the phased construction approach will mean new faregates
and ticket vending machines may be installed but are not yet usable. Customers
should continue using the existing Breeze mobile app, Breeze cards, and
equipment until the customer transition period in April.
Here is what customers
will experience with the better Breeze system:
NEW FARE EQUIPMENT: New, contactless fare payment equipment
systemwide including faregates and fareboxes, validators, and touch screen
Breeze vending machines. The new faregates are more secure and can be monitored
and adjusted remotely, reducing incidents of fare evasion, resulting in a
safer, more secure transit system.
NEW PAYMENT FEATURE: New machines will allow customers to tap a bank
card or smart phone with a mobile wallet at the faregate or farebox to purchase
fare.
NEW APP: Breeze Mobile 2.0 is going away. Customers will
need to download a new app and create a new account with a virtual Breeze card
to purchase fare.
NEW BREEZE CARDS: New cards will have the continued options of
multi-day and monthly passes. Breeze cards will be account-based and fare
stored in the customer’s account rather than on the card.
For more information and
to sign up for project updates visit MARTA.