FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 12, 2025
MARTA BOARD APPROVES TRANSFORMATIONAL
NEXTGEN BUS NETWORK
Redesign Most Comprehensive Bus System
Overhaul Since Authority’s Founding
ATLANTA – The
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Board of Directors today
formally approved the NextGen Bus Network, a strategic redesign of over 100 bus
routes intended to deliver a smarter, faster, and better network to meet the
evolving needs of the region.
The
NextGen Bus Network will significantly enhance access, equity, and mobility for
the Atlanta region. When launched in late 2025, the redesigned system will
nearly triple the number of people with access to frequent bus service and
offer consistent seven-day-a-week coverage. The new network emphasizes a 70/30
ridership-to-coverage balance meant to improve efficiency while ensuring broad
access across communities.
“This
is a major step toward a more equitable and rider-focused transit system,” said
Collie Greenwood, MARTA General Manager and CEO. “The NextGen Bus Network is
built from the voices of the people we serve. With more frequent buses, better
connections, and improved infrastructure, this redesign meets our region’s
evolving needs and lays the groundwork for a stronger transit future.”
The NextGen Bus Network redesign followed four years of planning,
analysis, and robust public engagement, including more than 60 public meetings
and over 15,000 survey responses. Feedback from these efforts directly shaped
network refinements, ensuring that community concerns, especially around access
for low-income and minority residents, were addressed.
NextGen
Bus Network: Smarter. Faster. Better.
The
NextGen Bus Network will provide greater access to more jobs, destinations, and
opportunities by:
- Expanding frequent service
areas from 5 corridors to 17, making it easier for riders to reach their
destinations.
- Increasing
20-minute service routes from nine existing routes to 11 planned routes
for shorter wait times and quicker trips.
- Adding
12, new, on-demand service zones, offering flexible transit solutions for
communities with lower population density.
- Providing
seven-day-a-week service on all routes and on-demand zones, with flatter,
more consistent frequencies throughout the day to meet riders’ diverse
schedules.
- Streamlining
fixed bus routes from 113 to 81 to create a simpler and more navigable
network.
- Offering
greater accessibility for residents and workers, with 74,000 more people
and 76,400 additional jobs within close reach of frequent transit service
that runs every 15 minutes or better. Additionally, 143,100 more residents
will have access to service running every 30 minutes or better.
Key
outcomes of the NextGen Bus Network include:
- +6% increase in overall
population served.
- +11%
increase in minority residents near transit.
- +27%
more grocery stores accessible within 60 minutes.
- +7%
increase in low-income residents near transit.
- +31%
increase in hospitals accessible within 60 minutes.
- +22%
more jobs accessible within 60 minutes by transit.
The
redesign also features new and improved transfer points with timed transfers,
and infrastructure upgrades that will improve the rider experience and ensure
smoother operations on redesigned routes. Additionally, the network features 12
on-demand zones where customers can use an app to call a ride to connect them
to the MARTA system.
With
Board approval now secured, MARTA will begin final preparations right away to
prepare to launch the new network in late 2025.
For
more information about the NextGen Bus Network, visit martanextgenbusnetwork.com. Customers
can view the final network here, find information about
individual bus routes here, and compare routes in the
exiting network to those in the NextGen Bus Network here.
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