Racial Controversy in MARTA

Eight years after the opening of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, officials debated the idea of bringing the rail system into the suburban areas of Cobb and Gwinnett County. But, the white citizens of both suburb counties feared that by implementing the rail system into their area, African American citizens and crime from the inner city would migrate into their communities. When this article was published in July of 1987, officials of Cobb and Gwinnett County agreed that a transit network should be created in order to relieve their transportation facilities from the overwhelming population growth. But, like the citizens of these counties, the officials were also against bringing MARTA into their communities. Instead, they wanted to create a separate transportation system of their own that would be “cheaper and offer more route flexibility than MARTA” (Schmidt). In a vote taken a month prior to this article, Gwinnett County elected to remain out of the MARTA system, and Cobb County decided to create a network of bus lines in their county with a private operator. Unlike officials in 1987, Gwinnet County has recently elected pro-transit commissioners. In March of 2019, Gwinnett County voters “shot down a chance at welcoming MARTA” after officials brought their plans of bringing the rail system to the northeast metro Atlanta area into public conversation (Keenan). The divide between the inner city and suburban Atlanta has been going on for years, showing growth over the course of time through Atlanta’s largest transportation facility. Although progress has recently been made in order to integrate MARTA into Cobb and Gwinnett County, this item portrays the ongoing controversy that the rail system has created.

Works Cited:

The New York Times, “Racial Roadblocks Seen in Atlanta Transit System ,” English 1102 Fall 2019, accessed November 19, 2019, http://mapping-nature.org/omeka2019/admin/items/show/44.

Keenan, Sean. “MARTA Transit Could Be Back in Cards for Gwinnett County.” Curbed Atlanta, Curbed Atlanta, 20 Aug. 2019, https://atlanta.curbed.com/2019/8/20/20813648/marta-gwinnett-atlanta-cobb-county-brt-heavy-rail.