FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2022
MARTA RECEIVES FTA
TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLANNING GRANT
Grant to Fund TOD Planning
Study Along Clayton Bus Rapid Transit Line
ATLANTA – The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been awarded a
$970,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to conduct a planning study for transit-oriented developments at 12 stations along 15 miles of the Clayton County Southlake bus rapid transit (BRT) line.
In
support of MARTA’s vision outlined in the State of MARTA last week, the agency
is following through on its commitment to get smarter on
how a transit line can enhance the communities it serves. The
study will advance planning around the challenges and opportunities
to advance economic development and social outcomes like access to healthcare,
jobs, education, affordable housing and food along
the BRT corridor through northern Clayton and southern Fulton
Counties. It will also examine the land uses at the proposed stations and make
recommendations to allow for the various jurisdictions to have a
path, with MARTA, to remove some of the barriers to achieving the desired outcomes.
The
BRT investment is expected to save 20 minutes on
the trip from Southlake Mall to College Park, serving Southern Regional Medical
Center, Riverdale Town Center, and numerous apartment complexes and
retail developments. The BRT project will improve service for
transit dependent riders on one of the busiest transit
corridors in the region.
The grant will support development
of a market analysis and equitable development strategy; a
corridor-wide stormwater and resilience strategy; and complete corridor pilot
studies along with developing specific small area plans for the
corridor’s 12 proposed station areas.
The Clayton Southlake BRT project was
recently granted entry into the Project Development phase of the
FTA’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program as a Small Starts
Project.
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