MARTA MAYHEM

MARTA Mayhem

Can you believe that since the beginning of MARTA, in 1979, MARTA has transported more than 5 billion commuters? If you’re like me, and an Atlanta Native, then you probably find this statistic highly shocking. Especially since MARTA is represented and historically known as a poor transit system that pushes more inhabitants towards carpooling or using their own form of transportation. It is a public rail system that only serves certain areas of the city and if they chose not to expand its coverage areas and invest in programs and technologies to increase the public’s perception then we, in Atlanta, will have one of the most underutilized public transit system for the amount of population in the United States. It is a complete necessity for cities the size of ours to have a well-rounded, efficient and user friendly mode of transportation or we will no longer be the thriving city we are at this point in time. In general, MARTA must morph into a well-oiled machine by appealing to the new workforce, creating an efficient system, making people feel comfortable and connecting more areas of the city otherwise it is doomed to fail in what is most definitely the most populated but sprawled out city in the Nation. The below image shows exactly why Atlanta needs an improved and efficient system. IT IS HUGE.

 

Atlanta's Sprawl

Atlanta, a town known for diversity, but still highly populated with prejudices, brings me to my point that MARTA must completely revamp if they want to appeal to both sides of the “riders spectrum” this ranges from the working class citizens that find public transport crucial, to the general users that might commute for a ball game or possibly for a night out. In an article written by, Doug Martin, entitled, “Why MARTA Ain’t SMARTA”. The exact close-minded behavior is represented completely. Here, Doug Martin, stigmatizes the majority of MARTA commuters into a general terms, you can only hope he coined, called, “Out of Sales Area Tax Cheapstakes”. This view point of the majority users is the reasoning behind MARTA’s CEO, Keith Parker attempt at rebranding the system. With this type of initial views on a system that thrives on repeat users, will do nothing but lead to an economic downfall of the system. In comparison, there was another article entitled, “Where it All At Went Wrong”, where a Georgetown Professor by the name of, Christopher B. Leinberger, clearly states that Atlanta’s biggest economic downfall was the lack of connectivity to all areas and types of people. This is in direct correlation to Doug Monroe’s immediate assumption of MARTA riders as “Out of Sales Area Tax Cheapstakes”. According to this link MARTA is only Atlanta, Fulton and Dekalb county, yet anyone can use the same amenities. Even after, areas such as Cobb County approved upon the expansion but yet decided not to push forward when the other areas did. Issues such as these, is what will forever continue to keep communities divided.

The second, and in my opinion, the most important necessary advancement in the growth of MARTA is the need to create a safe, efficient and welcoming riding experience to all users that partake. I think this has been, by far, the most looked after advances by MARTA Board of Directors and Keith Parker.  This is most shown by the recent teaming with BRS Labs and OUTFRONT Media, two perennial powerhouses in their own field that will greatly advance the public awareness, in a positive light, and also be directly associated with the safety and overall positive recognition of the rail system.

OUTFRONT Media, is the US leader in out-of-home advertising and has worked with areas as prevalent as New York Times Square and through-out California as well.  They are joining MARTA for a 5-year contract and hope to bring in an estimated $25 Million dollars’ worth of revenue. If this works out as well as anticipated, MARTA is able to extend the contract for another two years (1). This is a very exciting step in the right direction, since MARTA has operated on a deficit before MARTA’s CEO Keith Parker took over in 2012. It will be the first time MARTA has shown measurable signs of growth (2).

In Comparison to the teaming of OUTFRONT Media, MARTA has also joined forces with BRS Labs; which will make this gang of allies almost unbeatable. BRS Labs, actually stands for Behavioral Recognition System, that is the first of its kind and is based out of Houston. What they will do is study real time behavioral systems of all humans near or in MARTA and will allow developing a real-time approach to actual threats. This, to some, might seem intrusive, but the fact that they can pin-point a sudden threat based on the actions one shows that is invisible to the naked eye is astonishing. They will be able to prevent possible terrorist attacks and make MARTA the safest possible form of public transit available to the public (3 and 4). This due of OUTFRONT Media and BRS Labs in conjunction with MARTA, a system that has had the groundwork of being the best public transit system, is going to be unmatched. It will provide the public with the confidence and peace of mind that one wants when getting into a closed form of transportation with thousands of strangers.

BRS Labs MARTA

MARTA, although seldom used by some, is a necessary form of public transportation throughout any large city or urban area. It is an area that connects all areas of a particular state and allows people the ability to economically transport from one location to another in hopes of prospering or partaking in jobs or nearby events. With that being said, it is safe to say, that MARTA was still take strides in advancing its overall user experience. Most importantly, the safety, efficiency and overall riding experience. Since Keith Parker’s take over, he has had an uphill battle from changing view points of the citizens on MARTA, to finding adequate funding and support to help target the entire city population as its target audience and not just the ones who are forced to use it. It is reminds me of the article written by Rachel Maddux and Kendrick Brihson entitled, “Communal Commuting: What I’ve learned from riding MARTA.” In this article, they talk about their several years while riding MARTA and how they initially viewed the riding experience. In short, they hated it, but they did see the purpose behind it and the fact that it was there to serve sometimes the lesser fortunate for the opportunity to travel long distances to find work even if they lived in a further outside area. At the end of this article, Kendrick Brihson, makes a bold statement and it says, “somedays, as smug as it sounds, I think MARTA has made me a better person”. This is by far, the most intriguing and genuine comment I read from articles with personal statements. She doesn’t block everyone into a category of “tax cheapstakes” or homeless people using the areas to mooch for money, but instead, she recognizes the riders as people just like her, and that riding MARTA has helped her become more down to earth and appreciative of the advantages she has in life. In my opinion, this is exactly what people handle on a daily basis, it is a constant grind to help them or their families grow and prosper. If you believe this, then why shouldn’t Atlanta Commuter’s, with no other means of transportation, be granted the ability to ride a clean, efficient, cost-effective and most of all universally equal public transit system? These are reasons why Atlanta must expand, grow and increase the overall experience of MARTA before, for the second time, we “miss the boat” again!

 

WORKS CITED

  1. PR, Newswire. “OUTFRONT Media Signs New Contract with Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.” PR Newswire US05 Dec. 2014: Regional Business News. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
  2. GIVENS, DARIN. “MARTA CEO KEITH PARKER.”Atlanta 5 (2015): 121–121. Print.
  3. PR, Newswire. “OUTFRONT Media Signs New Contract with Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.” PR Newswire US05 Dec. 2014: Regional Business News. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
  4. BRS, Labs. “City of Atlanta’s MARTA Selects BRS Labs as Provider of Artificial Intelligence Video Analytics to Enhance Public Safety.” Business Wire (English)8: Regional Business News. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
  5. Maddux, Rachael, and KENDRICK BRIHSON. “Communal Commuting: What I’ve Learned From Riding MARTA.”Atlanta2 (2013): 82-97. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  6. Sigo, Shelly. “Atlanta Transit Funding Bill Passes.” Bond Buyer34484 (2016): 24. Business Source Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
  7. Monroe, Doug. “Why Marta Ain’t Smarta. “Atlanta 42.2 (2002): 216. MasterFILE Elite, Web. 19 Apr, 2016.
  8. Monroe, Doug. “Where It All Went Wrong.” Atlanta 52.4 (2012): 86-98. Master FILE. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
  9. Toon, John D. “Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).” New Georgia Encyclopedia. 19 August 2013. Web. 03 February 2016.
  10. Xu, Edmund. “What MARTA’s $8 Billion Proposal Could Mean for Public Transit in Atlanta.” Dailykos. 21 July 2015. Web. 3 February 2016.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/7/21/1404130/-What-MARTA-s-8-Billion-Proposal-Could-Mean-for-Public-Transit-in-Atlanta

Bibliographic Annotation #9 and #10

Bibliographic Annotation #9: OUTFRONT Media

PR, Newswire. “OUTFRONT Media Signs New Contract with Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.” PR Newswire US 05 Dec. 2014: Regional Business News. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

This article is mainly about MARTA’s new agreement with OUTFRONT Media. A company that is North America’s largest transit company. Marta decided to team with them for a 5-year contract beginning in 2015. This is very exciting for MARTA’s since OUTFRONT Media is dedicated and one of the best companies in transport advertising. With the addition of OUTFRONT Media, Marta expects to add $25 million dollars in Revenue. This is completely relevant to my argument, since it provides more evidence that MARTA is concerned with changing it’s publics perception and that a positive light on MARTA is necessary for growth. The best point made is that OUTFRONT Media cover the advertising for the hemisphere’s largest transportation cities, including the extremely efficient New York Cities. Although, I do this this article could have used a bit more explanation on how OUTFRONTmedia expands to advertise. It is hard to find relevance in an article, when they don’t give you reasoning or a map of their plans for the city.

 

 

Bibliographic Annotation #10: BRS Labs and MARTA

BRS, Labs. “City of Atlanta’s MARTA Selects BRS Labs as Provider of Artificial Intelligence Video Analytics to Enhance Public Safety.” Business Wire (English) 8: Regional Business News. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

The main issue with MARTA throughout the past is it’s non-effectiveness of controlling a safe, clean and crime free riding experience for the general public using their facilities. This article is in regards to MARTA’s teaming with BRS Labs and their new award winning artificial intelligence to monitor MARTA and its surroundings. This is directly correlated to my other articles/annotations and arguments, because it is the final piece I need. The issue MARTA was failing prior to Keith Parker’s reform was the safety, and lack of efficiency the rail system had. This article illustrates MARTA’s attempt to completely turn that around and make MARTA safe again for all riders and the immediate surrounding public. I wish, similiarly to Article #9, that BRS Labs could have provided some sort of plan of action in how they exactly decide to monitor Behavioral Recognition, but I still think the article was  a great source to explain the continual push of MARTA in the right direction.

Bibliographic Annotation 8

Bibliographic Annotation #8: “Communal Commuting: What I’ve Learned From Riding Marta”

Maddux, Rachael, and KENDRICK BRIHSON. “Communal Commuting: What I’ve Learned From Riding MARTA.” Atlanta 53.2 (2013): 82-97. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

 

This article is a day in the life that Rachel Maddux experienced whiled taking MARTA on a daily commute. She explains the purpose of her riding and the pros and cons her of her daily commutes. In comparison, she follows up with what the ride means to her and how she believes it has changed her ability to live life as a better person. It was valid to my argument because it gives a first hand experience and helps further my point that MARTA is a necessary form of transit that gives everyone a chance to commute and find work elsewhere, not just an immediate surrounding. I believe this was a well-wrapped article and lacked no weaknesses She developed a thorough built environment description and gave me a first hand feel of her daily travels. She then mentioned the pros and cons and gave some factual evidence to support the necessity of MARTA. I believe this will directly correlate with my writing and additional sources, because she drives home the point that everyone on MARTA should be treated equal and not of a lesser person.

Bibliographic Annotation 4 and 5

Bibliographic Annotation #4: Where It All Went Wrong

Monroe, Doug. “Where It All Went Wrong.” Atlanta 52.4 (2012): 86-98. Master FILE. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

This article is a concise article that takes you through a vision of MARTA from its early creation, struggles it had with funding and to where it is now is at. The article gives great insight into the struggles the lack of a proper public transit system is doing for Atlanta as a city. For example, on page 96, Christopher B. Leinberger, a professor at Georgetown who has watched Atlanta rise and fall, clearly states that our cities biggest failure was not allowing the public transit to thrive within the limits and perpetually connect our city. This article was completely valid to the topic of rhetoric in the built environment; because it demonstrates the struggles Atlanta has with its inability to attract a new workforce due to our mediocre transit system.  I have found no flaws in this article; it connects our lack of a proper built environment and even connects the dots on the racial struggles that the city faced while the development of our public transit system. I believe it could have been more relevant, since it is nearly 4 years old and we have been pushing leaps and bounds since then to advance our system, but the information provided was a direct link to the struggles Atlanta’s Public transit has on connecting users from throughout the state in a cohesive manner.

 

Bibliographic Annotation #5: “Making Marta… Cool?”

Burns, Rebecca. “Making Marta… Cool?” Atlanta 54.10 (2015): 17-20. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 19 April. 2016

This article is a plan of expansion to MARTA and the issues MARTA’s CEO Keith Parker has in developing a “cool” transit system that promotes a fun and safe environment but most importantly makes people think of public transit first instead of last. I was able to draw evidence of future growth to the population of areas nearby MARTA that helped me understand the built environment. It is beginning to shape the routes of MARTA and demands growth of the transit system. This source was chosen because it clearly demonstrates the struggle of our transit system and also it gives you hope that MARTA’s CEO is doing whatever he can to turn this around and help it to thrive in the city of Atlanta. No weaknesses were

Architectural Roadblocks Within The Classroom

Reading Summary #6

Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage; it sounds so familiar to us nowadays, because those are words that are being used so freely to describe our society’s necessity to adapt and move forward in our way of thinking and teaching. Transform, Interact, Learn and Engage; or better known as, “TILE”. It is a an acronym used to discuss the forward thinking and innovative learning centers being placed within the University of Iowa’s Campus’. Nowadays, everyone is looking for new ways to learn faster and gather information quicker than the person to their left or right. This has forced the world to adapt and start thinking of alternative learning styles that can help the new generation of students learn how they are meant to learn. The traditional class room was a blockade to the built environment of our classroom and required restructure for us to excel to our fullest potential. I mean, let’s be honest, how well do you pay attention in a classroom like this?

UCT_Leslie_Social_Science_classroom

 

In this Journal of Learning Space, Vol 1, No 2; Sam Van Horne describes this necessity and backs up his claims based on factual evidence. Page 2, paragraph 2, he describes how even the size of the table made for the room is not by accident. In their findings, a table that is smaller than 7 feet would make students cramped but a table larger would promote table wide discussions. They were able to determine that a 7 foot wide table was the perfect size in diameter for promotion of collaboration and appropriate level of conversations.

TILE-Van-Allen3

In a day in age, where technology is advancing faster than we can keep it up; it is crucial that we seek these alternative atmospheres to maintain an edge on the learning curve and help develop students in a more modern sense rather than difficulty. Van Horne even explains this further on Page 5 under the section entitled, “Preparing Faculty to Use New Teaching Strategies: The Tile Institute Workshop”. They explain the intensive learning course and what each instructor must go through to help workshop their classroom into a cohesive course that utilized the new furniture. This, in my eyes, and I believe in the eyes of Van Horne, is the most important part of the TILE initiative. It is imperative that the seasoned instructors learn how to tailor their lectures to more of an activity sense to promote collaboration and an open learning environment with the common day student. It is a difficult bridge to gap, but a necessary one to ensure that the full benefits and resources are developed from the TILE classroom.

In comparison, Sam Van Horne is completely correct that the metamorphosis from a standard, Polaroid image of a classroom, to a more advanced collaborative and intuitive classroom is a necessity. We have the ability to shape, teach and develop the mind better than we ever had and with our leaps and bounds with technology it would be a shame not to do what is humanly necessary to achieve this feat. The research is there and it clearly shows that we (the vast majority) of students cannot learn in a maze of outdated architectural roadblocks within the classroom.

Digital Records #6, #7, #8, #9, #10 and #11

Digital Record #6

Digital Record #6

This was an interior painting inside the walls of El Myr. It was of a little village and it’s surroundings. The entire interior structure of this restaurant, I believe, was once a blank canvas for people to add their own drawings/piece of life for the world to see.

Digital Record #7

El Myr Interior Painting

Above is an image of a Swordfish painted by an individual. If you notice, the small boy in the image, he is portrayed as significantly smaller than the swordfish. Almost an image showing “larger than life” recreation of a natural occurrence that this boy might face while fishing. Each wall is filled with paintings that are painted over another image and it seems to always have the option to change if someone decides they want to freshen up the spot.

Digital Record #8

Digital Record #8

This is an actual picture of El Myr. This is the name of the restaurant and oddly enough the only location in the restaurant where you find an image of him. At least as far as I could tell. It is nestled in the rafters and is not drawn to by any means. We actually had to ask our server the purpose of this picture set off by itself.

Digital Record #9

Digital Record #9

Here is an image of the bar as we were heading out of dinner. It encompasses quite the variety of individuals. From “hipsters” to “business-men”. It is in all ways a replica of what the restaurant felt like to me and my girlfriend. It was a place in the foothills of Decatur but still welcomes all types of people. The ambiance was nice, music selection was from all genres and the types of people ranged on a wide spectrum.

Digital Record #10

Digital Record #10

Above is an image of El Myr’s crest. As you walk thru the entrance to the Cantina it is directly in front of you. Established in 1997 during the tail-end of Grunge era, this is the most played music genre while eating there but a variety was still heard to appease all types of music taste. If you look in the distance past the crest, you can see the artistic level this restaurant/cantina has to offer.

Digital Record #11

Digital Record #11

Not much of an interior image but this is the sign you see walking into El Myr. It is very dark and doesn’t seem inviting, exact opposite of the feel you are overwhelmed by as you walk in. Inside, I felt a surge of comfort come over me. The service was impeccable and the prices were low. It was an exciting experience and allowed people to come in and be who they were. Paint what they wanted. Say what they wanted. All in all, it was a restaurant that welcome any and all people and gave that person the ability to “write there name” on the wall. Well, of course until someone wrote over it.