This page gives an overview over the Marta bus and train schedules and this page provides a map of the routes that both the train and the bus go on. At first glance the Marta bus and train maps will look confusing, but once you get onto the correct line that going in the right direction then everything else will be a breeze.
http://www.itsmarta.com/schedules-maps.aspx
This page gives visitors a brief overview about the discount and payment system that Marta has. On this page you will find that there are many discounts for disabled people, students, teachers, and elderly people. Marta also encourages its visitors to purchase a breeze card as it is a safe, fast, and reliable way to make Marta payments.
http://www.itsmarta.com/fares-discounts.aspx
This page gives visitors a brief overview of whats happening in the Marta world. Visitors can come to this page if they want to find out when an event is happening, to read the newsletters, to see updates on schedule changes, and to voice their opinion on Marta’s public forum.
http://www.itsmarta.com/news-and-events.aspx
This page gives visitors a brief overview of the history of Marta and what they are all about. This page could be used for people wanting to do research on Marta, find a job working for Marta, and people looking to get in contact with security as well as people that have a leadership role.
http://www.itsmarta.com/about-marta.aspx
The article that I chose to read and respond to was called Color Walking. This article was written by Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan and published in 2012. The article starts off by explaining where the idea of color walking came from. A teacher by the name of William Burroughs came up with color walking to help inspire his students. Burroughs wanted his students to walk outside and pick any color that catches the eye and follow that color from object to object.
Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan decided to try out Burroughs little experiment to see if it worked. They began their walk in lower Manhattan. They first followed the color blue, which lead to them following the color pink, which lead to them following the color violet. At the end of their walk both authors saw the world in a completely different way, a more colorful way. They want to encourage others to try this experiment as well. Both authors wrote up a set of guidelines to keep in mind as you try the experiment. First, they suggest that you free up your schedule and get rid of all distractions around you. Second, they suggest that you pick a color that is important to you and makes you feel good on the inside. Third, they suggest that if you get lost while doing this experiment to pick another color, but if you get really lost then you are doing the experiment successfully.
I decided to give color walking a try with a few of my classmates. We decided to walk around the Georgia State campus and follow a color. The color that we chose to follow was the color green. At first I was skeptical about doing this experiment as I did not see the benefits of following around a color. After completing the experiment I have to admit that I was wrong to think that way. My eyes felt like it was seeing a brand new world. While walking around the campus I noticed just how beautiful the color green was and it almost made its way to number one on my favorite colors list. Some of the things that saw included; soft green leaves, lush green grass, transparent green windows, bright green traffic light, weird green tattoo, beautiful green flowers, dark green uniforms, loud green shoes, lime green pants, dull green shirt, and a mint green smoothie shop. Whats strange about all of these items is that I come in contact with them every single day, but I never even take the time to notice them. This color walking experience made me appreciate the color green more. I would recommend that people of all ages give color walking a try. Sometimes our brains need a break from the busy lifestyle that a lot of people have. Color walking gave me that break that I needed and helped to relieve a lot of my stress. I am glad that I was able to read this article and experience the positive benefits of color walking.
Potential Titles:
Treating the Tourist right; Atlantas poor transportation; When the good goes bad in Atlanta
Thesis: Atlanta’s beauty and view points bring in tourists from across the globe, but unlike other popular cities, the transportation in Atlanta treats its tourists poorly.
I: Talk about the Georgia Aquarium, use this source http://sites.gsu.edu/lbohanan1/2016/03/04/interior-built-environment-description-georgia-aquarium/
II:Talk about the World of Coke, use this source, http://sites.gsu.edu/bthompson52/2016/03/28/built-environment-description-world-of-coca-cola/
III:Talk about Centennial Olympic Park, use this source http://sites.gsu.edu/abrown186/2016/03/25/annotated-bib-789/
IIII: Talk about why transportation isn’t expanding in Atlanta, use this source http://sites.gsu.edu/acrooks4/2016/03/26/annotated-bibliography-6-where-it-all-went-wrong/
Conclusion:
The piece of transportation that I chose to do my research on was the Atlanta Street Car which is located in downtown Atlanta. The designers of the Atlanta Street Car began construction for their new project February 1, 2012 and opened to the public December 30th, 2014. Upon moving to the city of Atlanta I had never seen the Atlanta Street Car before. I remember driving through the city one day and looking in my rear view mirror and seeing this gigantic dark blue train-looking object coming at me at a fast pace. Of course, I panicked a little bit and swerved out of the way. I did not realize until later on, that the Atlanta Street Car is meant to drive on the road with other cars.
To go along with my new experiences with the Atlanta Street Car, I wasn’t aware of where you had to go to get onto it. Later, I finally figured out that the Atlanta Street Car has 12 stops that it makes at different locations. I got onto the Atlanta Street Car at the Woodruff location which is located right beside the 25 park place building. As soon as i got on, the first thing I noticed was how plain the interior was. This plain interior reminded me of my experience with riding Marta. One thing that that separated riding the Marta train and riding the Atlanta Street Car is the fact that Marta has an old-fashioned type of feel to it and the Atlanta Street Car feels more modernized and new. The air that I experienced while riding Marta was a dingy/musty type of smell and the smell that I experienced while riding the Atlanta Street Car was the smell of newness.
The majority of people that I saw riding the Atlanta Street Car were mostly middle-aged lower class minorities. This makes sense though, because to ride the Atlanta Street Car it costs only one dollar and that just started January 1st, 2016. There was an interesting statistic that was reported by WSB-TV that said that since the one dollar price hike, ridership has fallen by almost two-thirds since last year. In January 2015, there were 64,448 riders and when the price went up in January 2016, only 21,818 riders rode the Atlanta Street Car.
The Polar Express or Atlanta Street Car
Overall, I enjoyed my experience riding the Atlanta Street Car. My advice to people reading this would be despite the perception that the Atlanta Street Car may give off, to not be afraid to ride on it. I was in that same boat when I was first thinking about getting onto the Atlanta Street Car and I ended up being just fine. Although I had a mainly positive experience, I would definitely recommend that the Atlanta Street Car try to be more inclusive to middle class people and younger people if they want to be more profitable. The Atlanta Street Car is a fantastic tool to navigate your way throughout the city and it should be beneficial to all people.
The Polar Express or Atlanta Street Car
This is a video of the Atlanta Street Car cruising through the city. Unlike Marta trains, the Atlanta Street Car travels on the main road with other cars. A similarity between Marta trains and the Atlanta Street Car is that they both run on tracks. The Atlanta Street Car has tracks that are embedded into the streets of Atlanta that help guide it throughout the city.
This audio clip is what the Atlanta Street Car sounds like as it passes by. It is usually very loud so it is hard to miss. The Atlanta Street Car tends to let off a few honks of its extremely loud horn to signal to pedestrians not to cross the road when the Street Car is coming.