Growing up I did not have the option to either drive a car or ride Marta. We had to get up early in the morning so we could make it to school on time. Taking the bus and train from Decatur to Midtown took me two hours, whereas driving would only take fifteen to twenty-five minutes. We would have to walk several miles to make it to the nearest bus stop and then wait twenty minutes for the late bus to arrive. I noticed from a young age that the train was occupied predominantly by people who look like me, and getting to school was always more of a hassle to me than my classmates at Morningside Elementary, who either had cars or could afford to live by the school.
20 MINUTES LATER……..
The time is 4:45pm the train schedule lit up in red and yellow reads five minutes until the Eastbound train arrives. 4:55pm rolls onto the screen, the train is five minutes late. The intercom dings with a loud scoffed voice “Eastbound train will now be single tracked, please go to the Westbound platform, I repeat Eastbound train will now be single tracked, please go to the Westbound platform.”As the train roared and stretched the aroma of piss and oil wafted around the platform. People wait with exhausted expressions, standing at the edge of the platform, hoping to get a good seat. Rush hour is the worst time to get on the train because people pile in like an overstuffed can of sardines. Train car #122 in the far left corner reflects from the conductor’s window to the window in front of me. The hard yellow and beige seats are carved up with letters and words so jolted with energy it is unreadable. An older man with brassy skin, a greased black ponytail, and tired droopy eyes holds the black handrail above the seats. His body leans forward with the motion of the train as it takes off. His hip rests on the seat next to him. When the train stops, he takes a deep breath of relief and stretches his arms out then proceeds to grasp the rail once again. His eyes slowly droop until he stumbles from the trains inertia. He widens his eyes from the shock and adjusts himself into the secure position of his feet spread shoulder length. The man he is standing next to is tense. His jaw is clenched and his shoulders are high near his ears. His eyebrows are furrowed making deep ridges on his forehead. He bites his nails as he watches two black boys with beautiful 4b hair tussle with each other, they look to be between the ages of 8 and 12, they are traveling by themselves. Beside them, a woman with a dirty grey hoodie and plaid jacket mumbles to herself. She had clear chocolate skin, but has multiple lesions and growths on the top of her head. She is balding, but the little hair she has left is gray and brown. She mutters to herself about “sausage.” She asks the people around her on the train for 2 dollars…. No one has “anything.” She slowly falls asleep dropping her fruit loops onto the blue, gray, and yellow spotted floor.
Waiting ……….Going Southbound
My attention was skewed by a young man, about 5’10 with a small stature with the most extraordinary smooth chestnut complexion, performing to himself on the platform, shouting “Murder gang shit, slaughter gang shit.” In the corner of my eye an older black man with long gray dreads sung along to Micheal Jackson’s song, Remember the time. These two men shouted in harmony, as if competing for the attention of the audience of the station.
Of all the observations I made, the one constant I found is that the majority of the patrons on the train are minorities. In the mornings, men with pale faces and Armani suits park their BMWs outside of the station, and get on the train just to “beat the traffic.” While some have the luxury to pick or choose to ride the train to work, others do not, yet access to public transportation is extremely limited to minorities. The city is rapidly expanding, and some people tend to be left behind in the dark due to gentrification. As soon as CobbLinc, (Cobb County transit system that connects with several MARTA stations) was added the fare for the train increased. The issues of minorities are treated as second hand to those of upper class white people. The breeze card vending machines are not maintained well enough, often leaving only one machine working at the station. As mentioned in my analysis, the trains breaks down on a daily basis causing them to be single tracked which causes delays. As diverse as Atlanta is, people ignore that there are still overriding issues to be taken care of like these. If MARTA was a PWI (predominantly white institutions), these problems would have been resolved years ago. This is just one example of minorities issues being overlooked, and a problem this big needs to be addressed. The reason MARTA is poorly maintained and has limited access is because its patrons are mainly minorities. The same amount of energy, time, and money put into PWIs should and can be put into minority sectors of Metro Atlanta.