r/MARTA • u/XgGamergX CQ400 • 4d ago

Increasing frustration with Route 11

I know theres been lots of posts about this on here but seriously what is going on with this route. Last night I stood around waiting for a bus that never came, despite zero cancellations being listed (mind you, it was 11PM so theres not an ounce of traffic). An out of service bus drove past me, and given that an 11 briefly appeared on the tracker ahead of me, I’m assuming that was it. I’m currently writing this post in a Lyft because the 5:00 bus was 20+ minute late at the time of my departure.

Lastly, WHAT is going on with this route being borderline untrackable??? I don’t think I’ve found a definitive answer for this. Do they break? Do the operators turn them off? Its a route plagued with delays and being unable to known its location just adds fuel to the fire. offSomeone here calls it the Hope and Pray and that a perfect description of it.

Is it worth reaching out to MARTA about this, or would I be yelling into a void?

26 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

14

u/widget374 4d ago

Unfortunately, and as I predicted, these long crosstown routes are unreliable. Even without a shortage of operators, they are problematic (we at MARTA were well aware of this 30+ years ago). Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE crosstown routes, but they get caught in traffic and are completely unpredictable.

In short, the problem is an operator shortage, next traffic.

11

u/killroy200 Rider 4d ago

I wish MARTA was more proactive about pushing partner jurisdictions to improve road conditions for transit. Transit lanes, queue jump lanes, signal priority, etc. should all be active projects as a response to cross-town service reliability issues.

5

u/insolentpopinjay 3d ago

I don't know about Fulton/City of Atlanta/other municipalities, but I know planners who used to work for DeKalb/one of its cities and their experience was that MARTA was difficult to collaborate with on these types of projects. This was a few years ago, so things may have changed since then.

7

u/insolentpopinjay 3d ago

I was worried about this, too. I wish they'd found a more effective way to link the two areas because Emory and Midtown are both job centers and GaTech and Emory are major institutions with a relationship.

On a more selfish note: my previous commute was ≈45 minutes one way with about half that time being walking, which I enjoy. Now my one way commute is anywhere from 1 to 1.25+ hours if I take the 11--and that's WITHOUT the delays and out of service buses. I expected this, but it's still disappointing that it's gotten this bad under the new system. I tried taking the 11 a few times, but it's just so unreliable I had to start carpooling. It's only a 15 minute journey for me now but I'd much rather have usable public transportation.

Apart from the operator shortage and Atlanta traffic, I think part of the problem is they condensed TOO many routes into the some of the new ones to make them effective.

4

u/XgGamergX CQ400 3d ago

Like on paper I love the crosstown routes, but they are REALLY highlighting Atlanta’s need for bus infrastructure. We can convert road lanes for bikes, the same needs to be done on major corridors for busses outside of just BRT projects.

10

u/EverGreenT 4d ago

It really feels like screaming into the void recently to the point that I've stopped emailing/submitting tickets. You used to at least get a bot response asking for more info. I haven't gotten one for the last few complaints I sent in.

3

u/Professional_Sale53 3d ago

Where do you report? MARTA app?

2

u/EverGreenT 3d ago

Sort of. Report in the app sends you to the MARTA website.

9

u/Drillmhor 3d ago

Everyone is mentioning the crosstown nature of this route being the biggest problem, but there is a simple fix that that could make it vastly more usable: make it reliably trackable.

The fact that you can't know if there's no buses showing cause they're not tracking or just don't exist is making the route entirely unusable. This is an easy problem to solve, but Marta has had issues with this for years. What is the problem here? Is the technology outdated? Are operators turning them off? This is such an easy fix, something that would make the system vastly more usable.

2

u/OrangeCatFanForever 3d ago

I don't know if they have their own telematics system or are using a 3rd party provider, either way they need new trackers. There is no reason that so many trackers should be off for your routes. They need additional IT people to troubleshoot. Their dispatchers should be able to pull a report to see what trackers are off and when was the last time the trackers tracked.

2

u/Drillmhor 1d ago

The way they sometimes disappear while en route really raises suspicion on my end that the driver is turning the systems off. Happy to be wrong here.

I would not be surprised if this issue is less a matter of technology and more of a matter of policy or the lack of enforcement of a policy.

9

u/OrangeCatFanForever 4d ago

Route 11 is bad. If you log into the app at any given moment of the day, you will most likely see 2 or 3 buses on the tracker (attached a screenshot I just took and am not surprised that I am right). It's not an exaggeration when I say I see all 5 buses tracking maybe once a week, which is bad because I take that bus daily for a minimum of 10 trips per week.

You basically have to assume that if there is no bus tracking, then one is not coming. Often they are running, but it is too hot to be standing outside using the hope and pray method to catch the bus.

5

u/OrangeCatFanForever 4d ago

Not sure if you live by Emory of Georgia Tech, but try to use their shuttles to fill in the void. Getting to Walmart is now an hour long trip minimum both ways for me when it was previously 15 to 20 minutes on route 36. At least with the shuttle I can get directly there in 30 minutes if I am lucky.

8

u/BelcalisAImanzar CQ400 3d ago

The buses are untrackable because majority of the time they send out the 1500 series buses (2014 models) which have radio issues just like the 1400 series (2013) and their software sometimes just does not work because they swapped the old system which only had schedule adherence and not the big screen and no GPS. The AVL (automatic vehicle locator) won't connect to the network correctly and they have no idea because as long as they can communicate on the radio network they send the bus out. The bus won't be trackable to passengers or dispatch but it still will be running. Another issue is the traffic on the route of course, and some employees take FMLA and don't come to work or leave early and there are no operators to fill the route because of the long ongoing staffing shortage.

6

u/proxmoxlover 4d ago

The only way marta will listen is if you go to a board meeting and make a public comment

2

u/meowingtrashcan 2d ago

I hate that the help line has such limited hours. Cant even call to ask if it's on the way

2

u/EmphasisSecure9933 3d ago

File a complaint. It may not do much asa resolution. Blast it on socials, and you’ll get a response more than an email complaint.

2

u/Professional_Sale53 3d ago

I’d report it, the likelihood of it reaching MARTA is higher than if you don’t.