Reminder for this weekend's Inman Park festival (and every other big event in the city): MARTA rail is *free* to ride until May 2nd! If the lack of a Breeze Card has held you back from trying rail, now is your chance. [Buses are not free, though, so keep that in mind.]

This is such a win for not just the practical usefulness but also the comprehensibility and emotional dependability of MARTA’s bus system. If I’d known I could count on the 107 (now 21/22) every 15 min or better when I lived in Atlanta I would have been a regular rider.

For this new episode, we chat with Andrew Pofahl, a MARTA Project Manager, and Andy McBurney, a MARTA Service Manager, about what this weekend's new MARTA bus system redesign means for riders (and why some of us are pretty nervous about changes). open.spotify.com/episode/7k9v...

Meet the Phoenix Line: a proposed rail transit line that converts existing, underutilized freight tracks into a high-capacity passenger transit corridor for Atlanta. Thanks much to Nick Durham for sharing this fascinating concept through a new guest post! www.threadatl.org/blog/hiding-...

Join us this Saturday for a discussion about the data centers coming to Atlanta, with a group of independent experts moderated by King Williams. 6pm at Connections Metropolitan Church

Using the MARTA Tracker & Trip Planner, you can now set your departure time for a trip as April 18th (or later) and see what your trips will be like when the new bus system goes into effect on that date. tracker.itsmarta.com

Local architect & builder Eric Kronberg is sharing smart criticisms of Atlanta's concerning new zoning rewrite. Most residential areas are maintaining their suburban-style restrictions (large lot sizes, no new density). That's not good. More on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/posts/eric-k... 1/3

"Only 8% of the zoned land in metro Atlanta allows housing to be located alongside non-residential uses. People can’t walk down the street to grab a coffee or stop into the office. They have to get into their cars to do virtually everything." GIFT link: www.ajc.com/opinion/2026...

On a new ThreadATL Podcast episode, Patrick King of the Natural Resources Defense Council shares wisdom on transportation & environmental-justice issues in Atlanta. open.spotify.com/episode/5tKG...

The transformation of the Georgia-Pacific office tower in Downtown will include more than 130 apartments rented at below-market prices; that's according to a new AJC article (paywalled): 1/ www.ajc.com/business/202...

Years worth of studies for a potential MARTA line on the I-20 corridor have resulted in nothing but frustration for its under-served communities. An analysis of those ideas, spearheaded by Zachary Starbuck, aims to help turn studies into projects that get built. www.threadatl.org/blog/i20corr...

The high costs of rents came down in Austin, TX after the city: > Tweaked zoning to allow large apartment buildings near jobs & transit > Used a $250 million bond to repair affordable housing > Reformed permitting processes to speed development and reduce costs. 1/ www.pew.org/en/research-...

Higher loan payments, insurance, gas, & maintenance have boosted the cost of owning a vehicle by a whopping 40% since 2020. Yes, building rail is expensive & creating walkable density is hard. But don't pretend that car-dependent urban design is cheap. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/b...

Atlanta DSA seems to be the only org with guts to speak out *against* Atlanta mayor’s proposal to extend all (old) tax increment financing districts (TADs) until 2055. Most of the tax base in TADs has been growing for years. Will just divert $ from schools & basic services. Sighs in AtlantaWay

Nice choice! Atlanta City Studio has picked "Atlanta Underground: History from Below" by Jeffrey Morrison for its March 2026 Book Club meeting. Monday, March 16, 6:30pm - 8pm Location info and registration at the link: www.eventbrite.com/e/march-2026...

The hosts of the popular "War on Cars" podcast will talk about their new book, "Life After Cars," at the Plaza Theater on Friday, March 13 at 8 PM, along with special guests. Tickets are $30. Presented by Propel ATL. givebutter.com/lifeaftercars

Good news! Despite pushback from people in the neighborhood, a Kirkwood church's effort to use its property for 47 units of affordable housing for seniors was approved last night by Atlanta's Zoning Review Board! The proposal goes next to City Council. www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...

This was approved by the Zoning Review Board tonight!! That's great news. Next it goes to a Council committee for a vote, then to Full Council.

Today at 6pm, Atlanta's Zoning Review Board will consider a Kirkwood church's request to use some of its property for affordable housing for seniors -- a great idea! Sadly, the proposal is opposed by some Kirkwood residents who want to block the rezoning. www.axios.com/local/atlant...

ADA Listening Session this week! Atlanta's DOT invites members of the disability community to explain the barriers they experience on city streets. Thursday Feb 5 MLK Recreation & Aquatic Center 110 Hilliard Street There's an online option listed: atldot.atlantaga.gov/resources-2/...

Thanks to Jason Dozier and to all who voted for this! Atlanta City Council has introduced legislation banning new storage facilities in the Beltline overlay! This is great news. Improving the land-use around this future transit route is essential.

The GOOD news: MARTA trains are still running this weekend during the winter weather! Rail to the rescue. The BAD news: almost all bus routes are cancelled beginning Saturday morning. Only these eight will be in service. More info: itsmarta.com/marta-implem...

Great reporting from @saraegregory.bsky.social on a sad subject: A committee representing the City, the Beltline, and MARTA secretly voted to halt all work on Eastside Beltline rail several months ago, bypassing the required step of a public vote from the MARTA board. Atlanta deserves better.

The best excuse for Atlanta’s $1.9B Gulch giveaway was jobs. NS would only move staff from Norfolk if residents forked over $$$ for CIM to buy NS dirt. What a fiasco! ://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2025/12/19/norfolk-southern-union-pacific-merger-filed.html?

Take a look at the latest draft of the city's new zoning code at atlzoning.com Planner Caleb Raciot reports that the new code prohibits front-facing parking, blank walls, super-blocks, and other auto-oriented patterns.

This video critique of the Atlanta Streetcar is getting a lot of views and comments. What are your thoughts about it? One issue that doesn't get enough exposure in the video is land-use. 1/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OFS...

The Transit Guy has an excellent post about the success of the Plane Train inside Atlanta's airport. This is the train system that takes passengers to and from terminals. By ridership, it's one of the 15 busiest train systems in the nation! 1/ thetransitguy.substack.com/p/the-busies...

Urbanize Atlanta reports that Microsoft is giving 22 acres near Bankhead MARTA Station to the City for development. This is part of the land Microsoft purchased several years ago with hopes of putting a major headquarters on it -- hopes that fizzled. 1/2 atlanta.urbanize.city/post/microso...

It's not open yet, but the bike lane under construction on Juniper Street looks pretty impressive. The wayfinding signage seems like a nice touch.

Thanks to Councilmember Jason Dozier for introducing legislation to eliminate parking minimums citywide in Atlanta at today's City Council meeting!! This is a great proposal.

Maurice Cox, a national leader in city planning, is consulting with Atlanta on how to make Downtown "a thriving neighborhood." "Cox spoke of transforming auto-centric spaces into pedestrian-oriented spaces...the goal is to create 20-minute neighborhoods" saportareport.com/new-partners...

To get around GA's ban on rent control, Atlanta has to offer developers an 'out' for inclusionary zoning (requiring affordable homes): paying in-lieu fees that go into a fund for building affordable homes elsewhere. The fees were recently increased, so that's good news.

19% of Downtown Atlanta is covered in parking according to this analysis. Honestly, that number seems a bit low. Here's the parking-apocalypse near Underground Atlanta & Five Points MARTA. We've got a lot of work to do in order to right this wrong & make better use of land in the city center.

This would be an improvement! Atlanta is using most of its housing trust fund to pay down bond debt & employee salaries instead of creating new homes (which is ridiculous). Councilmember Matt Westmoreland has a plan for ensuring that most of the fund creates affordable housing.

The combo of suburban sprawl and a compromised rail plan has worked to limit the reach of MARTA rail for Atlanta’s regional residents. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a brighter future within the footprint of rail coverage that we do have. www.threadatl.org/blog/marta-r...

A long-promised apartment building for low income seniors is slated to begin construction at the empty Civic Center property "soon" & be completed late 2027. $60 mil in funding is secured. No other construction has been announced yet for the property. www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news...

Congrats to @cardenonwheels.bsky.social for being selected by Atlanta City Council as the interim Council member for District 2 (my district)! Good choice, y'all. And thanks to @atlpresscollective.com for the great coverage.

MARTA's interim CEO says the bus network redesign launch will no longer happen in 2025 The redesign reduces the number of routes while increasing the frequency of bus service: www.martanextgenbusnetwork.com/adopted-fina... New timeline coming "soon"... www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/09/09/a...

Must read from the @atlpresscollective.com atlpresscollective.com/2025/09/05/a...

A transit advocacy group in NYC cleverly uses Atlanta's failure to get rail started on the Beltline as a warning: build the rail first, before the 'trail' component sparks anti-transit outrage from residents who don't want to rock the booming-property-values boat. www.instagram.com/p/DN58BSXEbZB

This is a good writeup about the complexity of providing affordable homes through fees, density bonuses, and requirements for below-market-rate units. It also raises questions: how can we put affordable homes in places with good transit access & safe streets? atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/08/27/m...

Infuriating statement. This follows the recent plan presented by *his own planning staff* for rail along the entire Beltline. It's time for leaders who are serious about treating Atlanta like a real city, where massive growth and rail are common sense companions. www.wabe.org/atlanta-belt...

As if surface-parking spaces weren’t problematic enough, new research finds that parked cars contribute to urban heat islands, exposing pedestrians to even higher levels of heat stress though the “radiative properties” of the materials cars are made of. www.threadatl.org/blog/even-wh...

Important: The Streetcar East Extension is now redesignated as "Crosstown East", and plans are currently being made to drill a tunnel under CSX's Hulsey Yard to connect the NE and SE Quadrants

At a webinar tonight, Atlanta Beltline is sharing their recommendations for the location of transit stations in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast parts of the Beltline (and transit alignment in the NW). Tuesday, Aug 12, 2025 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM beltline.org/events/687ff...

When the city cuts costs by deferring much-needed repairs of sidewalks and ADA ramps, it can mean the difference between someone moving freely or being shut out of public life. Public infrastructure needs to afford dignity to everyone. threadatl.tumblr.com/post/7913172...

Supposedly the Stitch is still happening despite the loss of federal funds? How? "While the loss of this funding is disappointing, The Stitch is happening. The project will complete shovel-ready engineering... for phase 1 construction by mid-2026" mailchi.mp/atlantadownt...

Finally! ATL DOT reports that work is underway on the long-promised Jackson Street Bridge redesign, which will feature a parklet and a protected bike lane. See details here: www.atlcitystudio.org/jackson-st-b...

When Trump's big bill passed this week, Atlanta's Stitch project (for capping a piece of downtown freeway with a park) lost its federal funding. The future of the plan is uncertain. www.wabe.org/will-potenti...

The new bike lanes on the Georgia Tech campus are looking nice! Parts are still under construction, but you can already see how impressive the network will be. Check out this bus stop + bike lane combo! It's helpful to have examples of great street design in the city to serve as a template.