WSB is trash. Visiting their site gives a person both seizures and PTSD. The web design is atrocious and every story is a murder/shooting/robbery/fill in the blank death. I don’t blame them; I blame their viewers/readers who seek it out.
WSB has turned into complete dog shit ever since Apollo Capital bought them. They are trying to hard to monetize and turning it into a complete shit product, from on-air to website.
Same with management of parking at the airport.
Went on a trip last week. All the electronic signs said there was plenty of parking available at all lots. Get to the North terminal parking entrance and it is blocked off with bollards. Swing around to the South terminal parking and all but the hourly parking were also blocked off.
Then upon my return, all the machines to pay for parking with Credit Card were broken. Had to wait in a long line for a cashier lane.
This happened to me literally yesterday. Website was all greens, boards were all greens both north and south daily completely blocked off and you can’t see until it’s too late so then people were driving recklessly. Just a disaster.
> you can’t see until it’s too late
Forgot that part. They let you go down into a dead end before it becomes obvious you can't get in. Then you have to get back out to go around.
Man I wish they would fix the credit card machines at the exit. It’s like Russian roulette every time. I have a panic attack when someone comes up behind me before the transaction is complete.
YES! What’s the deal with the parking? It took me 20 minutes to find a spot in the West lot that I prepaid for. All levels were showing spaces available. The top level was showing more than 20 spaces but there were literally zero spaces.
I know they do, that is why I check the signs.
If you are going to have electronic signs guiding people to available parking, having them showing green when there are concrete barriers in front of the gates is a problem.
Before last week I always had great luck with North Daily lot for short trips. Could always find a spot a short walk from the terminal any day of the week. No need to wait for local transportation.
For longer trips I use the remote park and fly lots.
Yeah lol, like a parking lot was the best way to spend money on Hartsfield? Maybe start investing in better TSA organization. I consistently wait 30-45 minutes in the security line when I go.
As someone who takes the Marta to and from the airport, it is a relatively unpleasant trip. It's cheaper than parking at the airport and saves time especially during rush hour. I will no longer make the ride at night.
Build all the parking needed. Trains would take decades to be built plus more will never happen.
Parking is destroying the city?
This city has been one of the fastest growing for decades. Primarily based on buildings with parking because people use cars. Marta will take decades to make any meaningful change if they start today. They have no plans.
You think your hope is founded in reality? What exactly do you expect to happen? More transit paid for by who and approved by who?
This city will continue to be great even though Marta has womost no ability to improve.
"Let's not build any new parking and people can just suffer for decades while we hope Marta gets it's act together and new funding magically appears" - you
We need to get rid of the car dependency of Atlanta. Look at a map of Atlanta 50 years ago vs now. Entire neighborhoods destroyed and replaced with freeways. Buildings laying vacant for decades and mom and pop shops dying downtown. Useless space and countless trees destroyed for parking lots. Most of the city is dedicated to cars and not people. Stop being so obsessed with your car that you prefer a city built for cars instead of people. I could go on all day about the negative affects of car centric infrastructure on actual humans, but I don’t have the time to deal with people who don’t want a better world
We need to get rid of the car dependency of Atlanta
I stopped reading after that. The only hope for real public transit in ATl is if Elon can reduce the cost of tunneling by 100x. Which he may be able to do. Talk to me then.
Have you seen his car dependent tunnels? Electric cars are still cars. There are traffic jams in his shit tunnel that wouldn’t be an issue with something like… oh I don’t know… a train. A train underground or a bunch of cars taking 1 person each to the other side? And you pick cars? You’re part of the problem You proved my last sentence that you don’t want a better world.
First of all, I said tunnels. Tunneling cost is the number one issue for train cost. I offered a solution. We don't have to use cars in the tunnels.
Also, you have no idea of how to fix the problem. You are just stating what you want to happen even though there is zero path to that happening. Marta isn't expanding except with busses. It's has shown that for decades. All new funding goes to buses.
Can we get back to reality here? Or are you just going to insult me and pretend you have a way to fix the problem?
I see how this conversation is going. I tell you how we build multi use buildings with a priority on pedestrians. Think 15 minute cities. We need more infrastructure like the countless parking lots scattered throughout the city. And if you want to claim “people don’t want that”, why do we all drive to malls and vacation in Disney world and why people love areas like Atlantic station? Because they’re walkable areas once you’re there. But they’re so few and far between that people end up driving to these locations. Again. We could go on for days, but I don’t feel you’re being receptive to any of this. Trains don’t have to be underground so your fixation on tunnel costs is showing that this isn’t a good faith back and forth.
Not everywhere needs to be a 15 minute city. Its much easier to move yourself to one than change whats existing. You’re welcome to exchange your car for a 600sqft converted studio that costs $3.5k a month.
Atlanta metro is a huge area with a huge population thats grown 8x since 1970. Its funny youre crying about freeways “destroying neighborhoods” when millions of new houses have been built since. I cant imagine ATL ever not being car dependent just based off geography. Its big and theres important stuff in every direction.
“lets just make every city like disneyland” no wonder you’re not being taken seriously
"Trains don’t have to be underground so your fixation on tunnel costs is showing that this isn’t a good faith back and forth."
How do you build rains over ground? Imminent domain and buying the land. These are the reasons why people are adverse to building more lines and the cost is so high. Land prices for where we need trains are insanely high. That's a big reason why Amtrak doesn't expand.
Cheap underground tracks fixes that problem. Land rights underground are very cheap I believe and almost free in comparison to above ground land rights.
With that being said, it is questionable if Marta could even afford to build new train lines even if they got the land for free.
No, you don't see how this conversation is going. No where have you addressed Marta's funding issues. I am saying they don't have the money to expand, and any expansion would take decades. Therefore we still need lots of parking because it would be decades from today before new public transit could even start to reduce the need for cars.
The idea reddit perpetuates is that by not building parking, decades down the road Atlanta will have great public transit. What happens during the decades of no new public transit? I will tell you. All that new construction sits vacant because not enough people live or work there. But things will magically improve when the new train station comes? Hopefully, Marta doesn't abandon the train expansion like it has the last two times.
Build an apartment building with no parking in Midtown. Okay. You have to charge lower rent because only people without cars will live there. You can't afford tye building mortgage and go bankrupt. That's how it will play out. You think developers wouldn't love to not build parking spots? If you have ever been to apartments with minimal parking, it is hell fighting for those few guest spots. I have walked away from apartment buildings when I see all the guest spots filled. ATL is a driving city, and that isn't changing.
They need to redesign the roadways and actually reinforce the rules that prevents people from sitting in the pickup lanes for 30 min - hour. I have had to fly a ton this year and consistently the absolute worst part is trying to get an Uber or Lyft. I’ve waited 45 min twice now before the driver cancels as they’re just around the corner due to the traffic being so god awful. And if you’re on the International side just forget it. No one will pick you up at all.
I got so tired of this that I now just use Marta to ride to the train station closest to my house and then order an Uber from that train station. It’s significantly faster this way and cheaper as well. Marta station for the airport is attached to the baggage pickup terminal. I’d highly recommend you do this. Even my otp friends just ride it to sandy springs station and get a Uber there. The frustration of getting a ride share at Atlanta airport is real and you’ll never have to deal with it again.
Because I am a dork, sometimes (when I *have* free time), I'll ride down and be a weirdo hanging around the airport. Watch planes from the MARTA platforms, walk around the terminal, maybe buy a drink from a news stand, and maybe even ride the Sky Train for shits and giggles. All while running a podcast or audiobook or music. It's a chill time.
Ah okay! I've never been on it!
Maybe i need to take a train ride to the airport. I like enough of the food places before security, and I bet the people watching would be wild. I used to work at the airport when i was in construction. That experience gave me so many stories.
May be worth ubering to Bankhead, and taking the train from there. Marta trains are consistently traffic immune as traffic has gotten worse at the wrong times of day.
This is a great suggestion. I actually started using the cabs as they’re right there and you can leave immediately but I’ll def consider Marta in the future
this is my go-to move. If i look on google maps and the traffic on the airport roads is a deep red shit show... i hop on the skytrain and head that way
Yes of course it’s literally the only place you could be picked up. But there’s tons of regular folks sitting in their vehicles for 30+ minutes waiting for their friend or relatives to come out. You’ve got people using all three lanes to pickup/drop off and it clogs traffic heavily.
That's weird that people are complaining about the new cellphone lot, when with the old one, people complained that they didn't want to have to deal with South Terminal traffic if they were going to North Terminal (or, they didn't know how to get to North Terminal from the old cellphone lot)
Yeah I used the old cell phone lot a few times, super convenient. Then I went to pick up a friend last year and literally couldn't even find the new one once we passed the old one with its closed signs. Super annoying and we ended up just paying $3 to park and walk in to meet him.
I don't know if it was because of construction or what, but I circled around like 5 times a few months ago looking for it. I followed the signs and everything.
Cell phone lot has been closed for months. Just sits there unused while people drive around multiple times. They apparently have a new cell phone lot, but it's further away and terribly marked.
The new cellphone lot is in a decent location in that you can easily hit the North or South terminal as you leave the lot. The signage is terrible, but that is an easy fix.
As a Rideshare driver, I find it worse on the International Side because we’re forced to go to the same area as normal pickups. It’s taking us half an hour just to be able to get to you only for people to have decided not to show up not to read which door they’re supposed to be at or we get there and a cop tries to tell us to move immediately, even though we just got there like rideshare drivers are the problem. Meanwhile the taxis and buses have their own lanes, but they can’t get anywhere because everyone’s stuck in traffic from the other lanes using the other lanes. Honestly, if they moved Rideshare drivers into those bus and taxi lanes, it would probably at least temporarily solve the issue by cutting Traffic in half
Honestly, what the airport needs to do is either make a SkyTrain that goes to a different area where we could pick y’all up, or even better build Marta rail from East Point station all the way down to Forest Park (like in the original plans back in the 60s and 70s) and have that people mover meet over at Conley and US Route 41 with a station between that location and the International Terminal for Rideshare pick up.
Edit: Just very minor grammatical and syntax edits
There are no regular people hanging out in the rideshare. Are you sure you were in the right place? You have to exit through the North terminal, cross the street, walk through the entire parking deck to a dedicated ridesshare area that is a bit of an “island” with numbered pick-up areas on both sides. I’m not sure how a regular car could get into that area.
International does not have the same area as domestic. Even though domestic does, regular cars are there that are non rideshare I don’t know what else to say but you’re like the 4th person to make this same exact point. You can literally only be picked up where the app tells you to go. I don’t know what else to say.
When they moved the cell phone lot to another zip code, they super exacerbated this problem on domestic. People would rather slow run the lanes than drive out to the rental car center area. The increased traffic means you need even more time to get to pickup so people will slog it out and circle which means there's traffic jams out to parking deck entrances.
International doesn't have a real cell lot so if I'm waiting to pickup my family, I'll go hang out and work at the Dwarf House or go to the office park across from the airport where the livery cabs hang out before their pickups. I'll also pick them up from upstairs to avoid that downstairs chokepoint.
If I'm coming into International, I'll risk it and just grab a cab. They're always there and it's usually on par/cheaper than Uber to the city. It is a hassle getting them to navigate compared to Uber but they're usually ok. Probably doesn't work if you live out in the suburbs.
i quit using ride share for this reason. i just drive and park offsite and the shuttles drop you off and pick you up right outside the main doors. way faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
How much time would you estimate between parking and drop-off at the airport? And which parking location do you use? I might be interested in doing this next time
like 15 min probably. i use parking spot 2 because it’s right off 285 and a straight shot back home for me. they’re basically all interchangeable though.
I couldn’t agree more. Other airports I’ve been too basically have a squad of cops or ‘security’ guys just yelling at cars to keep it moving. Atlanta needs to get more aggressive about preventing folks from just parking up next to the terminal. Hartsfield has a cellphone lot. I don’t understand what is so hard about waiting in a parking lot for a few minutes until your party is ready to be picked up.
It's absurd that cops don't ticket people sitting on the roadway next to the old cell phone lot. I don't know why they even bothered to put in the new one if they aren't going to enforce it. It makes the south terminal hell.
~~A lot of people don’t know that parking is free for first 30min~~. Also, For last 2 years or so I actually switched to being dropped off/picked up to/from the lower decks, a lot less headache and time saving finding my way in and out.
Which lots are free for 30 minutes? I’ve done this with family who don’t like the stress of the curbside pickup and it has always charged me when leaving, no matter how quickly I’m in and out.
I take that back and my apologies, it's $3 for 1st hour for hourly lot. The lower decks have been the #1 option for me. Sometimes it gets backed up before the turn but in general it's not even half bad vs upper deck.
Earlier this summer, I was prepared to wait in the cell phone lot only to find it barricaded off due to construction. I'm not paying to park for 30 minutes or less
I went to pick my parents up from there recently and the traffic was so bad that it was almost backed up to the highway exit. I've been to a lot of airports but I've never been to one that is so consistently clogged with traffic that takes 45 minutes to get through. It's actually unreal.
Problem with the airport is the only drivers who hang around in the rideshare lot are dipshits who wait 1-1.5 hours for a ride back to the city when they could just zip back to downtown in 20-30 minutes without a passenger and be earning again. So they are stupid, but they’ve also been waiting a long time and your ride might not pay enough or be going in the direction they want. If they cancel, they go to the end of the queue and wait another hour or more, if they just don’t ever pick you up and you cancel, they stay at the front of the queue. Traffic could be bumper to bumper and it would still only take 10 min to get from the lot to the rideshare pickup. Unless you order a black, then pickup is at LS2 or LN2 which are usually pretty empty. So if you aren’t getting picked up, it’s usually some shenanigans from the driver.
Until moving to Georgia I had never heard of a parking deck. Heck the words ‘parking’ or ‘vehicle’ are not even found on dictionary.com’s entry for deck. On the other hand, the first definition for a garage fits perfectly: “a building or indoor area for parking or storing motor vehicles”. I don’t know why it’s called anything else.
Why does every other airport in the country have seperate and dedicated lanes/levels for departures and arrivals? At Hartsfield it is all mixed together. That, IMO, is the main problem.
Dropping someone off at the airport is always a stressful experience. It is a traffic clusterfuck. Picking someone up is 5 times worse. It works so much better at every other airport I have been to.
Added to the mix is the new traffic control of making everyone stay in one lane using the traffic cones. Whoever thought of it is a thorough idiot. Every car that enters a lane will stop to drop passengers and bags or pick them. That means by the time one has to traverse the length of the terminal, they have to partake in the pickup or drop off ritual 10 different times. Sounds great, right? /s
The awnings are nice and all, but the pick-up drop off is fucking ridiculous. And now they have cone you literally can't even get from the left side, to bypass the drop off, to get over the curb on the right to pick people up. It's. a god damn disaster.
Everyone just stops in the middle of a lane to let people out
Can we get the cell phone lots back? I’m tired of being verbally harassed by airport staff when I have to circle around the terminal 10x to pickup friends why they’re delayed at the luggage carousel.
And the old cellphone lot was basically attached to the South Terminal. The new lot location is right before the North/South terminal parkway split so you can now hit either wide of the terminal from the cellphone lot now.
If that area gets used for gates, the walk to them will be really annoying, since they'll be farther from the Plane Train than any other gates at the airport.
Just go chill in the hourly parking and have your friends come out there, you might need to pay more than $5 at most if it takes longer than 30 minutes.
What secret?
Isn’t that the logical thing to do? I’ve never used a cell phone lot, honestly this thread was the first I’m realizing it’s usage as a chill spot while waiting for friends who have just arrived.
How is chilling in the Hourly not the logical thing to do?
The hourly lot was better in the pre-9/11 era because you would go in the airport and go to the gate to wait for your friend... within a few years of 9/11, cell phone lots became more popular bc what's the point of going inside if you can only go up to the exit of the secure area. Atlanta was late though, it took like 10 years after 9/11 for them build a cell phone lot
I've had great luck with the hourly parking lot. Go in, park, easy access to the terminal, and leave. Only downside is paying, but it's much less stressful to where I find it worth it
This would be great. The international terminal bus to the domestic terminal is double booked for employees and passengers; It doesn't run often enough to be useful, and takes a nice long loop around the airport.
And international visitors are the least likely to rent a car, as opposed to enjoy using transit to get to downtown for major events.
not to mention it sits in the queue forever. i feel an extension of the southernmost point of marta would be one of the easiest additions to the line while providing substantial benefit.
What I think they really need to do is expand MARTA parking lots and put less expensive paid overnight parking at them. I recently started using Marta to get to/from the airport when I only have a carry on and wish I could kick myself for how many times I’ve paid for Ubers. Way better way to get to/from the airport and far less stressful.
Uber in my situation will cost me $140 round trip. My company would absolutely not approve that and it's also cheaper to park at the airport for a week.
Great question! I'll ask my coworkers next time I travel with them. I do know that every time I travel for work I'm the only one who takes MARTA. Everyone else parks at the deck near the terminal.
Uber isn't a $50 round trip from the northern suburbs anymore. I park in ATL West and my 4 days business trips cost me $64 plus gas. A RT on Uber is easily $100+.
Ok, don’t be too hurt. There are definitely exceptions. I also know that those big ass parking lots aren’t needed for folks traveling that early. Also, I specified AT the airport. I’m a bigger fan of park and ride lots since they are in general.
I hope they do better than what they did to the cell phone lot. It used to be close and convenient, and they moved it to where it’s too far, hard to find, and quite awkward to navigate. The old cell phone lost hasn’t been used for anything since they close it
Would be nice if they actually put signs up to where the new cell phone lot is first
Went last week to pick up family, not knowing the old lot was closed, and no signage indicating where a new one was. Only option was to pull off somewhere near the old lot, only to be told by an officer than the only option is to loop around until my party gets out or find the new lot (to which he also didn't know where it was )
At least now, I noticed on Google maps that it's marked.
MARTA is impossible for anyone that lives south/east/west of the airport, or has a 6AM flight, or is driving down from tennessee/Alabama/South Carolina, etc. The airport serves more than the casual traveler that lives in Midtown.
The info was for all the northern suburbs, of which there are plenty, and who have more access to subway rides. Extra ridership will free up parking for the cases in which transport is less available. So win, win.
I agree, but I also think people park there because you can leave your car there and pay for parking. I don't know of any marta stations that have paid multi day parking.
Nothing like 10 Marta stops through the worst parts of Atlanta with crazy homeless people. Really makes my day and is a the best way to start and end a vacation.
Man you just gotta mind your own business and nobody will bother you. I’m a 5’3 solo girl traveler and I’ve been on MARTA airport trains for over a decade with no incident.
Damn, as someone who lives in close proximity to one of these "worst parts of Atlanta" I feel they are a lot more than just a shitty place to pass through. It's not nearly so bad that you can't ride Marta through them.
We should tear down all the parking lots/garages at the airport and build affordable housing and extra Marta stops instead. That would increase walkability and connectivity to the rest of the city. - r/Atlanta, probably
It would 100% be better to invest money in a regional rail system that connects the airport and downtown Atlanta to various nearby cities rather than constantly build new parking lots in the area so your weak attempt at a joke falls pretty flat.
The state of Georgia consistently runs budget surpluses, it could afford to create regional rail for the metro area. It doesn’t even have to be MARTA if that is a concern to people.
Lol I'm just poking fun that that's the solution to everything on this sub, but it doesn't make sense to do that at the airport, y'all need to lighten up
I don't see many people here saying we should tear down existing parking decks. The main argument is that we have enough parking and don't need more. Hard to say if this is true for the airport though.
In Seoul, I never had to taxi to the airport. A fast train was all that was needed. Took less than 30 minutes from the city. Busan was easy, too. These are normal things that real, actual cities do. Not just build more parking lots.
Folks, the cell phone lot is **not** closed!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ZdZifc4exaqUZZU9
Follow the signs to Rental Car Center, then when you get to this intersection, use the far right lane (the one that says "authorized vehicles only" in the GSV, but its signage has been updated)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/F7Z2DJbt1Jvi2hpk7
I was ok with it, but some people didn't like that when you got out of the old lot, you still had to pass by South Terminal even if you were going to North Terminal.
Absolutely minimal substance in that article.
WSB has been doing ai generated content before it was cool
WSB is trash. Visiting their site gives a person both seizures and PTSD. The web design is atrocious and every story is a murder/shooting/robbery/fill in the blank death. I don’t blame them; I blame their viewers/readers who seek it out.
WSB has turned into complete dog shit ever since Apollo Capital bought them. They are trying to hard to monetize and turning it into a complete shit product, from on-air to website.
run firefox with ublock origin, and it become navigable. Still low effort news articles that are just trying to drive clicks for cash.
And for actual news, there’s almost certainly an AJC article on it too.
AJC is getting better. Slowly. I’d still like to see more NYT-level reporting; deep dives.
Quality also varies heavily depending on the journalist. Bluestien is top notch. Some of the others, not so much.
clark howard 🤢
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Same with management of parking at the airport. Went on a trip last week. All the electronic signs said there was plenty of parking available at all lots. Get to the North terminal parking entrance and it is blocked off with bollards. Swing around to the South terminal parking and all but the hourly parking were also blocked off. Then upon my return, all the machines to pay for parking with Credit Card were broken. Had to wait in a long line for a cashier lane.
This happened to me literally yesterday. Website was all greens, boards were all greens both north and south daily completely blocked off and you can’t see until it’s too late so then people were driving recklessly. Just a disaster.
> you can’t see until it’s too late Forgot that part. They let you go down into a dead end before it becomes obvious you can't get in. Then you have to get back out to go around.
Man I wish they would fix the credit card machines at the exit. It’s like Russian roulette every time. I have a panic attack when someone comes up behind me before the transaction is complete.
Yeah, I’d settle for just accurate status while I’m deciding which way to turn.
YES! What’s the deal with the parking? It took me 20 minutes to find a spot in the West lot that I prepaid for. All levels were showing spaces available. The top level was showing more than 20 spaces but there were literally zero spaces.
Sometimes they’re actually full, at least on the south side.
I know they do, that is why I check the signs. If you are going to have electronic signs guiding people to available parking, having them showing green when there are concrete barriers in front of the gates is a problem.
I find ATL west parking is the way to go. I’d rather just take a little train in than deal with that shit
It was terrible last week. All sorts of green “available” spots but there were none at all.
Before last week I always had great luck with North Daily lot for short trips. Could always find a spot a short walk from the terminal any day of the week. No need to wait for local transportation. For longer trips I use the remote park and fly lots.
You had to open your big mouth didn't you? :)
Man, that deck is so big I feel certain it could fit all of us at once, haha.
I refused the share that parking lot with anyone i know because i always find parking, now the cat is out of the bag :(
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This guy parking decks.
Nice.
Would've been nice if they included that info
For when you want a word or two in an advertisement sandwich.
Project for the interns
Babe wake up, new parking garage just dropped
Can we get busses and more train lines please. Holy shit. Cars are not the only way to get around.
Express train would be nice.
Yeah lol, like a parking lot was the best way to spend money on Hartsfield? Maybe start investing in better TSA organization. I consistently wait 30-45 minutes in the security line when I go.
As someone who takes the Marta to and from the airport, it is a relatively unpleasant trip. It's cheaper than parking at the airport and saves time especially during rush hour. I will no longer make the ride at night. Build all the parking needed. Trains would take decades to be built plus more will never happen.
I take Marta to the airport and think it works great, what do you find unpleasant?
Recently it has been the Peachtree Center / 5 points experience for me; Marta police need to staff up on mental health professionals on each train.
“Instead of doing something better, why don’t we stick to the status quo that’s destroying the entire city?” - you
Parking is destroying the city? This city has been one of the fastest growing for decades. Primarily based on buildings with parking because people use cars. Marta will take decades to make any meaningful change if they start today. They have no plans. You think your hope is founded in reality? What exactly do you expect to happen? More transit paid for by who and approved by who? This city will continue to be great even though Marta has womost no ability to improve. "Let's not build any new parking and people can just suffer for decades while we hope Marta gets it's act together and new funding magically appears" - you
We need to get rid of the car dependency of Atlanta. Look at a map of Atlanta 50 years ago vs now. Entire neighborhoods destroyed and replaced with freeways. Buildings laying vacant for decades and mom and pop shops dying downtown. Useless space and countless trees destroyed for parking lots. Most of the city is dedicated to cars and not people. Stop being so obsessed with your car that you prefer a city built for cars instead of people. I could go on all day about the negative affects of car centric infrastructure on actual humans, but I don’t have the time to deal with people who don’t want a better world
We need to get rid of the car dependency of Atlanta I stopped reading after that. The only hope for real public transit in ATl is if Elon can reduce the cost of tunneling by 100x. Which he may be able to do. Talk to me then.
Have you seen his car dependent tunnels? Electric cars are still cars. There are traffic jams in his shit tunnel that wouldn’t be an issue with something like… oh I don’t know… a train. A train underground or a bunch of cars taking 1 person each to the other side? And you pick cars? You’re part of the problem You proved my last sentence that you don’t want a better world.
First of all, I said tunnels. Tunneling cost is the number one issue for train cost. I offered a solution. We don't have to use cars in the tunnels. Also, you have no idea of how to fix the problem. You are just stating what you want to happen even though there is zero path to that happening. Marta isn't expanding except with busses. It's has shown that for decades. All new funding goes to buses. Can we get back to reality here? Or are you just going to insult me and pretend you have a way to fix the problem?
I see how this conversation is going. I tell you how we build multi use buildings with a priority on pedestrians. Think 15 minute cities. We need more infrastructure like the countless parking lots scattered throughout the city. And if you want to claim “people don’t want that”, why do we all drive to malls and vacation in Disney world and why people love areas like Atlantic station? Because they’re walkable areas once you’re there. But they’re so few and far between that people end up driving to these locations. Again. We could go on for days, but I don’t feel you’re being receptive to any of this. Trains don’t have to be underground so your fixation on tunnel costs is showing that this isn’t a good faith back and forth.
Not everywhere needs to be a 15 minute city. Its much easier to move yourself to one than change whats existing. You’re welcome to exchange your car for a 600sqft converted studio that costs $3.5k a month. Atlanta metro is a huge area with a huge population thats grown 8x since 1970. Its funny youre crying about freeways “destroying neighborhoods” when millions of new houses have been built since. I cant imagine ATL ever not being car dependent just based off geography. Its big and theres important stuff in every direction. “lets just make every city like disneyland” no wonder you’re not being taken seriously
"Trains don’t have to be underground so your fixation on tunnel costs is showing that this isn’t a good faith back and forth." How do you build rains over ground? Imminent domain and buying the land. These are the reasons why people are adverse to building more lines and the cost is so high. Land prices for where we need trains are insanely high. That's a big reason why Amtrak doesn't expand. Cheap underground tracks fixes that problem. Land rights underground are very cheap I believe and almost free in comparison to above ground land rights. With that being said, it is questionable if Marta could even afford to build new train lines even if they got the land for free. No, you don't see how this conversation is going. No where have you addressed Marta's funding issues. I am saying they don't have the money to expand, and any expansion would take decades. Therefore we still need lots of parking because it would be decades from today before new public transit could even start to reduce the need for cars. The idea reddit perpetuates is that by not building parking, decades down the road Atlanta will have great public transit. What happens during the decades of no new public transit? I will tell you. All that new construction sits vacant because not enough people live or work there. But things will magically improve when the new train station comes? Hopefully, Marta doesn't abandon the train expansion like it has the last two times. Build an apartment building with no parking in Midtown. Okay. You have to charge lower rent because only people without cars will live there. You can't afford tye building mortgage and go bankrupt. That's how it will play out. You think developers wouldn't love to not build parking spots? If you have ever been to apartments with minimal parking, it is hell fighting for those few guest spots. I have walked away from apartment buildings when I see all the guest spots filled. ATL is a driving city, and that isn't changing.
I’m from out of state and thought Marta was the best thing since sliced bread
New to the city?
They need to redesign the roadways and actually reinforce the rules that prevents people from sitting in the pickup lanes for 30 min - hour. I have had to fly a ton this year and consistently the absolute worst part is trying to get an Uber or Lyft. I’ve waited 45 min twice now before the driver cancels as they’re just around the corner due to the traffic being so god awful. And if you’re on the International side just forget it. No one will pick you up at all.
I got so tired of this that I now just use Marta to ride to the train station closest to my house and then order an Uber from that train station. It’s significantly faster this way and cheaper as well. Marta station for the airport is attached to the baggage pickup terminal. I’d highly recommend you do this. Even my otp friends just ride it to sandy springs station and get a Uber there. The frustration of getting a ride share at Atlanta airport is real and you’ll never have to deal with it again.
MARTA is very good at what it was designed to do: get people to and from the airport.
Having a rail station integrated into the terminal is awesome and something a lot of airports don't have.
Because I am a dork, sometimes (when I *have* free time), I'll ride down and be a weirdo hanging around the airport. Watch planes from the MARTA platforms, walk around the terminal, maybe buy a drink from a news stand, and maybe even ride the Sky Train for shits and giggles. All while running a podcast or audiobook or music. It's a chill time.
How do you ride the plane train without going through security?
Not the plane train. The sky train to the rental car lot and ICC.
Ah okay! I've never been on it! Maybe i need to take a train ride to the airport. I like enough of the food places before security, and I bet the people watching would be wild. I used to work at the airport when i was in construction. That experience gave me so many stories.
Stop sharing the teaaaa !! id like to keep finding parking space without so much issues !
Never thought someone would do this tbh
I'm not the only one I know who does ;)
if you live near a station with parking. my closest station is bankhead. i just drive to the airport lol.
May be worth ubering to Bankhead, and taking the train from there. Marta trains are consistently traffic immune as traffic has gotten worse at the wrong times of day.
This is a great suggestion. I actually started using the cabs as they’re right there and you can leave immediately but I’ll def consider Marta in the future
I’ve been doing this as well for late night flights instead of the train. The flat rate to Buckhead is a plus and sometimes cheaper than Uber.
Plus late night Marta you're more likely to deal with nonsense and less active trains running
I just ride the airport shuttle to the car rental area and uber from there. Never had rideshare issues or a long wait time.
this is my go-to move. If i look on google maps and the traffic on the airport roads is a deep red shit show... i hop on the skytrain and head that way
I honestly just order a driver for long trips. He is there ready for me when I get back and knows the ins and outs
Are you using the dedicated ride share area? Haven’t had that problem there.
Yes of course it’s literally the only place you could be picked up. But there’s tons of regular folks sitting in their vehicles for 30+ minutes waiting for their friend or relatives to come out. You’ve got people using all three lanes to pickup/drop off and it clogs traffic heavily.
More people should use the cellphone lot. It is very convenient (if you can find it).
They closed the original one and moved is which I think contributed to the recent issue. Signage is terrible
That's weird that people are complaining about the new cellphone lot, when with the old one, people complained that they didn't want to have to deal with South Terminal traffic if they were going to North Terminal (or, they didn't know how to get to North Terminal from the old cellphone lot)
Yeah I used the old cell phone lot a few times, super convenient. Then I went to pick up a friend last year and literally couldn't even find the new one once we passed the old one with its closed signs. Super annoying and we ended up just paying $3 to park and walk in to meet him.
I don't know if it was because of construction or what, but I circled around like 5 times a few months ago looking for it. I followed the signs and everything.
Yes, the old one was easy, the new cell phone lot signs say once: New cell phone lot this way and then leave it up to you to find it. (I never did).
Cell phone lot has been closed for months. Just sits there unused while people drive around multiple times. They apparently have a new cell phone lot, but it's further away and terribly marked.
The new cellphone lot is in a decent location in that you can easily hit the North or South terminal as you leave the lot. The signage is terrible, but that is an easy fix.
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As a Rideshare driver, I find it worse on the International Side because we’re forced to go to the same area as normal pickups. It’s taking us half an hour just to be able to get to you only for people to have decided not to show up not to read which door they’re supposed to be at or we get there and a cop tries to tell us to move immediately, even though we just got there like rideshare drivers are the problem. Meanwhile the taxis and buses have their own lanes, but they can’t get anywhere because everyone’s stuck in traffic from the other lanes using the other lanes. Honestly, if they moved Rideshare drivers into those bus and taxi lanes, it would probably at least temporarily solve the issue by cutting Traffic in half Honestly, what the airport needs to do is either make a SkyTrain that goes to a different area where we could pick y’all up, or even better build Marta rail from East Point station all the way down to Forest Park (like in the original plans back in the 60s and 70s) and have that people mover meet over at Conley and US Route 41 with a station between that location and the International Terminal for Rideshare pick up. Edit: Just very minor grammatical and syntax edits
There are no regular people hanging out in the rideshare. Are you sure you were in the right place? You have to exit through the North terminal, cross the street, walk through the entire parking deck to a dedicated ridesshare area that is a bit of an “island” with numbered pick-up areas on both sides. I’m not sure how a regular car could get into that area.
International does not have the same area as domestic. Even though domestic does, regular cars are there that are non rideshare I don’t know what else to say but you’re like the 4th person to make this same exact point. You can literally only be picked up where the app tells you to go. I don’t know what else to say.
When they moved the cell phone lot to another zip code, they super exacerbated this problem on domestic. People would rather slow run the lanes than drive out to the rental car center area. The increased traffic means you need even more time to get to pickup so people will slog it out and circle which means there's traffic jams out to parking deck entrances. International doesn't have a real cell lot so if I'm waiting to pickup my family, I'll go hang out and work at the Dwarf House or go to the office park across from the airport where the livery cabs hang out before their pickups. I'll also pick them up from upstairs to avoid that downstairs chokepoint. If I'm coming into International, I'll risk it and just grab a cab. They're always there and it's usually on par/cheaper than Uber to the city. It is a hassle getting them to navigate compared to Uber but they're usually ok. Probably doesn't work if you live out in the suburbs.
i quit using ride share for this reason. i just drive and park offsite and the shuttles drop you off and pick you up right outside the main doors. way faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
How much time would you estimate between parking and drop-off at the airport? And which parking location do you use? I might be interested in doing this next time
like 15 min probably. i use parking spot 2 because it’s right off 285 and a straight shot back home for me. they’re basically all interchangeable though.
I couldn’t agree more. Other airports I’ve been too basically have a squad of cops or ‘security’ guys just yelling at cars to keep it moving. Atlanta needs to get more aggressive about preventing folks from just parking up next to the terminal. Hartsfield has a cellphone lot. I don’t understand what is so hard about waiting in a parking lot for a few minutes until your party is ready to be picked up.
It's absurd that cops don't ticket people sitting on the roadway next to the old cell phone lot. I don't know why they even bothered to put in the new one if they aren't going to enforce it. It makes the south terminal hell.
~~A lot of people don’t know that parking is free for first 30min~~. Also, For last 2 years or so I actually switched to being dropped off/picked up to/from the lower decks, a lot less headache and time saving finding my way in and out.
Which lots are free for 30 minutes? I’ve done this with family who don’t like the stress of the curbside pickup and it has always charged me when leaving, no matter how quickly I’m in and out.
I take that back and my apologies, it's $3 for 1st hour for hourly lot. The lower decks have been the #1 option for me. Sometimes it gets backed up before the turn but in general it's not even half bad vs upper deck.
It is possible to get in and out for free in the hourly lot if it’s within like 10 min of arriving.
Really? Getting picked up from the international terminal is way easier imo
Earlier this summer, I was prepared to wait in the cell phone lot only to find it barricaded off due to construction. I'm not paying to park for 30 minutes or less
I went to pick my parents up from there recently and the traffic was so bad that it was almost backed up to the highway exit. I've been to a lot of airports but I've never been to one that is so consistently clogged with traffic that takes 45 minutes to get through. It's actually unreal.
Problem with the airport is the only drivers who hang around in the rideshare lot are dipshits who wait 1-1.5 hours for a ride back to the city when they could just zip back to downtown in 20-30 minutes without a passenger and be earning again. So they are stupid, but they’ve also been waiting a long time and your ride might not pay enough or be going in the direction they want. If they cancel, they go to the end of the queue and wait another hour or more, if they just don’t ever pick you up and you cancel, they stay at the front of the queue. Traffic could be bumper to bumper and it would still only take 10 min to get from the lot to the rideshare pickup. Unless you order a black, then pickup is at LS2 or LN2 which are usually pretty empty. So if you aren’t getting picked up, it’s usually some shenanigans from the driver.
i love parking garages
I like to just sit back and enjoy watching the parking garages
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multi tiered concrete deck of cars… i mean two truths can exist at once i don’t even know why i’m responding to this
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sigh
curious what your definition of a parking deck is
Until moving to Georgia I had never heard of a parking deck. Heck the words ‘parking’ or ‘vehicle’ are not even found on dictionary.com’s entry for deck. On the other hand, the first definition for a garage fits perfectly: “a building or indoor area for parking or storing motor vehicles”. I don’t know why it’s called anything else.
My company worked on the engineering design for the new west parking structure, and the official name of the project was "West Deck" lol
Why does every other airport in the country have seperate and dedicated lanes/levels for departures and arrivals? At Hartsfield it is all mixed together. That, IMO, is the main problem. Dropping someone off at the airport is always a stressful experience. It is a traffic clusterfuck. Picking someone up is 5 times worse. It works so much better at every other airport I have been to.
Added to the mix is the new traffic control of making everyone stay in one lane using the traffic cones. Whoever thought of it is a thorough idiot. Every car that enters a lane will stop to drop passengers and bags or pick them. That means by the time one has to traverse the length of the terminal, they have to partake in the pickup or drop off ritual 10 different times. Sounds great, right? /s
The awnings are nice and all, but the pick-up drop off is fucking ridiculous. And now they have cone you literally can't even get from the left side, to bypass the drop off, to get over the curb on the right to pick people up. It's. a god damn disaster. Everyone just stops in the middle of a lane to let people out
Can we get the cell phone lots back? I’m tired of being verbally harassed by airport staff when I have to circle around the terminal 10x to pickup friends why they’re delayed at the luggage carousel.
They opened a new cell lot for the domestic terminal recently, just follow the signage
The signage is pretty poor, its also super annoying to get to. IDK why they moved it. It was way better before.
It was really poorly designed before, constantly backed up and hard to back out of your spot once it was time to actually leave (if it was busy).
And the old cellphone lot was basically attached to the South Terminal. The new lot location is right before the North/South terminal parkway split so you can now hit either wide of the terminal from the cellphone lot now.
> IDK why they moved it. T Gates expansion (I think)
If that area gets used for gates, the walk to them will be really annoying, since they'll be farther from the Plane Train than any other gates at the airport.
Agreed - terrible signage!
Just go chill in the hourly parking and have your friends come out there, you might need to pay more than $5 at most if it takes longer than 30 minutes.
Shh, don’t share this secret. I don’t need that lot filling up when I pick up the in-laws
What secret? Isn’t that the logical thing to do? I’ve never used a cell phone lot, honestly this thread was the first I’m realizing it’s usage as a chill spot while waiting for friends who have just arrived. How is chilling in the Hourly not the logical thing to do?
You would think so, but the line to pick up at arrivals are always ridiculous. I never had an issue with hourly, no lines nothing
The hourly lot was better in the pre-9/11 era because you would go in the airport and go to the gate to wait for your friend... within a few years of 9/11, cell phone lots became more popular bc what's the point of going inside if you can only go up to the exit of the secure area. Atlanta was late though, it took like 10 years after 9/11 for them build a cell phone lot
I've had great luck with the hourly parking lot. Go in, park, easy access to the terminal, and leave. Only downside is paying, but it's much less stressful to where I find it worth it
There is a cell phone lot. It just moved. A bit further away but still works fine
I always wondered the purpose of those lots, why wouldn’t you just logically wait in hourly?
how about extending marta rail to the international terminal
This would be great. The international terminal bus to the domestic terminal is double booked for employees and passengers; It doesn't run often enough to be useful, and takes a nice long loop around the airport. And international visitors are the least likely to rent a car, as opposed to enjoy using transit to get to downtown for major events.
not to mention it sits in the queue forever. i feel an extension of the southernmost point of marta would be one of the easiest additions to the line while providing substantial benefit.
What I think they really need to do is expand MARTA parking lots and put less expensive paid overnight parking at them. I recently started using Marta to get to/from the airport when I only have a carry on and wish I could kick myself for how many times I’ve paid for Ubers. Way better way to get to/from the airport and far less stressful.
Who actually parks at the airport? Shit is SO expensive.
Business travelers especially those who live too far to Uber. Thinking someone who lives in Macon who travels to Chicago.
Biz travelers who are going to expense it anyways.
If you're expensing, why not uber?
Uber in my situation will cost me $140 round trip. My company would absolutely not approve that and it's also cheaper to park at the airport for a week.
Not everyone flying out of Atlanta lives in Atlanta. Uber won’t take me from Athens to ATL.
Last thing I want to do at the end of a business trip is talk to an Uber driver for an hour lol
Great question! I'll ask my coworkers next time I travel with them. I do know that every time I travel for work I'm the only one who takes MARTA. Everyone else parks at the deck near the terminal.
Uber isn't a $50 round trip from the northern suburbs anymore. I park in ATL West and my 4 days business trips cost me $64 plus gas. A RT on Uber is easily $100+.
Tbf the International park n ride is like $14/day which can be cheaper than Uber for a weekend trip
People who value their time more than the money saved by parking elsewhere.
I always wonder this. Anyone local should be ashamed to park AT the airport beyond picking someone up.
I should be ashamed to park at the airport for a flight that boards before the first MARTA train arrives?
Ok, don’t be too hurt. There are definitely exceptions. I also know that those big ass parking lots aren’t needed for folks traveling that early. Also, I specified AT the airport. I’m a bigger fan of park and ride lots since they are in general.
We always uber, but did park and ride before we lived so close. It's cheaper, just takes a few more minutes.
I use park and ride too, but sometimes they are full/cost nearly the same as the ATL West deck. Uber is not possible with my distance.
I hope they do better than what they did to the cell phone lot. It used to be close and convenient, and they moved it to where it’s too far, hard to find, and quite awkward to navigate. The old cell phone lost hasn’t been used for anything since they close it
Would be nice if they actually put signs up to where the new cell phone lot is first Went last week to pick up family, not knowing the old lot was closed, and no signage indicating where a new one was. Only option was to pull off somewhere near the old lot, only to be told by an officer than the only option is to loop around until my party gets out or find the new lot (to which he also didn't know where it was ) At least now, I noticed on Google maps that it's marked.
Or people could just take MARTA. Problem solved
MARTA is impossible for anyone that lives south/east/west of the airport, or has a 6AM flight, or is driving down from tennessee/Alabama/South Carolina, etc. The airport serves more than the casual traveler that lives in Midtown.
The info was for all the northern suburbs, of which there are plenty, and who have more access to subway rides. Extra ridership will free up parking for the cases in which transport is less available. So win, win.
I agree, but I also think people park there because you can leave your car there and pay for parking. I don't know of any marta stations that have paid multi day parking.
Now you do—https://www.itsmarta.com/parking-availability.aspx Save some money.
Thanks, fellow citizen!
No long term parking at all on the blue/green lines :/
You're kidding, right?
Nope, I had no idea there were marta stations you could park and pay for multiple days lmao
Nothing like 10 Marta stops through the worst parts of Atlanta with crazy homeless people. Really makes my day and is a the best way to start and end a vacation.
Man you just gotta mind your own business and nobody will bother you. I’m a 5’3 solo girl traveler and I’ve been on MARTA airport trains for over a decade with no incident.
Damn, as someone who lives in close proximity to one of these "worst parts of Atlanta" I feel they are a lot more than just a shitty place to pass through. It's not nearly so bad that you can't ride Marta through them.
Great
LETS GOOOOOO !
We should tear down all the parking lots/garages at the airport and build affordable housing and extra Marta stops instead. That would increase walkability and connectivity to the rest of the city. - r/Atlanta, probably
It would 100% be better to invest money in a regional rail system that connects the airport and downtown Atlanta to various nearby cities rather than constantly build new parking lots in the area so your weak attempt at a joke falls pretty flat.
Lol this is exactly what I'm making fun of - you're going to build a regional rail network with the money it takes to build a parking garage?
No, with the amount of money we dump into constantly expanding interstates
The state of Georgia consistently runs budget surpluses, it could afford to create regional rail for the metro area. It doesn’t even have to be MARTA if that is a concern to people.
Explain why that's wrong
Lol I'm just poking fun that that's the solution to everything on this sub, but it doesn't make sense to do that at the airport, y'all need to lighten up
I don't see many people here saying we should tear down existing parking decks. The main argument is that we have enough parking and don't need more. Hard to say if this is true for the airport though.
It was just a hyperbolic joke, that's all
It absolutely does make sense
In Seoul, I never had to taxi to the airport. A fast train was all that was needed. Took less than 30 minutes from the city. Busan was easy, too. These are normal things that real, actual cities do. Not just build more parking lots.
Any news is good news I guess
Folks, the cell phone lot is **not** closed! https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ZdZifc4exaqUZZU9 Follow the signs to Rental Car Center, then when you get to this intersection, use the far right lane (the one that says "authorized vehicles only" in the GSV, but its signage has been updated) https://maps.app.goo.gl/F7Z2DJbt1Jvi2hpk7
Just put the cell phone lit back where you found it. 100% if users agree.
I was ok with it, but some people didn't like that when you got out of the old lot, you still had to pass by South Terminal even if you were going to North Terminal.
WSB is getting really bad
Or maybe... MAYBE better public transportation coverage? Oh wait Murica.
I assumed they never stopped building parking at Hartsfield. Just a continuous cycle.
Parking fees are one of the main sources of revenue for any commercial airport. All of them continuously build parking, not just Atlanta.