MaxieZ's Page

Random Thoughts, Rantings and BS from a lunatic

Main

whois maxiez

encryption

Local Time:
Local Metric Time:
Internet Time:

Halloween:
52 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes

52 Days or 1269 Hours or 76169 Minutes or 4570140 Seconds.

Some information about you

IP: 38.107.191.118

port: 44263

Browser:

OS:

City: Washington, DC

Weather Conditions:
Mostly Cloudy

Temperature:
78.0 F (69 M, 25 C, 298 K)

Make Tiny Link

Marta

Marta is the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit System. It mainly consists of 2 rail lines (with slight deviation) and a bus system. I've been taking marta regularly I moved into downtown Atlanta. At first I took it only to work and back. I had a working car and it was mainly so as I felt good about leaving my wife the car etc...
However in January our only car broke down. Due to an expected large sum of money coming, we put off getting a car for 4 months. When the money did finally arrive, we didn't care anymore. The car was totaled. We didn't see any reason to fix the car.
As such I've gotten quite familiar with marta. So I made the map above to help locate areas around stations. The second map is the main rail map. I hope these help you.

Here are some tips I've learned about marta.

Never count on a bus. When you need it to be there it won't be. So if you have to take a bus, have a backup plan.

If you're in 5 points station waiting on a train and it's busy, get in the middle of the station. The doors open to the outside first. So most people leave out that way. By the time the inner doors open, the seats are empty and the people on the outside are still fighting through all the people to get in.

Take every train going your way. You might think it's better to wait for the train headed all the way to where you're going, but it's generally not. Go as far as you can, as there are trains that only go part of the way. So it can be faster to take two trains, then one long one.

Marta is not a scary place. Just remain calm and enjoy the ride. The majority of people on marta are there because they don't have a car. So yes, a lot of people are poor. It's certainly not a country club and there are very odd people there sometimes. However, if you keep your cool you'll find them more entertaining than frightening. I only say this as advice. Most of the time no one will say a word and will just sit in silence

One of the best things about marta is that you don't have to pay attention during your commute. Take a book. Invest in an mp3 player. Take a nap!

Hacking Marta

Marta's not perfect. They have some design flaws. I've spoken to a few drivers and found they agree. They blame it on "southern hospitality" and trusting everyone. So here are their problems as I see it.

Poor supervision at small stations.
This isn't true at 5 points station, but at most others there is little management at the turn stiles. Now of course you can just jump them, but that would be silly. They all have handicapped stalls that you can just swing open and walk on through. You'll often be told to do this or forced to even as other stalls simply won't operate.

Transfers
This is the worse flaw marta has. Marta implements a system of transfers that are designed to allow you to pay once and ride from bus to train to bus. This system was designed to make it easy on the rider. From a bus they will give you a card with a magnetic strip. These are the better of the transfers. However, they don't always work so you'll often end up just leaving it on the turn stile and walking right in.
The rail to bus transfers are just slips of paper. You could easily forge these, but there's really no need. You can pick them up at most train stations and ride for free on a bus there. I, of course, don't endorse or practice this. I'm only pointing out the flaws they have. However I did test it. I got on a bus and rode home with a transfer. As I got off the bus I payed the fare and explained myself to the bus driver.
It should be noted also that every rail station gives white cards except 5 points. It gives pink ones. Therefore you can use the white ones at any station. The pink ones at any station except 5 points.

Marta is very trusting as I said. If you act and look the part, you can do just about anything

Marta's physical security consists of a few elderly (generally) attendants at some stations, and surveillance cameras. I'm very confident that no one is watching the cameras, and I'm almost as sure no one watches them. After the bombings in London, they added guards at 5 points station with machine guns. The irony of this is they were only at 5 points station. You could get on at any other station giving grandma the slip and come into the station without so much as a hicup.

News

Google News