Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority: A Simplified Topological Design for MARTA Bus Lines

The purpose of this capstone project is to explore an alternative to the current maps for the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). MARTA currently has maps for their high speed rail transportation, each individual bus line, a map of all routes currently serviced by MARTA, and a map focusing on the downtown area’s bus lines. Therefore, the research question asks; is there a way to make the maps for MARTA easier to understand for the user? The hypothesis states; using the simplified topological design approach, made famous by Harry Beck’s London Underground tube system, the MARTA users can better understand the bus lines they’re using. The methodology used is mostly digitizing and re-projecting spatial aspects of the current public transit routes. Three maps focused on bus lines that service: 1) a particular station, 2) a list of tourist destinations, and 3) a mile radius around the Five Points metro stop. Data from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) was used to complete this project. ArcGIS and excel were used to create these maps, as well as Microsoft Paint to present these maps in a neat way. After a thorough analysis, recommendations included: 1) continuing the station example approach for each of the bus stations on the MARTA lines; 2) creating a pamphlet for tourists to use public transportation with the maps created in this project; 3) and considering a different approach for the downtown corridor maps as the detail is lost when looking at such a large scale