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Davidson also said streetcars weren’t always a no-brainer but that the study’s findings weren’t surprising either.
Public comments on the Tier 1 findings close Sept. 17. Members of the public can review the Tier 1 report and offer their official comments here.
Once the MARTA finalizes the Tier 1 report and the Federal Transit Administration approves it, work will begin on the more detailed Tier 2 of the environmental study. Then comes design and engineering of the transit segments, and finally construction.
The BeltLine’s “Transit Implementation Strategy” will determine which segments are moved through Tier 2 process first, according to Davidson, who adds that “it is possible that multiple projects could be ongoing simultaneously over the next several years.
While Atlanta Beltline Inc. is the lead local agency for Beltline transit, the EIS is being sponsored by FTA and MARTA, who are responsible for its completion. AECOM Inc. and Jacobs, two large planning and engineering firms, are doing much of the work.
The Tier 1 report includes other details about transit service, some of which were outlined in earlier phases of the study but are worth repeating:
• There are expected to be about 50 stations along the 22-mile route, or slightly more than one every half-mile.
• Travel time around the entire loop is estimated at 71 minutes (whether streetcars or light rail are used).
• Service frequency is “assumed to be 10 minutes during the peak period, 12 minutes during the off-peak period, and 15 and 30 minutes for evening and late evening, respectively.”
• Both streetcars and light-rail cars would be powered by overhead lines.
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Modern streetcars are now manufactured in the Portland, Oregon area (U. S. jobs) and Portland has a successful mix of streetcars, light rail and busses with the streetcar system being expanded and the light rail system being expanded.