1. MARTA HISTORY
MAX Program
April 16, 2018

2. HISTORY: MARTA ACT 1965 MARTA Act:
Defines governance structure – Board of Directors
Authorizes levy of one cent sales tax subject to voter referendum
Authorizes execution of transportation services contract (bus services only) with any county within the five county region
Permits provision of transportation services throughout the state with the exception of rail services.
MARTOC Act:
GA General Assembly created the MARTOC in as a joint Senate and House overview committee.

3. MARTA HISTORY: 1962 – GA forms commission to study rapid transit
1965 – GA General Assembly passes Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Act; local referendum to participate in Transit Authority passes in Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett Counties and City of Atlanta; referendum fails in Cobb County
1966 – MARTA is established as an agency
Referendum to allow MARTA to move into capital program fails in Fulton, DeKalb and City of Atlanta due to a weak financial plan
Special rapid transit referendum passes in Fulton and DeKalb for one cent sales tax but fails in Clayton and Gwinnett counties (all system construction, service and revenue proposals deleted for the two counties)

4. MARTA HISTORY:
MARTA purchases the Atlanta Transit System; Local one cent transit tax becomes effective and first revenue from the tax is collected
1974 – Construction on the rapid rail system begins, railcar designs are revealed
1977- The initial Federal commitment of $800 million toward construction of the first phase of the rapid transit system completed
MARTA begins rail operations on the East Line – Avondale to GA State; construction on Airport Station begins
Revenue service begins on the North/South Line from North Avenue to Garnett Street

5. MARTA HISTORY: 1980 – Rail operations begin on the West Line
1988 – South Line extended to the Airport; Ground breaking for Proctor Creek Branch – Bankhead Station
2000 – 48 mile rail system completed with terminus at North Springs
2005 – Breeze smart card fare collection system introduced at Bankhead Station
2014 – GA Legislation authorizes Clayton County to sponsor a referendum to join the MARTA system; voters approve the one cent sales tax referendum
2016 – GA Legislation allows City of Atlanta to raise sales tax and city voters approve additional half cent for MARTA expansion.

6. MARTA 2018 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Rhonda Briggins| Senior Director, Government Relations Relations

7. HB 930 – Overview: Atlanta Transit Link (ATL)
Sweeping legislation that creates a new regional transit authority, currently referred to as “The Atlanta Transit Link” or “The ATL”, that will manage governance and funding covering as many as 13 metro counties.
The 13 counties will be divided into 10 “districts” and the 16 member ATL Board will be made up of one representative per district (10), 2 appointees each from the Speaker of the House and the Lt. Governor (4), and an appointee from the Governor (1) (Chair) as well as the GDOT Commissioner (1) (ex-officio).
The ATL will be “administratively attached” to GRTA.

8. HB 930 – What it means for MARTA
MARTA remains completely intact and retains full autonomy
MARTA retains full autonomy over pursuit of federal funding for expansion
The ATL will become the designated recipient for all federal formula funding
MARTA is the designated operator of all rail service across the 13 county area
MARTA will be required to “rebrand” from 2019 thru 2023
MARTA retains autonomy over our governance and financial arrangements within our existing footprint.
MARTA retains autonomy over pursing federal funding for any and all projects that appear in our engineering report through December 1, 2018.
Section requires MARTA to being rebranding assets of ≥ $250,000 by January 1, 2019 and all other assets through January 1, It is not yet clear whether this will be a full rebranding or a “co-branding”.

9. HB 930 – What it means for transit expansion
Counties other than the current MARTA jurisdictions (and possibly Gwinnett County – see below) can opt-in to join The ATL for up to a $.01 referendum.
Gwinnett County
Fulton County
Cobb County
Governor Deal pledged $100 million in this year’s budget in state bonds for transit per his signing of HB 930
Gwinnett County retains the option of holding a referendum for MARTA service provided that referendum is held this November. If not, any referendum held at a later date would be to join The ATL.
Fulton County will have the option of calling for a referendum to increase their transit sales tax by 20% of a penny that would be used for non-heavy-rail expansion.
Cobb County will have the option of voting on a special tax district for transit that will be designated by a collaboration between the Cobb County legislative delegation and the Cobb County Commission.

10. Questions?