Public Transportation: Marta vs. Metro - Sheng Zhao

After reading Vikrum's post on Public Transportation, I have some interest thoughts.

Japanese Subway "Pushers"

Public transportation is always an important issue for a metropolitan area and usually big cities like Atlanta and Washington. DC would have subways to transport people from point A to point B. However, the designs of the subways are not the same. Some are better and some are worse...

Also coming from Washington Metropolitan area, I felt a strong connection with Vikrum's comparison between Marta and Metro after reading his blog post. There is no doubt that Marta is way easier to navigate around for a person who has never ridden on subways before. The flat fare allows maximum convenience that people don't have to search around and look for the right ticket price. Also, Metro has a complicated schedule of rush hour and non-rush hour and the price of ticket also depends on whether it is rush hour. The price can go up to $4.00 during rush hours. Even though all Metro lines are color-coded, they are still very hard to remember because multiple lines may share the same lane and passengers need to make sure to get on the right train; otherwise, who knows where the train would go to? In addition, the rail is always in zigzags, so it is very uncomfortable to ride. You will be front and back, left and right like riding a mild roller-coaster.

I believe the key of public transportation is to transport large amount of people in a cheap, fast and efficient manner. After assessing these qualities, I would say Marta is better because it's cheaper and easy to ride.
However, one thing I have to bring up is that Metro seems to have more people riding than Marta does. Everyday in during the two rush-hour periods (opening to 9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m), people have trouble even getting onto the train. But in Atlanta, when I get on a train, there aren't as many people. Perhaps, because of the extensiveness of sprawling in Atlanta, people do not live next to the Marta line and they prefer driving. Also, due the the cross shape rail, it does not cover the ground in the corners, so it is hard for people living there to get on Marta.

~Sheng Zhao