Atlanta Public Transit
Atlanta’s public transit, MARTA, operates a combination of rail and bus services throughout downtown and the city’s intown neighborhoods and outer suburbs. Especially in the city’s core around Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead, public transit can be the quickest and easiest way to get around the city.
Many of the suburban MARTA stations have free parking, so if there are only a few people in your group, it may be cheaper and more convenient if you are staying outside of downtown to park at a station and ride downtown rather than attempt to find scarce and expensive parking once there.
See also:
– Traveling to Atlanta by train
Public Transit In Atlanta
Atlanta’s public transportation is overseen by the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, known as MARTA. At the center of Atlanta’s transit is its train system, providing rapid travel along the city’s main north-south and east-west arteries, and connecting its central business and residential areas to more outlying suburbs and the airport. A large network of bus routes intersects with these rail lines and provides transport to and between areas not directly served by them.
These rail and bus routes operate alongside several other networks: several regional bus services that provide transport in adjacent counties, connecting with Atlanta’s bus and rail routes; the Atlanta Streetcar, a short line offering transportation through the center of Downtown; and several free shuttles that connect MARTA train stations to local malls and campuses.
For most tourists, the rail system is the best option for car-free travel through the city, as its serves most areas of likely interest to tourists. You can plan your trip through MARTA’s website, or alternatively use the interface provided through Google Maps.
MARTA – Train
The core of MARTA’s public transit system is its heavy rail services, with two east-west and two north-south lines connecting at downtown Five Points. See MARTA’s train route map
Train services operate daily between approximately 5am and 2am weekdays, and between 6am and 1am on weekends and holidays.
On weekends, trains run every 20 minutes all day. On weekdays, trains arrive every 15 minutes between 6am-7pm, and every 20 minutes outside of this period.
MARTA – Bus
MARTA’s bus network has much broader coverage than its rail network, serving suburbs and the more outlying intown neighborhoods as well as the central Downtown and Midtown areas. See MARTA’s bus route map
Generally speaking, bus services in Atlanta operate between 5am and 1:30am on weekdays, and between 5am and 12:30am on weekends and holidays, although the precise operating times vary by route. Bus frequency varies by route.
Tickets & Fares
Fares The standard fare to ride a MARTA bus or train is $2.50 for a single trip. Discounted fares of $1 are available for seniors and people with disabilities. Two children under 46 inches tall may ride for free with each paying adult.
Included in the fare are up to 4 free transfers, available within a period of 3 hours from the start of your trip.
How to pay Riding MARTA trains requires the purchase of a $2 Breeze Card, onto which you can load cash value, or single or multi-trip tickets and passes.
Each traveler needs their own separate Breeze Card.
The easiest way to buy a Breeze Card is at one of the vending machines inside of any MARTA train station. They can also be purchased at RideStores or online (delivery for online purchases takes about a week).
Unfortunately, some reduced fare products can only be purchased in person, at either the Five Points RideStore or at MARTA headquarters.
Multi-trip tickets 10-trip and 20-trip tickets can be loaded onto a Breeze Card. The 10-trip pass costs the same as buying that number of tickets individually, and offers only convenience. The 20-trip ticket costs $42.50, offering a discount of 37.5 cents on the regular fare; effectively, 20 trips for the price of 17.
Multi-day passes Multi-day passes are also available for 1-4 days, 7 days or 30 days, which can offer an economy compared to paying several separate fares if you plan to do a lot of traveling around the city. The longer the duration of the pass, the greater the saving.
You need to take 4 or more trips in a day to save money on the $9 1-day pass, and 6 or more trips over 2 days to save with the $14 2-day pass. For week-long visits, a 7-day pass ($23.75) will often make sense, as you only need to make 10 trips over 7 days to economise over the cost of individual trips.
Some connecting transit networks also use the Breeze Card system, with free transfers available to services on Gwinnett County Transit, CobbLinc and Xpress. Please note, however, that the Atlanta Streetcar is not currently fully integrated within the Breeze Card system.