Noah is a member of the MARTA Riders' Advisory Council.

Construction continues on MARTA’s Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or the Rapid A-Line as it is now branded, a 2.5-mile bus rapid transit route designed to provide a fast, reliable, and frequent connection to and from Downtown, Capitol Gateway, Peoplestown, Summerhill, and the Beltline.

Although the route is expected to launch in late 2025, the success of this critical transit project – as well as the success of MARTA’s other BRT projects – largely hinges on the Georgia legislature. For the second year in a row, MARTA is asking the state legislature, known as the Georgia General Assembly, to pass legislation allowing MARTA to use automated camera enforcement to protect Summerhill BRT’s bus-only lanes. This legislation is critical to ensuring fast and reliable transit service by preserving bus lanes for buses and ticketing drivers who park or drive in the dedicated lanes. 

However, with Summerhill BRT expected to open before the next legislative session, this may be the last chance to pass MARTA’s BRT bus lane legislation and guarantee that Summerhill BRT’s launch is a success. 

Act now: contact your state representative and senator today in support of the bill (House Bill 638) and metro Atlanta’s transit expansion. 

How can I support MARTA's proposed legislation?

Please contact your state representative and senator and tell them you support MARTA’s BRT bus lane enforcement bill, identified as House Bill (HB) 638. You can find your legislators on the General Assembly government website. Enter your address to find your state House and Senate districts. Click each district to find the contact information for your state representative and senator. 

The most effective approach here is the simplest: call your legislator, let them know you are a constituent, and ask them to support HB 638. You can also write to your lawmakers. Be sure to include your name and mailing address in your letter or email to make sure your voice is heard. Please contact your state legislators as soon as possible. The bill must pass the House or Senate by March 6th (Crossover Day) to have a chance at becoming law, so your legislators need to hear from you now! Together we can help build a more transit-friendly metro Atlanta!

What is Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)? And why is it important to protect bus lanes?

Pop culture often depicts buses as slow and unreliable transit. Trains are (supposedly) fast; buses are (supposedly) slow. But why do we often associate buses with slowness and unreliability? It’s because buses usually get stuck in traffic. However, this isn’t a problem inherent to buses. Rather, it’s a problem of policy and design, a solvable one at that. 

Summerhill BRT and other BRT projects aim to make buses fast and reliable through measures like dedicated bus lanes. This is why protecting those lanes is essential to providing high-quality public transit.

As Jarrett Walker writes in Human Transit, public transit vehicles like buses are usually slowed down by three things: 1) traffic and other vehicles, 2) traffic signals, and 3) passengers entering and exiting. Our buses have issues with speed and reliability because we subject them to each type of delay. 

But buses don’t have to be slow. To get great bus transit, we just have to design the system right to minimize delays. This is what bus rapid transit (BRT) aims to do, and successful BRT systems have been deployed both in the US and globally. 

Summerhill BRT and other BRT projects like Campbellton BRT are guided by this design principle of delay reduction. Let people who ride pay before entering the bus (off-board fare payment), eliminating boarding delays. Give the buses priority at traffic signals so that they don’t have to wait as long. And critically, like the dedicated right-of-way for MARTA trains, give the buses dedicated lanes to bypass car traffic. These three features, especially dedicated bus lanes, put the “rapid” in bus rapid transit and will be featured in Summerhill BRT and future projects. By mitigating sources of delay, we can achieve fast and reliable bus transit. 

Eighty-five percent of the Summerhill BRT route will use dedicated bus lanes. But astute observers will notice that unprotected bike lanes across Atlanta (and the fading 17th Street bus lanes) are often blocked by parked cars or erroneously used by drivers as an extra lane, negating the benefits of the dedicated space. Without proper enforcement enabled by MARTA’s proposed legislation, Summerhill BRT may also lose the benefits of dedicated bus-only lanes.

How does MARTA’s proposed legislation work?

The core of the bill is to permit automated camera enforcement of Summerhill BRT’s (and eventually other BRT lines’) dedicated bus lanes. Cameras will be mounted on the front of each Summerhill BRT bus, and tickets will only be issued to drivers of vehicles that obstruct the bus lane. MARTA’s only goal is to keep the bus lane clear of obstructions to provide the fast and reliable transit service that people who use MARTA deserve. 

There has been some debate in the Georgia General Assembly concerning other forms of automated traffic enforcement such as school zone cameras. However, MARTA’s sole intention is to protect the dedicated bus lane, which is a core component of bus rapid transit’s fast and reliable service. As such, MARTA’s proposal addresses common criticisms of automated traffic enforcement. 

Below are the details of MARTA’s proposal from my conversations with MARTA’s Government Affairs staff. We may see details change as the bill moves through the legislative process, but the following is reflective of MARTA’s intentions.

• Bus lanes are reserved for use by buses 24 hours per day. Tickets will be issued if the bus-mounted camera detects a car obstructing the lane.
• The first six months after implementation of camera enforcement will be an educational period. Only warnings will be issued during this time.
• Fines are graduated for repeat offenders. This follows the precedent set by the Hands-Free Law. The first violation includes a fine of $50. The second includes a fine of $100, and all following violations include a fine of $150.
• First-time offenders can take a bus lane safety class to avoid the fine.
• All tickets can be appealed like other traffic violations. Bus lane violations will never result in arrest, nor will they prevent someone from renewing their registration.
• Fines received will be returned to the jurisdiction in which the violation was committed. In the case of Summerhill BRT, this means the City of Atlanta. Funds will be earmarked for public safety initiatives and transit maintenance, but MARTA keeps zero percent of fines.

One argument against school zone cameras is that they could be improperly programmed to issue tickets outside designated hours. However, in MARTA’s case, the bus lane is dedicated to transit use 100 percent of the time, so there are no “out of time window” concerns. So long as cars never obstruct the bus lane, no ticket will ever be issued. 

And as noted, MARTA will not collect any money from the fines. A portion of the fines will go to the company that operates the cameras, and the rest will go to the municipality to use for public safety initiatives. The fines act as a deterrent, with MARTA’s only goal being to protect the bus lanes. In MARTA’s ideal world, zero tickets are issued, the lanes are never blocked, and Summerhill BRT succeeds in providing high-quality transit service.

Lastly, to address concerns regarding enforcement, MARTA’s proposal includes an ample educational period as well as the ability to forgive the first fine. Thus, in practice, only repeat offenders will be subject to any fines, but again, tickets can be appealed. 

Ultimately, however, we should remember why MARTA is proposing this legislation and building projects like Summerhill BRT: to expand and improve public transit access to residents of our region. MARTA fulfilling its promises and executing the project successfully means offering fast and reliable bus rapid transit service on the Summerhill corridor and all future BRT corridors. The key design elements of good BRT, such as dedicated bus lanes, are there. Now we need the right policy to complement.

Can bus lanes be protected in ways other than automated camera enforcement? 

Like with Atlanta’s many unprotected bike lanes, there are two general strategies to keep bus lanes clear: enforcement and physical protection. These strategies are not mutually exclusive but rather are complementary; they’re both tools in the BRT design toolkit. Enforcement means ticketing bus lane violators, either through camera enforcement or deployment of police officers. MARTA has chosen to pursue the former strategy for logistical reasons. Tasking police with writing tickets for bus lane obstructions is possible, but these are 24-hour bus lanes, with bus service seven days per week. The City of Atlanta would need around-the-clock police presence along the Summerhill BRT route. As additional BRT routes open, the scale of the bus lane enforcement problem grows, and the human resources needed to patrol the lanes multiply. 

Instead, let’s allow the BRT buses, which are already cruising up and down the route, to catch the perpetrators in action with bus-mounted cameras. Automated camera enforcement is a proven strategy for lower-cost, efficient bus lane enforcement. 

Additionally, bus lanes, like bike lanes, can be protected using physical barriers that prevent cars from entering the dedicated space, such as bollards or concrete barriers. According to a Summerhill BRT FAQ, MARTA did consider physical barriers along the corridor but determined they were infeasible due to the width of the streets. Barriers require additional street space that may not always be available. 

Should physical barriers be considered where feasible? Absolutely. But let’s not jeopardize Summerhill BRT now, while currently under construction, by discarding enforcement. Summerhill BRT and other projects are delivering the core features of BRT, including dedicated lanes, priority at traffic signals, and off-board fare payment. Without obstruction-free bus lanes, the bus rapid transit will be less rapid. To make sure the dedicated lanes deliver the maximum benefit, MARTA needs to be permitted to use all the tools in the toolkit: barriers for prevention and automated camera enforcement for deterrence. 

Where feasible, MARTA should prioritize installing physical barriers. Where barriers are infeasible, MARTA should leverage enforcement through automated cameras. 

Yet as it stands, MARTA’s toolkit is half empty: automated camera enforcement requires legislation from the General Assembly. Let’s do our part to ensure that the BRT projects in our neighborhoods and communities are successful and transformative. Let’s support the full toolkit of bus lane protection by helping pass MARTA’s proposed enforcement legislation.

Help support MARTA’s BRT bus lane enforcement bill (HB 638).

Please call or write your state representative and senator and tell them you support MARTA’s BRT bus lane enforcement bill (HB 638). You can find your legislators on the General Assembly government website. Enter your address to find your state House and Senate districts. Click each district to find the contact information for your state representative and senator. 

Contact your state legislators before March 6th to make sure your voice is heard. Together we can help build a more transit-friendly metro Atlanta!