Maurice Cherry

I'm standing in a wide strip of mulch & shrubbery so I can flag down a MARTA bus on a hot night. Meanwhile, I'm listening to Mayor Dickens greeting people to Atlanta over and over (who? Drivers stopped at the traffic light?).

Yeah, I know. The World Cup was a big success. Atlanta was a great host city. Bravo. I'm proud.

But the games are over now, and I'm left wondering how much we spent on these stupid digital signs, and if that money could have been spent on improvements to bus stops.

Lovely sights on a visit to Atlanta's South Downtown . That second pic is KMM & Co. which makes hand-crafted leather goods on site.

It's true that there weren't a lot of people on the sidewalks, but it's getting easier to see a future where Downtown is lively all the time! Some key ingredients: removing all the dead spaces, adding residential units, and making MARTA more attractive to ride.

The view of the sunset from inside Civic Center MARTA Station this evening...very nice.

This station is built into a bridge over the interstate, and it has large windows on the side. I assume the architects designed the station with these sunset views in mind.

It opened in December 1981 after years of construction that required the elevation of West Peachtree Street to accommodate the track. M. Garland Reynolds and Partners with Welton Becket Associate Architects of Los Angeles designed the station.

We rode the new Bus Rapid Transit line from South Downtown to Summerhill! The bus itself is really comfortable and the covered platforms are nice.

My wife asked: "when does it get 'rapid'"? Good question. We did seem to be spending a lot of time stopped at lights. I assume (and hope) there's more to be done for light priority.

Downtown Atlanta's afternoon commute. Many Georgia leaders drive through this, to and from the Capitol.

Is their bias against public transit (and cities) so harsh that they never think: "this stinks; maybe we should start providing state funds to MARTA"?

In case you're unaware: MARTA is the largest U.S. transit system without state operating support. Georgia provides it with none.

It blows my mind that this continues to be the case decade after decade.

I'm not saying we should invest in transit simply as a way of addressing car congestion. Studies are actually mixed on whether that even works (long story short: creating pedestrian-oriented urban spaces is needed too).