Latest news with #MoreMARTA
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MARTA to resume Five Points transformation project, bus routes will be impacted
MARTA announced that work would start up again on its Five Points Station transformation project. Starting May 17, Saturday, the project will have multiple downtown bus routes detoured. During the deconstruction process, there will still be street-level station and elevator and bus access on Forsyth Street, and transfers won't be affected. MARTA said 'the first phase of the project for the Five Points Station transformation includes deconstruction and removal of the current concrete canopy. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] After, they'll have work crews build a new one, improve the centralized bus hub and pedestrian connection to broad street and undergo efforts to incorporate community spaces, public art and agriculture. Overall, the project is expected to cost $230 million, funded mainly through an Atlanta half-penny sales tax from the More MARTA initiative, with another $13.8 million provided by the state of Georgia and $25 million from a federal RAISE grant. The remainder of funding will come from the MARTA core penny. TRENDING STORIES: DeKalb County pastor involved in $2.5 million legal battle over deal to sell church Looking to buy a new home? Not in this neighborhood. The new trend hitting metro Atlanta Cox Communications, Charter combining in major deal In addition to the Saturday start of bus detours, MARTA said certain customer services will be impacted beginning June 6. Those services include the RideStore, Lost and Found and Reduced Fare office. Those offices at Five Points Station will be temporarily moved, along with MARTA HOPE and the MARTA Police Precinct. New locations for them during the closure have not been released yet. The following routes will stop at Five Points on Forsyth Street: 3 – Martin Luther King Jr. Drive/Auburn Avenue 40 – Peachtree Street/Downtown 813 – Atlanta University Center 21 – Memorial Drive 49 – McDonough Boulevard 55 – Jonesboro Road 107 – Glenwood 186 – Rainbow Road Drive/South DeKalb Three bus routes will be detoured to maintain service to Downtown and no longer stop at Five Points: 26 – Marietta Street/Perry Boulevard 42 – Pryor Road 816 – North Highland Avenue The following routes will terminate at Georgia State Station: 21 – Memorial Drive 42 – Pryor Road 49 – McDonough Boulevard 55 – Jonesboro Road 107 – Glenwood 186 – Rainbow Road Drive/South DeKalb The following routes will terminate at King Memorial Station: 26 – Marietta Street/Perry Boulevard 813 – Atlanta University Center 899 – Old Fourth Ward The following route will terminate at Civic Center Station: 816 – North Highland Avenue MARTA said regional transit partner buses, like CobbLinc, Ride Gwinnett and Xpress will still run on time. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Georgia lawmakers question Atlanta audit of MARTA's $85 million debt
Georgia lawmakers are questioning the accuracy of an audit of MARTA that led to allegations of overcharging the City of Atlanta tens of millions of dollars. The latest look at the More MARTA Atlanta audit by state lawmakers presented a drastically lower debt than what City of Atlanta officials claimed was due. In August 2024, the City of Atlanta accused MARTA of overcharging them for the More MARTA program to the tune of about $70 million. The accusations followed an audit performed by Mauldin & Jenkins at the request of the Atlanta Mayor's Office. That assessment found that over the five years of the More MARTA Atlanta program, bus services had been enhanced at a 'significantly lower' level than what was budgeted, while the transport agency continued to transfer funds from the city reserve to pay for capital programs. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] MARTA strongly disagreed, saying that they had transferred leftover funds back to the City of Atlanta when they were there, and that the audit by Mauldin & Jenkins was flawed. Now, a joint committee of Georgia state lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives are questioning the Atlanta audit and saying that a new assessment of the program and the impacts of service changes during the COVID-19 pandemic had presented a 'more realistic and equitable approach' to the transit system and its debts in Atlanta. 'As we review the findings of KPMG, it's evident that the threshold methodology, while initially suitable, did not adequately account for service changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and led to misleading conclusions,' state Rep. Deborah Silcox said in a statement. RELATED STORIES: Atlanta officials push back on MARTA claims of flawed audit, Rep. Silcox asks more details Atlanta accuses MARTA of overcharging $70 million over 5 years. Agency says audit 'flawed' Atlanta city leaders demanding complete financial audit of More MARTA Silcox chairs the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee. 'The proportional methodology offers a more realistic and equitable approach by considering the shared nature of our transit system and spreading costs across all routes,' she added. As far as a more realistic calculation, the new assessment by KPMG 'was determined to provide a more accurate cost allocation.' So far, MARTA has paid Atlanta about $20 million from the debt highlighted by the city. Silcox's statement also said 'under the threshold method, approximately $82 million was calculated as owed by MARTA to the City of Atlanta, while the proportional method suggested this amount was instead approximately $865,000.' In a statement to Channel 2 Action News, a MARTA spokesperson said 'KPMG's independent audit of the More MARTA Atlanta Program, which found that among other things MARTA's enhanced bus service calculations from 2017 to 2019 were correct, disproving the City of Atlanta and Mauldin & Jenkins' previous erroneous calculations.' Referring to two back-and-forths between the City of Atlanta and MARTA, the transit agency said that with the findings of the MARTOC assessment, and an accusation that Atlanta officials had ignored their responses during the Mauldin & Jenkins audit, MARTA urged faster approval of permits for new construction projects. In particular, MARTA said they want to take this opportunity to urge Atlanta officials to 'expedite the approval of permits for the Five Points Station Transformation Project so that we can begin deconstruction. Because of the delays, it is already behind schedule, and it is critical that we begin work to deliver this transformational project for our riders, our system, and the downtown area.' MARTA's spokesperson said they hope to work with the City of Atlanta to deliver a safe, clean and reliable experience for their customers. Responding to a request by Channel 2 Action News, Atlanta officials said they were reviewing the new information. 'We received the document, and it is currently under review by our Finance team. We will provide further details once the review is complete. We stand by our initial audit and look forward to working with MARTA on the remaining $60 million dollars owed to Atlanta taxpayers,' a spokesman for the city said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
