The rail system operated by the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) began operating in 1979. As its 20th anniversary nears, how has it influenced land use patterns? Results are mixed. Throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area, the population continues to sprawl outward and MARTA’s facilities do not appear to attract large-scale residential development to them. On the other hand, employment also continues to decentralize, and MARTA’s rail facilities appear to have attracted employment-based development. As MARTA extends service into the affluent northern tier suburbs, its attractiveness to employment centers and perhaps higher-density residential development should improve. The downside is that MARTA is exhausting its reach because most of the region’s new development is outside its jurisdiction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
FogelsonR.The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles from 1850 to 1930. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1993.
2.
VanceE. J.Geography and Urban Evolution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Institute of Governmental Services, University of California, Berkeley, 1964.
3.
WarnerS. B.Streetcar Suburbs. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1962.
4.
BoyceD. E., AllenB. W., MudgeR., SlaterP. B., and IssermanA. M.. The Impact of Rapid Rail on Suburban Residential Property Values and Land Development Analysis of the Philadelphia High Speed Line. Regional Science Department, Wharton School, Philadelphia, Pa., 1972.
5.
BoyceD. E., AllenW. B. and TangF.. Impacts of Rapid Transit on Suburban Property Values and Land Development: Analysis of the Philadelphia-Lindenwold High Speed Rail. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1976.
6.
DyattM., et al.The Impact of BART on Land Use and Urban Development: Interpretative Summary of the Final Report. YMTA, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1979.
7.
LermanS. R., DammD., Lerner-LammE., and YoungJ.. The Effect of the Washington Metro on Urban Property Values. UMTA, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1978.
8.
WebberM.The BART Experience: What Have We Learned?Public Interest, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1976, pp. 79–108.
9.
AllenB. W., and MudgeR.. The Impact of Rapid Transit on Urban Development. Rand Corporation Paper P-5246. Santa Monica, Calif., 1974.
10.
DaviesG. W.The Effect of a Subway on the Spatial Distribution of Population. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, 1972, pp. 126–136.
11.
HiltonG.Rail Transit and the Pattern of Cities: The California Case. Traffic Quarterly, Vol. 67, pp. 379–93.
12.
LangfieldS. C.The Balanced and Orderly Development of the Site in Close Proximity to a Metro Station As a Contributor to a More Healthy and Economically Viable Urban Environment in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Urban Transportation Center, Washington, D.C., 1971.
13.
MeyerJ., and Gomez-IbanezJ. A.. Autos, Transit, and Cities. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1981.
14.
SmithW.Mass Transit for High-Rise, High-Density Living. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 110, No. 6, 1984, pp. 521–35.
15.
ArringtonG. B.Jr.Beyond the Field of Dreams: Light Rail and Growth Management in Portland. Tri-Met, Portland, Ore., 1995.
16.
Barney and Worthm, Inc.Evaluation of Banfield Light Rail Transit Station Area Planning Program. Tri-Met, Portland, Ore., 1993.
17.
CerveroR., and LandisJ.. BART @ 20: Land Use Impacts. Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California, Berkeley, 1996.
18.
Parsons Brinkerhoff Quade and Douglas. Transit Cooperative Research Program Report 16: Transit and Urban Form, Vol. I, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1996.
19.
GreenR. D., and JamesO. M.. Rail Transit Station Area Development: Small Area Modeling in Washington, DC. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk, N.Y., 1993.
20.
CerveroR., and LandisJ.. Suburbanization of Jobs and the Journey-to-Work: A Submarket Analysis of Community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of Advanced Transportation, Vol. 26, No. 3, 1992, pp. 275–297.
21.
BurkhardtR.Summary of Research: Joint Development Study. Administration and Managerial Research Association, New York, 1976.
22.
NelsonA. C., and McCleskyS.. Improving the Effects of Elevated Transit Stations on Neighborhoods. In Transportation Research Record 1266, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1990.
23.
NelsonA. C., and DuncanJ. B.. Growth Management Principles and Practices. American Planning Association, Chicago, 1995.
