Atlanta mayor reaffirms commitment to Beltline rail

As part of an insightful AJC retrospective on his first three years in office, Atlanta Major Andre Dickens dropped what intown transit enthusiasts might consider a bombshell this week: 

“I’m still a fan of rail on the Beltline,” Dickens told the newspaper’s editorial board and a roomful of reporters. “I have been from the beginning."

Dickens’ reaffirmed commitment to extending downtown’s Atlanta Streetcar as a fresh transportation mode in the Beltline’s highly patronized Eastside Trail corridor was a key takeaway of the wide-ranging interview, looking back across his tenure since the beginning of 2022. (Even Beltline rail’s formal detractors, Better Atlanta Transit, are acknowledging the streetcar system—which quietly marked its 10-year anniversary in December—has brought value to downtown and Old Fourth Ward and still holds potential, though substantial flaws remain.)  

Dickens told the AJC that funding already spent toward extending the streetcar—as approved by Atlanta voters almost nine years ago—should not be wasted. The matter, however, went “conspicuously unmentioned” during January’s annual State of MARTA address, as the newspaper pointed out. 

Dickens, who plans to mount a reelection campaign this year, said almost all types of transit are being considered for sections of the Beltline’s 22-mile loop, which is scheduled to be finished as a multi-use transportation, exercise, and commercial corridor in four years.

Those methods of transport could include streetcars and light rail, shuttles, bus-rapid transit routes, even gondolas and self-driving pods, per the report.

According to the AJC, Dickens is awaiting “several reports” that are expected to materialize this month and could point toward alternatives to Beltline rail. An east-west crosstown streetcar route could reportedly be among those alternatives.

In any case, the statements seem to indicate a change of tone for Dickens. 

The mayor caught heat last summer from Atlanta transit advocates and some elected officials when he expressed skepticism that light-rail transit on the 22-mile loop will be viable soon in an interview on WABE’s “Closer Look.”

Dickens told host Rose Scott he favors light-rail options and planned to keep pushing for that transit method, though he feared encircling the full Beltline with rail would be prohibitively expensive, especially in a state like Georgia that provides the city no financial support for public transit. “We have New York hopes of transit,” Dickens noted at the time, “but New York state supports the New York Transit System.” 

Impacts on small businesses along the Beltline as light-rail is installed is another concern the mayor shared at the time. Dickens floated the idea last year that BRT or driverless pods could be viable alternatives to Beltline rail, and he noted in the WABE interview the city has hired outside consultants to study transit options and provide a breakdown of costs, including potential fare prices.

Those suggestions proved motivational for rail advocates Beltline Rail Now and elected officials, including Atlanta City Council president Doug Shipman, who staged an August rally championing rail as the soundest transit choice.

MARTA estimates the streetcar extension project along the Eastside Trail to Ponce City Market will cost roughly $230 million. The transit agency’s forecasts have called for breaking ground late this year and beginning fare service sometime in 2028. We shall see. 

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