Timeline of mass transit in Atlanta
Encyclopedia
Timeline of mass transit in Atlanta:
- 1871 Richard PetersRichard Peters (Atlanta)Richard Peters was an American railroad man and a founder of Atlanta.Grandson of Judge Richard Peters, Jr...
and George AdairGeorge AdairGeorge Washington Adair was an important real-estate developer in post Civil War Atlanta.-Early life:...
run the first streetcars on the Atlanta Street Railway CompanyAtlanta Street Railway CompanyThe Atlanta Street Railway was the first streetcar system in Atlanta.Originally chartered by the state of Georgia on February 23, 1866 by George Hillyer, Dr... - 1872 West End & Atlanta Street RailroadWest End & Atlanta Street RailroadThe West End & Atlanta Street Railroad Company of Atlanta, Georgia was organized in 1872 by Thomas Alexander, M. G. Dobbins, B. J. Wilson, Benjamin H. Broomhead, , J. M. Alexander, James Atkins, J. W. Goldsmith, John M. Harwell and Jonathan Norcross...
Company formed - 1878 Adair sells out to Peters
- 1879 Gate City Street Railroad Company formed
- 1882 Metropolitan Street Railroad Company formed
- 1883 Fulton County Street RailroadFulton County Street RailroadThe Fulton County Street Railroad Company of Atlanta, Georgia was organized in 1883 by:* James W. English, businessman and once mayor of Atlanta* J. Henry Porter, who was once a city councilman...
Company formed - 1886 Joel HurtJoel HurtJoel Hurt was an important businessman and developer in Atlanta active in the late 19th century through the early 20th century.Born in Hurtsboro, Alabama Joel Hurt (1850–1926) was an important businessman and developer in Atlanta active in the late 19th century through the early 20th...
forms the Atlanta & Edgewood Street RailroadAtlanta & Edgewood Street RailroadThe Atlanta & Edgewood Street Railroad Company of Atlanta, Georgia was organized in 1886 by Joel Hurt, C. W. Hubner, H. E. W. Palmer, W. P. Inman, Peter Lynch, R. C. Mitchell, Asa Griggs Candler, J. P. McDonald, J. G. Reynolds, A. F. Moreland, and P. H. Harralson...
Co. - 1889 Hurt's streetcar begins to run between Five PointsFive Points (Atlanta)Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the primary reference for the downtown area. The name refers to the convergence of Marietta Street, Edgewood Avenue, Decatur Street, and two legs of Peachtree Street Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the...
and Inman ParkInman ParkInman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
and control of Peter's company passed to son Edward C. PetersEdward C. PetersEdward Conyngham Peters - was an Atlanta real estate developer. He was son of Richard Peters, a founder of the city.Edward inherited Richard's land, railroad and trolley interests in 1889....
; Fulton County Street RR Co. begins powered by the electric Thomson-Houston system. - 1890 Atlanta, West End & McPherson Barracks Ry. Co. begins powered by the electric SpragueSpragueSprague is a surname of English origin, from the northern Middle English Spragge, either a personal name or a byname meaning "lively", a metathesized and voiced form of Spark, a Northern English surname from the Old Norse byname or personal name Sparkr ‘sprightly’, ‘vivacious’.- Places :Canada*...
system - 1891 (May) Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway CompanyAtlanta Consolidated Street Railway CompanyThe Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway was an attempt by Joel Hurt to take over the various Atlanta streetcar systems.Incorporated in May 1891, Hurt began negotiations to consolidate widely overlapping competing companies. On September 21 the titles of the following were conveyed to the...
formed instigating the "Second Battle of Atlanta" - 1892 Atlanta City Street Railway Co. begins powered by the electric Detroit system
- 1902 All street railways consolidated as Georgia Railway and Power Company
- 1916 Atlanta transit strike of 1916 began at 6pm on Saturday, September 30 and ended that Monday evening, but the strike started after sundown those three days so the city wasn't completely paralyzed
- 1924 The Beeler Report issued to advise the financially ailing company
- 1926 Peak of passenger service (96,794,273)
- 1937 TrolleybusesTrolleybuses in AtlantaIn Atlanta, Georgia, trolleybuses were a major component of the public transportation system in the middle decades of the 20th century, carrying some 80 percent of all transit riders during the period when the system was at its maximum size...
introduced - 1949 Georgia PowerGeorgia PowerGeorgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the largest of the four electric utilities that are owned and operated by Southern Company....
runs its last streetcar, leaving only trackless trolleys and buses - 1950 Five week Atlanta transit strike of 1950Atlanta transit strike of 1950The Atlanta transit strike of 1950 was a lengthy transit strike that lasted from May 18, 1950 to November 16, 1950 in Atlanta, Georgia.A month after author Margaret Mitchell was struck and killed by a taxi during a year when trolleys had killed five, there was a call in the city to increase safety...
- 1950 Control of all transit passed to Atlanta Transit CompanyAtlanta Transit CompanyThe Atlanta Transit Company ran the public transit system in Atlanta, in the U.S. state of Georgia, from 1950 to 1972.Since the 1920s, the Georgia Railway and Power Company , had been losing money on transit. It commissioned a study from Beeler in 1926, but the suggestions were not enough to help...
(ATC) - 1959 System officially desegregated
- 1963 Trackless trolleys phased out leaving only buses
- 1965 MARTAMetropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit AuthorityThe Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
formed (March) and Cobb CountyCobb County, GeorgiaCobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...
votes against joining - 1971 ClaytonClayton County, GeorgiaClayton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 236,517. The 2008 Census estimate placed the population at 273,718. The county seat is Jonesboro...
and GwinnettGwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County had a population of 805,321. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 53.3% white , 23.6% black , 2.7% Korean, 2.6% Asian Indian, 2.0% Vietnamese, 3.3% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.8% some other race and 3.1% from two or more races...
counties vote against joining MARTA with 4-1 margins - 1972 MARTA purchases ATC for $13 million thus assuming control for all public transit
- 1979 Operation begins on MARTA rail system
- 1999 Most recent MARTA station opens at North SpringsNorth Springs (MARTA station)North Springs is an elevated metro station in the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system and the northern terminus for the Red Line...
, with no funding available for expansion since then - 2006 (July) all 38 MARTA stations converted to Breeze CardBreeze CardThe Breeze Card is a stored value smart card that passengers use as part of an automated fare collection system which the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority introduced to the general public in early October 2006. The card automatically debits the cost of the passenger’s ride when placed...
digital fare system - 2012 TSPLOST vote for partly funding BeltLineBeltlineThe Beltline is a region of central Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The area is located immediately to the south of Calgary's downtown , and is sometimes considered part of downtown...
and some transit other projects (though nearly half of funds are still for road projects)