More MARTA Woes

You may have heard that MARTA's 190 million dollar Breeze card system decided to flip-out yesterday. Yeah, I hate the whole Breeze card system and I hate using the same gates for entrance and exit. Come July you will need to tap your Breeze card to exit a station, MARTA claims this is to better track ridership, to quote the Mighty Thor, I say nay. I believe that tap in/tap out is the first step to variable fare pricing. Right now you can ride from the Airport to Dunwoody for the same cost as a trip from Five Points to Arts Center. With tap in/tap out the gates could be programed to charge more for longer rides. In a city that needs to do everything in its power to increase transit usage this would be a monumentally stupid idea.

Smokey

Absolutely horrible air quality today as smoke from the wildfires in the south enveloped Atlanta. It looks like LA out there.

Rising Gas Prices

Gas topped $3.00 a gallon in Atlanta over the weekend which brought the usual news stories about people cutting back in order to fill their tanks. And yet still I see cars racing from stop light to stop light, driving far in excess of the speed limit, and being used for the shortest of trips.

Not one of the reports I saw mentioned bicycling as an alternative to driving. Let's see, I don't remember the last time I put gas in my car, I'm in great shape, and I don't have to pay for parking. Bicycling, good for my heart, good for my wallet, good for my city.

P.S. As gas prices have climbed I have noticed a slight increase in transit use which is a good thing.

Bike to Work Day

MARTA is promoting Bike to Work Day on their electronic signs in the various stations around time. Good job MARTA.

Two Days Two Flats

I anticipate I'll be writing a very negative review of Ritchey Tom Slicks very soon. Today's flat happened right in front of Jett's building.