Atlanta Transit Company

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Obverse of Atlanta Transit Company token, with logo. ATCtoken-obv.JPG
Obverse of Atlanta Transit Company token, with logo.
Reverse of Atlanta Transit Company, which says "Going your way every day. One Fare." ATCtoken-rev.JPG
Reverse of Atlanta Transit Company, which says "Going your way every day. One Fare."

The Atlanta Transit Company (ATC) was a public transport operator based in Atlanta, Georgia, which existed from 1950 to 1972. It was the immediate predecessor of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).

Public transport shared transport[ation] service that is available for use by the general public; usually of passengers but sometimes of goods

Public transport is transport of passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public, typically managed on a schedule, operated on established routes, and that charge a posted fee for each trip. Examples of public transport include city buses, trolleybuses, trams and passenger trains, rapid transit and ferries. Public transport between cities is dominated by airlines, coaches, and intercity rail. High-speed rail networks are being developed in many parts of the world.

Atlanta Capital of Georgia, United States

Atlanta is the capital of, and the most populous city in, the U.S. state of Georgia. With an estimated 2017 population of 486,290, it is also the 38th most-populous city in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5.8 million people and the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Atlanta is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia. A small portion of the city extends eastward into neighboring DeKalb County.

Georgia (U.S. state) State of the United States of America

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It began as a British colony in 1733, the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established. Named after King George II of Great Britain, the Province of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina south to Spanish Florida and west to French Louisiana at the Mississippi River. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. In 1802–1804, western Georgia was split to the Mississippi Territory, which later split to form Alabama with part of former West Florida in 1819. Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870. Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States. From 2007 to 2008, 14 of Georgia's counties ranked among the nation's 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South. Atlanta, the state's capital and most populous city, has been named a global city. Atlanta's metropolitan area contains about 55% of the population of the entire state.

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History

Since the 1920s, the Georgia Railway and Power Company (now Georgia Power, a part of Southern Company), had been losing money on transit. It commissioned a study from Beeler in 1926, but the suggestions were not enough to help. In the late-1940s most years saw double-digit percentage losses of ridership: from 125 million in 1946 down to 100 million in 1948 and finally 86 million in 1949.

Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company.

Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is currently the second largest utility company in the U.S., in terms of customer base. Through its subsidiaries it serves 9 million gas and electric utility customers in nine states. Southern Company's regulated regional electric utilities serve a 120,000-square-mile (310,000 km2) territory with 27,000 miles (43,000 km) of distribution lines.

Beeler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

In April 1949, Georgia Power ran the last streetcar on Atlanta's original network, and in May of the next year its drivers went on strike. During the five-week-long work stoppage, Georgia Power sought for a buyer for its increasingly troubled transit business. In response to this, Atlanta businessmen Clement Evans, Granger Hansell and Inman Brandon, along with Leland Anderson of Columbus, Georgia, formed the ATC and purchased the transportation properties on June 23, 1950, just over a month into the strike. More than 1,300 employees signed on to the new company and ended their strike. Anderson became the president of the ATC, and in September 1950 a Georgia Power vice president, Jackson Dick, joined to become the chairman of the board.

Streetcars in Atlanta

Streetcars originally operated in Atlanta downtown and into the surrounding areas from 1871 until the final line's closure in 1949.

The Atlanta transit strike of 1950 was a lengthy transit strike that lasted from May 18, 1950 to November 16, 1950 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Columbus, Georgia Consolidated city-county in Georgia, United States

Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama, Columbus is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it officially merged in 1970. Columbus is the third-largest city in Georgia and the fourth-largest metropolitan area. According to the 2017 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Columbus has a population of 194,058 residents, with 303,811 in the Columbus metropolitan area. The metro area joins the nearby Alabama cities of Auburn and Opelika to form the Columbus–Auburn–Opelika Combined Statistical Area, which has a 2017 estimated population of 499,128.

The system consisted of the trolleybus (trackless trolley) system as well as regular (diesel) transit buses. The former was phased out in 1963, allowing the city to remove its overhead wires. The city's drivers and mechanics were part of Amalgamated Street Car Union Local 732. One of the company's promotional drives was called Orchids for Operators, in which customers could nominate a helpful or courteous employee for that honor.

In Atlanta, Georgia, trolleybuses, generally called trackless trolleys there, 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. At the end of 1949 Atlanta had a fleet of 453 trolleybuses, the largest in the United States, and it retained this distinction until 1952, when it was surpassed by Chicago.

Transit bus bus used on shorter-distance public transport bus services; configurations: low-floor buses, high-floor buses, double-decker buses, articulated buses, midibuses;distinct from all-seated coaches or smaller minibuses for paratransit services

A transit bus is a type of bus used on shorter-distance public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floor buses, high-floor buses, double-decker buses, articulated buses and midibuses.

Bus driver profession

A bus driver, bus operator, autobus driver or omnibus driver is a person who drives buses for a living.

In 1965, the newly formed MARTA began plans for a new rapid transit system. By 1972, when planning was mostly finished, Fulton and DeKalb counties had signed on to the new rail system. As a result, MARTA purchased ATC for US$13 million, making it the sole mass transit entity in the area.

Rapid transit passenger rail system in an urban area


Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, U-Bahn or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. Unlike buses or trams, rapid transit systems are electric railways that operate on an exclusive right-of-way, which cannot be accessed by pedestrians or other vehicles of any sort, and which is often grade separated in tunnels or on elevated railways.

Fulton County, Georgia County in the United States

Fulton County is a county in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2017 estimates, the population was 1,041,423, making it the state's most populous county and its only one with over 1 million inhabitants. Its county seat is Atlanta, the state capital. Approximately 90% of the City of Atlanta is located within Fulton County. Fulton County is the principal county of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

DeKalb County, Georgia County in the United States

DeKalb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 691,893, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur.

See also

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Twin City Rapid Transit Company former streetcar and bus operator in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota

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Timeline of mass transit in Atlanta:

Peachtree Center station

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Streetcars in North America History of street cars

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Philadelphia Transportation Company

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The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority was created as the first public mass transit agency in metropolitan Atlanta. Its formation in 1965 was a result of the campaigning efforts of governmental planning agencies and Atlanta businessmen. The system broke ground on its rail system in 1975.

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The transportation system of Georgia is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure comprising over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of interstates and more than 120 airports and airbases serving a regional population of 59,425 people.

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Atlanta's transportation system is a complex infrastructure of several systems, including 47.6 miles of heavy rail, 91 bus transit routes, 1,600 licensed taxis, a comprehensive network of freeways, the world's busiest airport and over 45 miles of bike paths.

References

Herbert Turner Jenkins was the longest serving police chief of Atlanta.

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