“My biggest complaint: the culture of utter apathy that pervades Metro.

At the worker level, nobody cares about anything other than doing the absolute minimum during their shift.

At the management and planning level, it’s like none of these people have ever traveled outside the USA to see how a *proper* mass-transit system operates. Our system is a huge embarrassment compared to the impeccable, high-tech, on-time systems in (for example) Hong Kong or Berlin. Our Metro managers are continually patting themselves on the back for the fine job they’re doing, despite the fact that our transit system is literally of Third-World quality.

It all starts with having a professional attitude, and *wanting* to be better. Metro doesn’t have it.”

Maybe MARTA is typical of transit systems nationwide?

Sad Stuff: Spouting off about how great the mass transit is in a bunch of overpopulated yankee burgs ain’t exactly a conversation starter for rural conservatives who live in remote areas criss-crossed by dirt roads. No, Georgia Republicans don’t like to hear about mass transit in northern cities and never will.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) was formerly the Georgia Department of Highways (GDOH) and the department still primarily focuses on screwing up highway projects more than it does screwing up transit as a result of its history of being used to screw up roads by a screwed-up and loopy state legislature. MARTA has had a great and oh-so-glorious run as a stand-alone dysfunctional urban agency, but now I guess its time for MARTA to be ran into the ground by the flaming good-ole-boy idiots at the GDOT which is an arm of Georgia state government which doesn’t disappoint at being disappointing as everyone knows that GA state gov’t is both DYSFUNCTIONAL and INCOMPETENT, which is sorta like walking and chewing gum at the same time, which is like GENIUS!

Rep. Millar’s proposal to fold MARTA into GDOT may be well-intentioned but as they say, THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS. I say we should rightfully let both deeply troubled and flawed agencies continue to flounder and fail on their own accord. LET MARTA FAIL ON ITS OWN! It clearly doesn’t need any help at massive failure and disappointment from the state-level trainwreck experts at GDOT! Sorry, I meant carwreck experts at GDOT, because it would be an insult to suggest that they do transit! But then again, it might be an honor to have GDOT manage urban transit the in the same great way that they’ve managed statewide roads all of these years! In that case, count me in!