MARTA's Board of Directors approved the FY07 Capital and Operating Budget during their regular monthly meeting on May 15, 2006. It includes $344.75 million in projected operating expenditures and $403.7 million in projected capital outlay. The budget was based on the guiding principles of maintaining financial stability, improving customer service and reinvesting in MARTA's infrastructure to ensure reliable, safe transportation into the future. Due to a stabilizing financial outlook, MARTA is able to focus on programs that will provide our customers with a virtually new transit system by 2008.

The FY07 budget includes no cuts to service, nor does it include a fare increase. It calls for modest enhancements to service including: additional bus and paratransit operators; additional cleaning staff for vehicles and rail stations; and expansion of MARTA's small bus program. The operating budget also funds additional customer service staff who will be deployed to assist MARTA riders through the transition to the new Breeze fare collection system and help the Authority accommodate the growing numbers of paratransit customers.

MARTA's FY07 capital budget will have an equally positive impact — funding capital improvement programs scheduled for completion between now and 2008. Highlights of the capital budget include: rail car and track rehabilitation, new clean-fuel vehicle procurement, enhancements to safety and communications systems, and improvements to infrastructure throughout the transit system.

MARTA is proud to provide support to the city's growing tourist industry by leading the way in establishing connectivity between the city's hotels, restaurants and attractions with the debut of the Atlanta Tourist Loop.

The new service debuted at the end of April and offers visitors and residents alike a convenient and affordable way to travel via two "loops" — Downtown and Midtown. The Downtown portion, Route 100, provides service to the Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Dome/Georgia World Congress Center, CNN Center, World of Coca-Cola, Underground Atlanta, Martin Luther King Jr. historic district, and Centennial Olympic Park.

Later this month, the Midtown loop, Route 101, will go into service. It has been designed to connect Midtown attractions such as the Atlanta Botanical Garden, High Museum of Art, Woodruff Arts Center, Piedmont Park, and the Margaret Mitchell House.

The routes connect at the Georgia Aquarium and the North Avenue MARTA station providing customers with easy access between the two.

Patrons will easily recognize the Atlanta Tourist Loop bus with its distinctive logo and artwork highlighting Atlanta's many attractions. The buses run in a continuous loop and arrive at specially designated bus stops every 30 minutes. Fare is $1.75, but customers can also purchase unlimited weekend, weekly and monthly passes to use on the Tourist Loop as well as all other MARTA bus and rail service. Route 100 and 101 run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Wanda Y. Dunham has been named Chief of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Police Department. She was selected through a rigorous national search process spearheaded by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Dunham joined the MARTA Police Department in 1987 and was the first female member to achieve the ranks of Captain, Major, and Assistant Chief. She was appointed to serve as Interim Police Chief after the resignation of Gene Wilson in December 2005 and will be the first African American and first female Chief of the department.

In addition to her responsibilities at MARTA, Dunham is an active member of the region's law enforcement community — serving as Chair of Atlanta Metropol, on the board of the High Intensity Drug Task Force Association, as treasurer of the DeKalb Chief's Association, and as an active participant with the Fulton County Homeland Security Group.

Dunham earned her BS in Criminal Justice from Jacksonville State University and her MA in Public Administration from Columbus State University. She has completed the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Command College as well as Chief's Executive Training. She has been selected to attend the FBI National Academy, is an adjunct professor of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice for Herzing College, and is a POST certified instructor.

Half of MARTA's rail stations have been completely converted to the new Breeze fare collection system — putting the system on track for completion this summer.

As more stations and buses are equipped with the new technology, MARTA is expanding education efforts to ensure that customers become comfortable with the new equipment and are informed about the convenient options Breeze will offer once installation is complete. MARTA is deploying additional staff, demonstration equipment, and instructional materials and videos throughout the region in order to help current and potential riders prepare for the change.

When entering a converted station, cash and token customers are now required to purchase a smart card at one of MARTA's new Breeze Vending Machines, which are similar in look and feel to an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Temporary magnetic card readers have been installed on the new fare gates to accommodate MARTA's current TransCard customers during the transition period.

To enter the system, customers tap their Breeze "smart" card, embedded with a microchip, to a target located on the front of the fare gate. During the installation phase, gates are set to automatically open for exit; however, once the system is fully installed, customers will be required to use their Breeze card to "tap out" of rail stations — this will both add additional security to stations and allow MARTA to better analyze travel patterns.

To learn more about Breeze, visit www.breezecard.com. Representatives are available to speak to community organizations about this exciting new program — contact 404-848-5528 or speaker@itsmarta.com.

An extensive track renovation project that will rebuild and upgrade all 48 miles of rail line by 2007 is well underway. For over 25 years, trains have run on these tracks every day and maintenance work is essential to keeping the system reliable and safe for the next 25 years and beyond.

In order to make these improvements, schedule changes are sometimes required to enable rail maintenance crews to work on the system. MARTA has only two parallel tracks all along its North/South and East/West lines — allowing one train to run in each direction during normal operations. As individual sections of track are being repaired, trains must sometimes share a single track through the affected area. MARTA generally restricts such track work to late evenings and weekends because "single tracking" can result in delays in rail service. Every attempt is made to minimize the impact on customers, including paying close attention to what events are taking place throughout the city.

This summer, there will be a number of weekends during which work will be done on large sections of track and service schedules will be significantly changed. Updates can be found at www.itsmarta.com and will also be provided in the MARTA Monthly.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE CHANGES

Trains will operate every 25 minutes on the North/South Line on the following weekend dates:

June 3 & 4

June 10 & 11

June 17 & 18

Doraville trains will travel between Doraville and the Airport departing Doraville and the Airport every 25 minutes. The North Springs train will travel between North Springs and Lakewood Station. Anyone traveling from North Springs to East Point, College Park and the Airport will have to change trains at Lakewood Station. Southbound North Springs passengers will have on average a 13 minute wait at Lakewood for the Doraville to Airport Southbound train.

Ms. Vanessa Brockett-Copeland, a rail operator with MARTA for the past five years, was featured in Atlanta Magazine's cover story this month "45 Atlantans We Love." She was recognized for providing exceptional customer service and improving our customers' experience. We thank Ms. Brockett-Copeland for making this city a better place to live and for her commitment to helping MARTA build a better way.

Ms. Jannet Thoms, MARTA's AGM and CIO for Technology, Strategic Marketing and Customer Service Delivery, received the Woman of the Year in Technology Award in the Not-For-Profit/Government category from Women in Technology (WIT) during an April 27 ceremony. She was one of three award recipients in three categories selected from a distinguished group of 50 nominees and nine finalists. Thoms was selected for her exceptional work on the implementation of the Breeze smart-card based fare collection system as well as her successful coordination with regional transit agencies to encourage participation in the Breeze program. She was also recognized for her innovative use of technology to manage and improve MARTA operations and customer service.