Start the New Year off right with your free Breeze Card! MARTA will complete its conversion to the Breeze system in 2007. Get a Breeze Card now to start taking advantage of all the convenient services offered by the system. Breeze Cards can be ordered free of charge online at www.breezecard.com or by picking up a form from an in-station customer service representative or at any MARTA RideStore.

To begin using the card, you can conveniently load it with up to $100 in stored value, multiple trips or monthly, weekly and weekend passes. You can also register the card for balance protection so that the value on the card can be recovered if it is ever lost or stolen.

You will soon have the added convenience of using the Breeze Card to transfer seamlessly between MARTA and regional transit providers. Cobb Community Transit will launch its Breeze program in February allowing you to load MARTA and CCT fare products on the Breeze Card and use it for free transfers. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), Gwinnett County Transit (GCT), and Clayton County (C-Tran) have also signed regional agreements with MARTA to install Breeze equipment.

If you receive a MARTA pass through your employer or school, you will be issued a Breeze Card through those programs in the spring, and do not need to order or purchase a Breeze Card at this time.

For more information about Breeze, please visit www.breezecard.com or call 404-848-5000.

MARTA has added a new stop at the Atlanta History Center to help customers get to the "I Have a Dream: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection."

This historic exhibit is not to be missed, and now Atlanta residents and visitors alike have convenient and affordable transportation to the collection.

Route 38 from MARTA's Lindbergh Rail Station runs hourly Monday through Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. to the History Center via Pharr Road, Slaton Drive and East Andrews Drive.

For more information, please visit www.itsmarta.com or call 404-848-5000. Information about the exhibit is available at www.AtlantaHistoryCenter.com or by calling 404-814-4000.

MARTA will hold a series of public hearings to get feedback on proposed bus service modifications and the elimination of the surcharges for Route 201 (Six Flags) and the Braves Shuttle on February 5 and 6, 2007. The proposed modifications are part of MARTA's continuing efforts to improve service and offer affordable transportation options. Customers currently pay a $1.00 surcharge to ride the Braves Shuttle and a 75 cent surcharge for the Six Flags route in addition to the regular $1.75 fare.

Staff will be available to provide information and answer questions from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. before the start of the official public hearing. For information on the proposed modifications, visit www.itsmarta.com or call 404-848-5000.

The meetings will be held at the following locations. All hearings start at 7:00 p.m.

Monday, February 5, 2007
DeKalb Maloof Auditorium
1300 Commerce Dr.
Decatur, 30030
Taking MARTA: Walk one block west of the Decatur Station.

Monday, February 5, 2007
North Fulton Service Center
7741 Roswell Road
Atlanta, 30350
Taking MARTA: Bus Route 87 from the Dunwoody or North Springs Station.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Atlanta City Hall Council Chambers
55 Trinity Ave.
Atlanta, 30303
Taking MARTA: Routes 21, 49, 55, 97 and 100 from Five Points Station.
Special Bus Shuttle will be provided from the Five Points Station.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007
East Point City Hall Auditorium
2777 E. Point Street
East Point, 30344
Taking MARTA: Walk two blocks from East Point Station or take Bus Routes 84, 182 or 320 and walk one block to auditorium.

The MARTA Board of Directors has approved a Locally Preferred Alternative for the BeltLine recommending that the 22 mile transit loop use rail technology and begin and end at the Lindbergh Rail Station via the Inman Park/Reynoldstown Rail Station.

MARTA considered four possible routes and three types of transit vehicles as part of its BeltLine study. During a series of public hearings, the community expressed overwhelming support for rail technology, such as street cars and light rail, and for the route to make an end-to-end loop through the city. The Atlanta Mayor's Office and the Atlanta Development Authority have endorsed MARTA's recommendations, which will be included in a request for federal funding to support continued transportation planning for the BeltLine.

MARTA and the City of Atlanta are working together to design the transit component of the BeltLine, which is focused on improving access and connectivity to existing neighborhoods, establishing connections to the MARTA system and serving proposed green space and economic development.

MARTA is enhancing safety and comfort for customers on our bus routes with the installation of over 100 new bus shelters and benches and the implementation of an overall cleaning and maintenance plan for all stops. These amenities will offer customers an improved transit experience, with additional seating and protection from the elements.

In addition, MARTA will ensure that customers have a voice in the process by offering a new "Bus Stop Request" form to address stop location and amenity requests, suggestions and complaints. Customers can request a bus shelter or bench at a stop by calling 404-848-5000, and the request form will soon be available online at www.itsmarta.com.

Shelters and benches are distributed throughout MARTA's service area based on several factors including the number of routes and customers served, the proximity to facilities such as hospitals and senior centers, and the amount of space available at a location.

The Bus Stop Improvement program is part of MARTA's overall service improvement plan that includes both immediate improvements to customer service and cleanliness and a long term capital program that will give customers a virtually new transit system by 2008.