Influence of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority on population and employment location

The rail system operated by the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) began operating in 1979. As its 20th anniversary nears, how has it influenced land use patterns? Results are mixed. Throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area, the population continues to sprawl outward and MARTA's facilities do not appear to attract large-scale residential development to them. On the other hand, employment also continues to decentralize, and MARTA's rail facilities appear to have attracted employment-based development. As MARTA extends service into the affluent northern tier suburbs, its attractiveness to employment centers and perhaps higher-density residential development should improve. The downside is that MARTA is exhausting its reach because most of the region's new development is outside its jurisdiction.