Want to get an Atlantan riled up? Ask them what they think about MARTA.
They might tell you how you have to wait forever for the next train or bus to show up. They might go on and on about how there’s no service where they live, or if there is it’s not enough. They might just point you to the MARTA Sucks website or Twitterfeed. As a Jalopnik reader once said of Atlanta’s transportation system, “there are certainly worse options out there, but Atlanta’s MARTA system may be the most useless. It goes nowhere you want to go, the trains are often late, the bus schedule is constantly changing, and it shuts down way to early for a night out.”
In other words, there are few more dependable things around Atlanta than the undependability of a MARTA public transit vehicle.
Perhaps that’s what made what happened during the implosion of the Georgia Dome on Monday so very special and so very Atlanta. As the former home of the Atlanta Falcons was demolished, various TV crews set up shop around town to capture the perfect shot of the implosion. The Weather Channel thought they had themselves a pretty choice location with a clear look and great angle. There was just about nothing that could ruin this beautiful destruction porn moment. And then, the magic happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEjag-a7TyU
The MARTA bus’s arrival at the most inopportune time is perhaps the perfect distillation of the city’s relationship with its transit system. Almost never there when you need it and ever rarely on time, the bus made sure to ruin a perfect moment by showing up exactly when it did so that they could enjoy it at your expense.
The Weather Channel’s cameraman is every Atlantan in that moment (via Deadspin).
“No, bus, get out the way! Bus! Jesus, get out of the way, bus! Are you…you… ARRGHHH. What the f-…God damn it. Damn, lady!”
Alas, it was too late for the bus to get out of the way, sir. Because if nothing else, MARTA is extremely good at doing things late.
[Deadspin]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.