Formation of MARTA
A state constitutional amendment was required to establish a regional transportation agency. In November 1962 this amendment was approved by a majority of voters in DeKalb and Fulton counties but failed to pass statewide. The amendment did not specificy the composition of the agency but stated in more general terms the nature of powers for the agency (taxing, eminent domain, expenditure of public funds) that would be designated by the state to a lower agency for the purposes of transit planning. As a result many rural voters believed they were committing themselves to pay for a transit system in Atlanta. Opposition was also raised by the trucking industry in defense of highway funds.
In December 1962 the MATSC published a report titled A Plan and Program of Rapid Transit for the Atlanta Metropolitan Region which called for a 66-mile (106 km), 42 station rapid rail transit system with feeder buses and park-and-ride facilities across 5 counties centered upon downtown Atlanta. In March 1963 the MATSC formed a committee which came to be known as the Rapid Transit Committee of 100 for the purpose of financing and publicizing the rapid transit campaign as outlined in the December 1962 report. In the same year the MATSC was dissolved by the state and replaced by a new organization called the Georgia State Study Commission. The Study Commission reviewed and approved the previous MATSC transit plan. The continued campaigning by regional and local groups led to the passing of a second transit-enabling state constitutional amendment in 1964. This second amendment however was not proposed statewide but was placed only on the ballots of five metropolitan Atlanta counties (Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Clayton). Approval was slim in Cobb county where the margin was only 403 votes.
In March 1965 the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Act was passed by the Georgia legislature setting up a rapid transit agency but required ratification by the five counties. In June 1965 voters in four of the five counties approved the creation of MARTA; only 43 percent of voters approved MARTA in Cobb County. MARTA was officially formed in January 1966.
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority History
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