BeltLine Rail Now

Join us again next Saturday April 25th in Inman Park for THE event of the spring festival season The Inman Park Festival. We need your presence in the parade and at our booth to make it clearer than ever that this city wants Beltline rail- and now! Bring yourself your friends and your family and have a great time as we march along the route of Atlanta’s first streetcar on an Atlanta spring day. And if you need a T shirt to wear we got you covered. Indicate that in your registration.

As in years past we have a table at the Little Five Points Community Center BOTH Saturday and Sunday. Consider volunteering for a shift and helping spread the word.

RSVP for both events is in our linktree in our profile.

We’ll be joined by District 2 Atlanta City Councilperson Kelsea Bond who launched their campaign marching in the parade with us last year. Inman Park is entirely inside D2 and Kelsea won on a campaign that had their support for Beltline rail as an anchor. They won with 64% of the vote in a crowded field. Yes, Inman Park wants Beltline rail and it’s time to tell Mayor Dickens, MARTA, and Atlanta Beltline Inc that when it comes to Beltline Rail the time is now and it’s Both-And! We need ALL 22 MILES of it!

Or at the link https://beltlinerailnow.com/upcoming-events/2026/4/25/inman-park-festival-parade

Woohoo! Last night BRN reached 6,000 followers on Instagram. We also surpassed 3,000 last month on Facebook. Thank you for being one of them! Your advocacy and efforts are vital to keeping the promise of rail along all 22 miles of the Beltline on track as we hold elected and appointed officials to account. Even as it appears that leaders are failing in their charge from voters to build Beltline rail now, interest in our mission is growing fast. A whole new generation of Atlantans "gets it" when it comes to Beltline rail.

We are grateful for your support! Visit us at beltlinerailnow.com for more and to sign up for our newsletter and get involved. 🚊

Atlanta Beltline's (ABI) recent touting of the Beltline as the world's longest linear arboretum feels like a way for it to change the topic.

The story-behind-the-headline is that the Beltline is the largest transit project in the U.S. with no trains on it more than 20 years after ABI began building it.

Everyone is for trees. And indeed Atlanta, the "city in the forest," has plenty of them. And we’re all for more on the Beltline too; they just shouldn't be planted in the 22-mile greenway set aside for light rail transit.

These new trees shouldn’t be an excuse for not moving forward with light rail, the "people's project,” as CEO Clyde Higgs reminds us it's called in his legendary quarterly robocalls. Beltline rail was the most popular part of the More MARTA referendum passed overwhelmingly by Atlantans in 2016.

Let's stop changing the subject. Rubber-wheeled autonomous shuttles, which require a road built next to the recreational trail, aren't the answer.

Transit, trees, and the recreational trail can all coexist harmoniously on the Beltline; indeed that's the vision. The longer we wait to move forward with transit on the Beltline, the less likely it will happen.

Let's stop building pretexts for not moving forward with Beltline transit; the “people” want both trees and trams.

See ABI's announcement at https://beltline.org/press-release/atlanta-beltline-arboretum-becomes-the-world-s-longest-linear-arboretum/ 🚊

Let's Talk Transit is off and running for 2026!

Want to talk with other transit fans, experts, and officials about what's next for transit in Atlanta? Let's Talk Transit is a safe, fun, and informal way to meet others and have a good time celebrating the things we have in common- our love of transit and the future of it in the ATL.

Join us on the Beltline SW on March 26th, 6:30-8:30 at Boxcar at Lee & White. Visit https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po00001aeHpiIAE for more details and to RSVP. 🚊

Atlanta Beltline Inc. has hired a new Vice President of Transit Innovation, who hails from a paved mobility background. In doing so, the City of Atlanta has signaled what's in store for the Beltline: autonomous “pods.”

ABI has been referring to Beltline transit as light rail. But recently it dropped those references from its website and replaced “light rail" with “transit.”

The future of Beltline transit, as Mayor Dickens sees it, is autonomous vehicles. We know this: the new VP of Transit Innovation, Joe Iacobucci, was hired last fall from TYLin International. TYLIN is a global engineering and consulting firm regarded as a go-to for paved-mobility solutions, including autonomous shuttles. See the link in our profile for the Saporta Report story and more details.

While at TYLin, Iacobucci worked on a series of road-based projects, including the report ABI solicited from TYLin about transit, recommending autonomous shuttles as the preferred mode of transit for the Beltline.

Iacobucci’s hiring coincides with the ABI and City rollout out of a pilot, on-demand mini-bus shuttle system designed to connect Atlanta University Center, the West End MARTA station and the Lee & White complex at the Beltline. This mini-bus rollout, designed to be up and running for the World Cup in June, means one thing: Mayor Dickens, with ABI playing front man, is all in on paved mobility as Beltline transit.

Yep, the Mayor of Atlanta thinks it’s a good idea to abandon light rail in the core of the city, throw away 22-miles of dedicated right of way greenway, years of planning and more than $10 million, for what transit experts refer to as gadgetbahn. Translation: a low capacity, pavement-based gimmick that’s the opposite of what the Beltline needs – a mass transit solution.

Meanwhile, there's no progress on Southside Beltline rail, putting the start point of the entire project in jeopardy. 🚊

See the link in our bio for the Saporta Report story.