MARCUS SHARPE

To Marcus Sharpe, PRT is common sense. The appeal is obvious and the benefits will be substantial. He wrestles with the status quo of metro planning which a recent FTA report has labeled dysfunctional.

Sharpe lives up to his name.

Marcus is a native Georgian studied telecommunications as a journalism major and now works for MARTA.  Helping plot out a strategic growth plan for a progressive transit agency, his certification for business analysis of complex projects comes in handy as does work with Africa 10. He routinely balances the demands of people long for more and better transit services and like living in multi-story TOD districts, as well as those who savor the convenience of cars and see a house and yard with trees as the basis of the American Dream.

Clayton County Options

Much of Sharpe’s sharp thinking these days goes to Clayton County, the other side of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. C-Trans’s meager bus service stopped several years ago, but last fall voters approved a 1 cent sales tax hike to get it back and rail service too. MARTA could extend its metro past the airport, but at a cost unattainable from sales tax revenues.  Marcus sees extending the landside airport APM as a lighter, more viable option. Many locals get excited by commuter rail possibilities.

Pods have a scale that Skytran conveys to Marcus.

Skytran images inspire Marcus to go beyond the images of the past.  He has had positive talks with Clayton officials, although one quickly cautioned that  PRT/podcars do not qualify for FTA funds.  In 2015, under Obama and Secretary Foxx, is that valid?