#33 – MARTA: Public Transportation For Retirees

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:04]:
Really? Okay. This is great because sometimes on the show, we like to do something called the Boccinche Report.

Donna De Jesus [00:00:13]:
What Bochinche do are we talking about?

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:16]:
So for people who don’t know what Bocinche is, it’s like the hot gossip.

Donna De Jesus [00:00:20]:
Oh, yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:21]:
So do you have any hot Marta Bocinche that we can know about?

Donna De Jesus [00:00:25]:
Now? I’m going through my filter right now and what.

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:29]:
What. What’s safe to say?

Donna De Jesus [00:00:31]:
Yes. What bunch is safe to say? I happen to know, like, a lot of people.

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:36]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:00:37]:
And by golly, there’s not a day that I’m walking through the atrium or on an elevator or walking through the station and I see somebody who pulls me to the side and say, do you believe what happened? Transit is very interesting.

Ryan Doolittle [00:00:56]:
On my first date with my future wife, I picked her up in an Uber. I played it off as a romantic gesture, but the truth was that I didn’t own a car. I’d given it up because I love public transportation. There’s just something about it. You can clear your head, get work done, and, I don’t know, actually see the city instead of focusing on the traffic. Atlanta’s version of the LA Metro is called MARTA. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has 48 miles of rail track, 38 subway stops, and an abundance of bus routes from Hartsfield, Jackson, Atlanta International Airport to Sandy Springs, from Buckhead to Brookhaven, from Decatur to Dorville. MARTA is taking people where they want to go today and tomorrow, and it can’t do that without today’s guest.

Ryan Doolittle [00:01:46]:
Donna De Jesus joined the team in 1993 and has over 30 years of advanced experience in transit, call center and customer service management. She’s now the director of customer services, but I just call her the Queen of marta. Nowadays, I do own a car. I mean, I had to have somewhere to put my toddler’s car seat. I don’t get many nights out, but when I do, I ride the light rail or the bus whenever possible. If you find yourself craving the rails or maybe you’ve retired and just want to drive a little bit less, this conversation can empower you with the tips and tricks you need to get where you want to go via the mode of transportation with which you want to get there. So pay that fare, sit back, relax, and let Donna De Jesus dazzle you with some MARTA magic. Do you ever wonder who you’ll be and what you’ll do after your career is over? Wouldn’t it be nice to hear stories from People who figured it out who are thriving and retire.

Ryan Doolittle [00:02:47]:
I’m Ryan Doolittle. After working with the Retire Sooner team for years and researching and writing about how they structure their lifestyles, I know there’s more to be learned. So I’m going straight to the source and taking you with me. My mission with the Happiest Retirees podcast is to inspire 1 million families to find happiness in retirement. I want to learn how to live an exceptional life from people who do it every day. Let’s get started. Donna, thanks for coming on the show.

Donna De Jesus [00:03:18]:
Oh, thank you for that very nice introduction, Ryan. I appreciate it. Happy to be here. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:03:24]:
Yes. I can’t thank you enough for coming on. It’s. The format today is a little different because, as our listeners know, normally I talk to a happy retiree to find out what they did in their life so that we can try to get people to emulate that. But I want to talk to you about your knowledge of MARTA and how maybe retirees might be able to utilize it to get around Atlanta and stay active and do things they want to do. If they’re maybe looking to drive a.

Donna De Jesus [00:03:52]:
Little less, that’s perfect, because we have several different options. I’d be happy to get into that with you later.

Ryan Doolittle [00:03:58]:
Oh, fantastic. So, okay, so, people, a little backstory. Marta, which is the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, it’s the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was formed in 1971, and at that point, it was strictly a bus system, but now it operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting of 48 miles of rail track with 38 subway stations. So that’s. That’s a pretty good chunk of the city and surrounding areas. Would you say it helps people get around the main city part and the surrounding portions?

Donna De Jesus [00:04:37]:
Oh, most definitely there. And then we also have regional partners that intersect with marta, and that’s in the surrounding counties. We have Cobb County, Gwinnett County, Douglas County, Henry County. So there’s several other county express buses that link into MARTA stations. So we have that wonderful connection of being able to go even further out in the metro area and to be able to service the downtown areas or where you’d like to go to. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:05:07]:
Yeah, I noticed. So. So people know I live in Los Angeles, but most of my coworkers are in Atlanta. And when I was out there, I noticed that the counties sort of run together pretty seamlessly. You’re. You’re one place, and then you go out to lunch somewhere, and you’re in another County?

Donna De Jesus [00:05:25]:
Yes. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:05:27]:
Would you say if a retiree is looking to utilize MARTA to drive less and get around and maybe even get some more walking in? I mean, steps are important each day. I know for me, what kind of options is MARTA having? I guess you could just list some places that are really good locations.

Donna De Jesus [00:05:45]:
Yeah, I’ll be happy to do that. And similar to other transit properties, we have at MARTA a program, a discounted program called the reduced fare program. And that’s for anybody who’s 65 years or older or anybody who may have a medical need and a doctor can certify eligibility into the program, you would qualify for that program. And that allows you to travel to get a car that has your photo on it and let you travel at the rate of $8 per trip, as opposed to $2.50. So, as you can imagine, as a senior or as a retiree on a fixed income, you want to be able to utilize all these resources that are available for you. So it’s a federally mandated program, and we have three offices available. And we also do a lot of outreach in these communities. We go to governmental activities where they may have senior days or just community days.

Donna De Jesus [00:06:48]:
We do outreach at senior center facilities. We go to multiplex facilities. And so that to avoid having someone not knowing MARTA for the first time and having to come to our office, we want to be out there and be proactive in the community. And we’re actually qualifying you on the spot, taking your photo and printing a nice MARTA card with your picture on it. And that eligibility for that reduced price is immediate. You can immediately travel for $1. And with that $1, if I may add, you are able to travel up to three hours and four transfers.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:26]:
Wow.

Donna De Jesus [00:07:27]:
Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:07:27]:
Okay, so the senior price is $1, $1 per trip. Okay. Per trip. So does that include transfers, did you say?

Donna De Jesus [00:07:35]:
Correct. So you can. As a martyr, anybody riding martyr, you’re allowed four transfers within three hours going in the same direction. Because our system was primarily built as a feeder system, meaning we have primarily north, south, east, west, and then all the buses connecting to the closest point, which is a rail. Someone may need to get on a bus to get to a rail station, once they get to the closest rail station, may need to transfer to a bus to get to their final destination. So you are allowed to go all of that in one direction because, you know, we don’t want you going and coming back for that $1 fare.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:16]:
Right.

Donna De Jesus [00:08:16]:
But, yes, it is an awesome benefit and quite a few. We do have a large population that take Advantage of that benefit.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:25]:
So, yeah, So I mean, $1. I think that sounds like a fair price. I mean, marta’s got to wet its beak a little bit. Right? You got to keep the trains running. Okay. And do you also have park and ride options if people maybe want to drive a little?

Donna De Jesus [00:08:42]:
Correct. We have several park and ride facilities in that cuts down. And I am one of those who takes advantage of the park and ride. I actually live in an area outside of Atlanta called Henry CA County.

Ryan Doolittle [00:08:58]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:08:59]:
And I take. I can speak to myself. I take an express bus in and MARTA has a reciprocal agreement with our regional partners. Meaning I pay for my express bus to come in, that takes me to the civic center station and then I transfer to the martyr train for four stops and then I’m right across the street on the way home. I martyr. You know, being a benefit as a martyr employee, I don’t have to pay that fare. So it’s a reciprocal agreement that we do have with the counties. Whatever county you enter in would get that revenue.

Ryan Doolittle [00:09:36]:
So I did have a question there because some of a lot of our retirees love to volunteer or maybe maybe a part time job. Does MARTA have something available in that sense? And then maybe their fare would be free or even if it’s not free, just a way for people to stay involved. Does MARTA offer any kind of opportunities like that?

Donna De Jesus [00:09:57]:
MARTA does have. I have part time employees in the call center, one of the call centers that I manage. Oh, it’s not a lot of allocated positions, but I do have a senior employee. In fact, one of my employees who’s a part timer actually retired from MARTA and then took a year traveling and then he wanted to come back in and be engaged. So he came back on a part time basis. So that was really a benefit for me. So. And so in certain areas we do have paid.

Donna De Jesus [00:10:28]:
Of course, part timers are paid so you can be employed. And in most jobs there isn’t any type of age discrimination or age criteria, provided you meet the qualifications for the job and unwilling to do it. But we also have outreach communities. We have a riders advisory group that it’s made up of individuals from surrounding counties who are really, most of them are transit advocates or they just want to be. They may join as a skeptic, but then want to come in and see our operations and be exposed and learn all about our projects. And then we then they’re able to see all the great programs that we’re doing. And we do have quite a few retirees and some seniors in that group. So we do have groups like that.

Donna De Jesus [00:11:19]:
We have also a Mac committee and I’ve got to watch the acronyms because we use a lot of acronyms in transit. Yes. Some are the Accessibility committee and that’s made up of people with different types of disabilities and a mixed group who come in and every two months and the same thing, they give us feedback about our service. We use their feedback as we’re implementing programs or to consider what the customer experience is from that age group or that group that has walks around with that type of disability and then make sure that we’re meeting the needs for those customers. So there are a couple of. We also do surveys from a research and analysis group and when we’re surveying, we’re actually on the system. As you know from researchers, they’re looking for certain segments of people that fit certain Personas. So we’re going out there and soliciting your input and what you say is going to be valued, going to be reported all to senior management and also top board.

Donna De Jesus [00:12:25]:
So there are several opportunities. Now all of most of these opportunities are advertised on our MARTA website. You will see banners on our MARTA websites and opportunities for interacting definitely with us and definitely here in the call center. I am providing, I am gathering information all day long. Any concerns you may have, suggestions, recommendations and passing that along so that it is considered by the project team.

Ryan Doolittle [00:12:52]:
And for people at home, the that website is its Marta.com www.its M A.

Donna De Jesus [00:12:59]:
R T A.com that’s correct, yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:01]:
Now what are some of these? Can you list some of the big concerns you get from people and how you might be addressing those?

Donna De Jesus [00:13:09]:
So right now we are doing a couple of rehabs, I shouldn’t say a couple, several rehabs of our stations. You may have heard in the news that within the next couple of years we’re going to have all new rail cars. Very excited. And those rail cars come with some really wonderful new features, real time information, digital signs. It’s the open seating, the open area. So people make sure people who choose to ride bikes and things like that, you know, easy access.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:44]:
Oh, they can bring their bike on the car, on the train car. Oh, okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:13:49]:
Even on our buses, all of our buses have bike stands in the front of them too.

Ryan Doolittle [00:13:53]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:13:54]:
But so people, whenever there’s a news release about it or a board meeting where we may have given an update to the board and we have very engaged and engaged public who look at our board meetings online or actually come to the headquarters building to give our board members feedback, we make sure that that information is shared. And I’m sorry, Ryan. My thoughts. I got excited about the real cars.

Ryan Doolittle [00:14:22]:
I know the feeling. I know the feeling, Donna.

Donna De Jesus [00:14:24]:
We make sure that we document everything that you say. All of your input. You can email us. We even get snail mail. There are still people who send mail through the post office, and we receive those. You can on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. You could communicate with us. We compile all that information and we make sure that the project teams know about it.

Donna De Jesus [00:14:49]:
We make sure that the board. Board is aware of any comment that may be directed to the board or senior staff. And we have regular meetings about all of these projects. And once again, they want to know from customer services, what have you heard? What are customers saying? Is it an FAQ that we didn’t properly answer? Or maybe we need to add this additional question to fully explain the impact to you when we launch this new program initiative or rehab project. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:15:19]:
Well. And just so you know, not only do I love public transportation, I love the US Mail. I still send it all the time. My son is almost 2 and he’s already saying post office.

Donna De Jesus [00:15:28]:
Oh, yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:15:30]:
So I’m glad to hear people are still utilizing the mail.

Donna De Jesus [00:15:32]:
Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:15:32]:
Oh, they do. So, okay, so what would you say to someone who lives in the Atlanta area and they’ve heard like that Marta doesn’t go, you know, people here. It doesn’t go where I want or doesn’t go enough places. What would you say to that person?

Donna De Jesus [00:15:51]:
Okay, I’d say to them, well, what are your interests? First of all, if you’re talking about museums, I can list all of the major attractions that are within walking distance. Star stations. We have the College Football hall of Fame, World of Coke, national center for Civic and Human Rights, the High Museum, the Fernbank Museum. These are all accessible via Martyr. If you’re looking for attractions, we have the Atlanta D Symphony Orchestra and Sympathy hall within walking distance of our stations. We have the Fox Theater, the Georgia Aquarium, one of the largest, I may add, for Atlanta. I think there’s one other state that may have a larger aquarium. We have Centennial Olympic Park.

Donna De Jesus [00:16:37]:
Tru is the home of the Brays, and that’s a connectivity with one of our regional partners. We have the State Farm arena, and of course, our pride and joy, the Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Ryan Doolittle [00:16:49]:
Is that where the Falcons play?

Donna De Jesus [00:16:51]:
That’s where the Falcons play. So we also have. So those are attractions. I’ve talked about museums. We also have multipurpose senior centers in all different communities. We have the Central DeKalb Senior center, the Lou Walker Senior Center, Harriet Darnell Multipurpose Facility, Helen Helena Mills, and the HJC Bowden Senior Multiplex Facilities. These are all very active communities of which retirees and seniors can definitely go. And let me tell you, some of the activities.

Donna De Jesus [00:17:28]:
They travel, they go to different places. Restaurants are very. I cannot wait for my opportunity to join one of them to go to all the very interesting places. They’re very active communities.

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:40]:
And so they. They use MARTA to get around to go to these. These locations.

Donna De Jesus [00:17:45]:
Marta? What? Those facilities that I mentioned, you are able to travel to those facilities using MARTA if you choose not to drive.

Ryan Doolittle [00:17:53]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:17:54]:
We all understand in urban cities, what traffic is light. And definitely with Atlanta being a thoroughfare between Florida and going north, it’s. It’s. As you know, it’s. Traffic can be a nightmare. It could be daunting, too. So we definitely want to encourage the use of our first hour, our bus, rail, and streetcar. You mentioned streetcar a little while ago.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:20]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:18:21]:
And all those attractions that I mentioned, the streetcar stops in front of those facilities.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:27]:
Really?

Donna De Jesus [00:18:27]:
So why not coast? Because I. I do speak to some seniors and there might be a concern because of the way movies project, you know, subways and unpleasant things that may happen.

Ryan Doolittle [00:18:40]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:18:40]:
And so some people say I prefer to just, I want to be on the streetcar or I only want to go to a certain location using buses. That’s what I’ll provide you. I’ll tell you the different buses that you need to connect to to get to your facility. If that’s your choice, you want to look out the window, you’re at a slower pace, you’re not in a. In a rush to get anywhere because the TR will get you there faster. But if your choice is to go bus to bus, we’ll do that. Or if you want to go bus to streetcar or streetcar to bus, however you want to travel, we will be happy to provide you that information. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:19:16]:
Do you have a streetcar named Desire?

Donna De Jesus [00:19:21]:
I like that. That’s a nice one. But I also wanted to measure. Mention another mode of transit that MARTA provides. And we call it our mobility service, which is really our paratransit service. That is another door to door or curb to curb service that’s provided for people who are qualified to use the program. So they would come directly to your home and pick you up and take you to whatever location within the martyr jurisdiction, of course, parameters. And it’s within a quarter mile of our fixed route.

Donna De Jesus [00:19:58]:
So you could be traveling from the south side of town. I’ll name a City to just throw out like Union City. And maybe you have a doctor’s appointment up in Sandy Springs. That’s within our jurisdiction, but you have a qualified medical need that your doctor had authorized you to use this program.

Ryan Doolittle [00:20:21]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:20:22]:
And that Service is at $4 a ride, but you are getting sort of curb to curb service. And now it is not a dedicated service. I must say, some people give the think that, oh, it’s like an Uber, it’s me and a one car. No, it is a shared ride because as you can imagine, those vans may need to pick up several other people who have requested to go in the same direction. So. But we will meet the timeline that you say that you need to. I need to be picked up at 7:30 and I need to be dropped off at 8:45 for my 9:00 doctor’s appointment or to go shopping at that Costco. I prefer that Costco than the one that’s closest to me.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:06]:
Or to go to the hairdresser or Walmart, wherever you want to go, as long as you qualified for that. And there’s zero denial rate on that service. Oh, so you call. You qualified for the service, you make a reservation for the service and we have to provide the service.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:24]:
Now, as a doctor of love, would I be able to certify people.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:29]:
As long as you have. Let me put on my political hat here. Some type of position, license. No.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:38]:
Yeah, it’s above board.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:39]:
It’s a. Yeah, yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:41]:
Okay. You, you had mentioned taking MARTA to Truist Park.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:47]:
Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:47]:
Where the place. Yes.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:48]:
Outbreaks. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:49]:
What would be the way. So I’m trying to. When I was there. That’s in Smyrna, isn’t it?

Donna De Jesus [00:21:54]:
It’s in Cobb County.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:56]:
Cobb county, okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:21:57]:
Correct.

Ryan Doolittle [00:21:57]:
So what would be like, say you’re downtown where you write in the Civic center or. So how would you. What are some of the best ways to get to a Braves game? Because that was an amazing facility. I was blown away by it.

Donna De Jesus [00:22:09]:
Yes, yes. So we have board bus 12 at the Midtown station.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:16]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:22:16]:
And that travels to Cumberland Mall. At Cumberland Mall there is a transfer center. That’s in Cobb county. They have a transfer center. And from there they have a Cumberland circular shuttle. It’s either blue or green. That takes you right to the Battery and to Trist Park.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:34]:
Okay. Okay. So it’s, it’s pretty easy. You see a lot of people do it.

Donna De Jesus [00:22:38]:
Oh, yes, most definitely. Because if you’re trying to avoid parking and also if you’ve tried to leave any type of game in that facility and you and what 60,000 people are trying to.

Ryan Doolittle [00:22:51]:
Yeah, so. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So. And you’re. I imagine, you know, you go to a game, like any baseball game, and if you want to get a beer, you kind of have to take out a mortgage. So you’re trying to save money wherever you. You can.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:05]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:23:06]:
Strongly advised. Yeah. Take the local transportation. Yes. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:12]:
Okay. Do you see a lot of retirees using marta?

Donna De Jesus [00:23:17]:
Yes, because I’m on the system every day.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:19]:
Okay. So you see it firsthand.

Donna De Jesus [00:23:21]:
I see it firsthand. And maybe because I work for MARTA and manage the program, I can tell from the briefcard that they’re using that they are qualified for the program because it has their photo on it. It’s yellow. And the reason why it has a photo on it. Let’s say you’re boarding a bus and bus operator can validate right of way that you’re entitled to the program. You match the photo on the program.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:47]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:23:48]:
Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:23:48]:
And so you mentioned a little bit for yourself. Looking forward to being able to use it when you retire. What. What do you think you’ll use it for in your retirement?

Donna De Jesus [00:23:56]:
Definitely. I loved. I’m not natively from Atlanta.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:01]:
Oh, you’re not? Okay. Where are you from?

Donna De Jesus [00:24:02]:
From New York.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:03]:
Oh, okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:24:04]:
And so transit is the way. In fact, having a car was a liability because you have to pay for parking and traffic and you’re able to just get around a lot faster. I lived in Brooklyn and I worked in Harlem, so that was quite a commute.

Ryan Doolittle [00:24:19]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:24:19]:
But it was done within an hour every day, and it was the easiest thing. I read a lot. So definitely I would use it to go to all the shows I don’t get to go to at the Fox Theater. I definitely use it for all the events at Mercedes Benz and even cnn. Marta. We’re so fortunate in that we have sports activities, you have the cultural arts, you have museums. There’s all of the type of entertainment at all levels, all types of entertainment that you can go to. Not only that, as we’ve opened up more coming out of the COVID pandemic area, you’re able to.

Donna De Jesus [00:25:05]:
Different parks may have jazz festivals.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:08]:
Oh, yes.

Donna De Jesus [00:25:09]:
And so it’s wonderful. You bring your chair and your cooler and you enjoy some music and then, you know, what a lovely way to end the day. So I’m looking forward to being able to do that on my own leisure time. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:25:22]:
Yeah. If you give me a chair and a cooler, I know I’m going to have a good day.

Donna De Jesus [00:25:27]:
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. There’s a lot of free concerts, lots of activities. We even have what I would consider concerts on the system. Now. We have great. In marta, there’s a great outbound initiative program that we call. And you would.

Donna De Jesus [00:25:43]:
If you go on the MARTA website, you will see where the performances are. And just yesterday when I was taking the train, I heard a great saxophonist playing. I was hesitant about getting on my, you know, because he was doing an awesome job and had a great personality to match. We’ve actually had live performances, ballet shows and things like that. Yes, we are great. It’s called artbound and you’ll see it on Amara website. And we advertise to the public where the performances will be and what time. And so it’s really a nice ambiance going into the station and hearing somebody very talented just playing their heart out and people stopping and listening.

Donna De Jesus [00:26:27]:
It’s wow.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:28]:
So if I go to www.itsmarta.com, i can find out which stations some great jazz musicians are going to be playing at or something like that.

Donna De Jesus [00:26:37]:
Yes, you can. On the timeframe they’ll be there. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:26:40]:
What if I were a happy retiree who loved playing the clarinet or something? Could I sign up to play at a station that.

Donna De Jesus [00:26:47]:
I’m not sure how it’s managed. I’d have to get back with you on that. There is a wonderful staff that manages that program and I’m not sure they’re probably working. I’m not sure about the qualifications to be.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:02]:
Right. Yeah, but you have a lot going on already. So I wanted to hear this music. Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:27:09]:
Oh, yes. The whole idea is that we are in the community, we are part of the community, and we want to be representative of that, too. So Marty is always looking for ways to be more engaging. We have June Autism Month. We have some kids who are making the announcements during Autism Month. And you’re hearing these little voices speak very clearly and very excited about being the voice in the station for that whole month. I mean, so we are. MARTA is definitely engaged in being more connected.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:46]:
Okay. Okay. So the Atlanta International Airport is, I think it’s the biggest in the world.

Donna De Jesus [00:27:52]:
The busiest.

Ryan Doolittle [00:27:54]:
Busiest in the world. Tell me about using MARTA to get in and out of there.

Donna De Jesus [00:27:59]:
Oh, it is best kept. The best thing ever.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:02]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:28:03]:
I use it myself. So we have an airport station. It’s the end of our south line that goes directly to the airport.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:10]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:28:11]:
And from there, as you know, the way the airport is constructed, you’re either on the north terminal or the south terminal, depending on where your airline when you get off at that station. We have an elevator there, escalator stairs. You go downstairs and you either go to your right to the south terminal or to the left to the north terminal. The easiest connection ever.

Ryan Doolittle [00:28:34]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:28:35]:
And if there is a shuttle to the International Concourse that you walk out of the building and there’s a shuttle that can also take you to the International Concourse, it is the most easiest. A lot of people utilize that, I must say, a lot of seniors, when we do outreaches towards the end of the year, like the November timeframe. October, November timeframe, we’re seeing, like, a lot of seniors making sure that their card is still active because they’re going out of town to visit with family during the holidays, and they want to make sure that my card is, you know, I have fear of my card. My card is still active. It hasn’t expired because I’m going to use it to travel during that time. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:29:15]:
Yeah. So. So people. I mean, this is great for people that live in Atlanta who want to, you know, travel and come back or maybe business owners or just anyone who’s for business coming to Atlanta. The MARTA is a great and affordable way to move around and get out of the airport.

Donna De Jesus [00:29:31]:
And I am. My home station is a college park, which is one station away from the airport. And there is not a day. So the days that I choose not to use express bus and I’m parking at a station and driving the rest of the way because maybe I have an errand to run between there and home or something, all you see are travelers. And you see those business travelers on the Friday, you see them on the Monday morning, and they’re coming in and they’re logging in because there’s wifi on the trains. So you see them logging into their laptops and maybe doing presentations or doing work prior to getting. You can tell the business rider because their suitcase is obviously a lot smaller than mine is, you know, and.

Ryan Doolittle [00:30:16]:
Well, that’s another benefit that I always found with public transportation is I can. I can get work done instead of, you know, driving. By the time I get to where I’m going, I’ve. I’ve accomplished something.

Donna De Jesus [00:30:26]:
Oh, yeah. Most definitely.

Ryan Doolittle [00:30:28]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:30:29]:
Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:30:29]:
Tell me some other perks of using MARTA rather than driving. I mean, there’s getting work done, like you said, when you. You read.

Donna De Jesus [00:30:36]:
I definitely. I. I read and I listen to Shop podcast.

Ryan Doolittle [00:30:41]:
Oh, well, maybe you can listen to this one.

Donna De Jesus [00:30:44]:
Yeah, I do the other thing, too, that my group. I am in the area called Customer Experience.

Ryan Doolittle [00:30:53]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:30:54]:
And so within that, we’re always looking for innovative ways that makes our customers travel easier, more beneficial. Getting you real time information and what are things that are going to attract and retain you as the customer. We need to stay on the cutting edge too in transit as we attract re attract people who during the pandemic worked from home or doing a hybrid and things like that.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:23]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:31:24]:
And so we have as one of our groups, a sustainability group. And I can tell you I might be preempting a modern announcement.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:34]:
Wait, this is. We’re breaking news here on the Happiest Retirees podcast.

Donna De Jesus [00:31:37]:
Please don’t, please don’t get me in trouble, but I’m having such a good time explaining this. We have and they’re testing. We’re in the testing phase.

Ryan Doolittle [00:31:49]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:31:50]:
So I know we’re, we’re close to launch, so I should not be in too much trouble. We have our coming out of our sustainability group, something called Sustainability in Motion. So if I, if I may read this, this is exciting news.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:05]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:32:05]:
So Marta, we have about 61 million trips in 2023, both on bus, rail and mobility and a streetcar. So to help reduce the emissions, pollutions and reduce road congestion. I think this is pretty awesome. What is my part that I’m doing on this earth while I’m here is to reduce my carbon footprint. So what we’re doing is testing a report whereby you can summarize or get an estimate of your contribution to reducing CO2 by taking transit. That’s pretty awesome.

Ryan Doolittle [00:32:44]:
Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:32:45]:
So this morning, just this morning, what. So we’re testing before we launch to make sure it’s right. We have brief cards that have a brief card number on the back of it. Every time you purchase our current fair media from a ticket vending machine or you can purchase it online and they would mail it to you. There’s a number on the bottom there, 20 digit number and you enter in. It’s very simple. This website, you enter into your 20 digit number and it provides this report. So what it told me I’m going to reveal a little bit about my carbon footprint.

Donna De Jesus [00:33:20]:
So we’re talking about sustainability and taking care of the earth that we’re now fortunate to be.

Ryan Doolittle [00:33:27]:
I know I’m worried that my carbon footprint looks like Sasquatch, you know.

Donna De Jesus [00:33:32]:
So just for this year, for me it could be a little hard. But it says that I’ve ridden 941.6 rail miles, CO2 saved versus driving in pounds 696.78. And this one I really like. Like, look how many trees I’ve saved 32 trees. Yay.

Ryan Doolittle [00:33:56]:
That’s a cool way to measure it. Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:33:58]:
Yes. And we have in our stations. I’m branching out into another topic. We have bike areas where you can go and park your bike full of reaction. No more than less than 24 hours. If that’s your mode of transit, you can lock it. And a lot of people take their wheel. But we also have some tire.

Donna De Jesus [00:34:19]:
You can. And I’m not using the right terminology, but you can fix. If you need to work on your bike and fix something, you can hook it up and actually do the work right there. We don’t provide the tools, but we have those stations throughout a lot of our stations where we see a lot of heavy bike traffic. So you talk about sustainability. Not only being able to go to attractions and live your life and organize your life and your travel and your entertainment and your definite. Your vacation around marta, but also from a sustainability point of view. How are you impacting the world from now?

Ryan Doolittle [00:34:59]:
The next time I’m in Atlanta, I’m gonna point to 32 trees and say, donna saved.

Donna De Jesus [00:35:03]:
Donna saved him. Yes, yes, yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:35:09]:
And by the way, Atlanta has so many amazing trees. But living out west, I was so blown away by that. It’s beautiful.

Donna De Jesus [00:35:17]:
So thanks for.

Ryan Doolittle [00:35:18]:
Thanks for saving 32 of those. You mentioned Jazz Fest or jazz, at least. Isn’t jazz fest a giant event in Atlanta? And it is. MARTA goes right to it, I think. Right?

Donna De Jesus [00:35:31]:
It does. True. If it’s held at the Centennial Olympic park, but we also have other music concerts that are held. There may be. What’s it, movie there. Music in the park. I think in Decatur, different neighborhoods and different communities who is also doing the same thing, trying to have events that incorporates the whole family, you know, you and your kids and probably elderly parents or who might could all go and have a nice evening. And there’ll be food trucks.

Donna De Jesus [00:36:04]:
So a lot of cities do their own events in their local parks. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:36:10]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:36:10]:
And then Stone Mountain park, which is a major monitor attraction. They’re always having activities too.

Ryan Doolittle [00:36:17]:
Did you say Stone Mountain?

Donna De Jesus [00:36:18]:
Stone Mountain Park.

Ryan Doolittle [00:36:19]:
Stone Mountain Park.

Donna De Jesus [00:36:20]:
It’s the highest point. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:36:21]:
In Atlanta, you mentioned the streetcar. And is it one of the rail lines or it’s like kind of a fun addition to it or. Because it looks kind of cool from the pictures.

Donna De Jesus [00:36:33]:
Yes. So the streetcar, you can connect at Alpitri Center Station.

Ryan Doolittle [00:36:39]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:36:40]:
And you ride up right on the street as a streetcar. They run on a separate electronic lines. And they go. It’s about 18 miles and. And they stop at A lot of the major attractions. So to ride that system, it is a dollar. So once you go up from the Petrie center, if you’re connecting from MARTA right on the street on Peachtree, you would, you know, pay your dollar. You could actually put a dollar in.

Donna De Jesus [00:37:07]:
The last time I wrote it, we can actually put a dollar in the container in the farebox, or you can purchase a ticket that you show to the driver. And to be able to just sit on there and it just goes through the city, stopping at different venues. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:37:22]:
Okay. Is it easy for seniors or anyone to pay? I mean, they can pay at the station and they can also pay in advance if they want to just get that out of the way.

Donna De Jesus [00:37:32]:
Sure, sure they can. We actually have a website that’s dedicated to managing your fare. It’s called breezecard.com.

Ryan Doolittle [00:37:44]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:37:45]:
And you can actually go on that site. You can reload value. So you could be at home reloading value from a credit card directly onto the. Onto your Breeze card. Or you can go to a station and use the breeze vending machine right there. We also accept cash too. So on the buses, if you just want to pay by cash to get to a rail station, some people want that option too.

Ryan Doolittle [00:38:12]:
Yeah. Okay, so that sounds pretty easy. People can either do it, maybe they forgot, they can just do it right there. Or if they want to play ahead, that’s easy too.

Donna De Jesus [00:38:21]:
Correct. And I must say that another exciting major project that you’ll see on our MARTA website where we are overhauling our whole fare collection system in time for the World Cup.

Ryan Doolittle [00:38:35]:
Oh, oh, because the World Cup’s coming to Atlanta.

Donna De Jesus [00:38:37]:
Correct. In 2026.

Ryan Doolittle [00:38:40]:
Oh, that’s going to be huge.

Donna De Jesus [00:38:41]:
So June, July, we’re in the middle of launching. We have of Breez Mobile, we have the Breeze Mobile app. App on your phone whereby you can just manage it from your phone as most people just use their phone for everything. Right. You’ve got your wallet and you could also have your Breeze Mobile pass on your phone too, and you could scan it and travel that way. But by the World cup we would have replaced all of our fare collection system to be account. We’re moving from what we call a card based account. Right now your fare is on your card or on your cell phone.

Donna De Jesus [00:39:18]:
With your mobile pass, we’re moving to an account based system. So your account will always be available to you. You may still have a car, no matter how.

Ryan Doolittle [00:39:29]:
Would it always be available to you?

Donna De Jesus [00:39:31]:
You mean so you don’t necessarily have to tap. Your phone is tied to your card.

Ryan Doolittle [00:39:38]:
Oh.

Donna De Jesus [00:39:38]:
So some people, if there’s any type of malfunction with that card, you may have to swap it out. It’s all technology in far collection system.

Ryan Doolittle [00:39:47]:
Right.

Donna De Jesus [00:39:48]:
But. But we’re talking about immediately as you load fare on your card. It’s available because it’s in your account. You would have. Would have established an account with us.

Ryan Doolittle [00:39:59]:
Gotcha. Yeah.

Donna De Jesus [00:40:00]:
We’re also going to have with that project, retail outlets whereby you may live in an area that, and I’m going to say similar to, because I’m not sure of the retailers similar to other cities where you can maybe go to a Walgreen or a CVS or a Target and purchase your fare card that has fare in it to use transit. It’s the same type of access that MARTA will provide so that you don’t necessarily have to come on a MARTA property in order to purchase fare.

Ryan Doolittle [00:40:34]:
So a lot of this will be in place by the time the World cup gets to Atlanta in 2026.

Donna De Jesus [00:40:39]:
Yes. Yes. That’s great.

Ryan Doolittle [00:40:42]:
Oh, yeah. I mean, didn’t the. So when the Olympics were there in 1996, was that also. That seemed like another big boost for marta. Like it grew a lot for that at. And now it’s growing a lot for the World Cup. That’s very exciting. I think people are going to be rediscovering mart those who aren’t using it might really rediscover it for that.

Donna De Jesus [00:41:01]:
Most definitely. Yeah.

Ryan Doolittle [00:41:03]:
Yeah. It’s going to be the World cup of public transportation.

Donna De Jesus [00:41:06]:
Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:41:07]:
So what kind of security is out there? Maybe someone’s a little bit worried about, you know, taking a train or a bus. Can you speak to the safety that you provide? Or maybe they don’t need to be scared, you know, make the case for that.

Donna De Jesus [00:41:21]:
Sure. So MARTA has. It’s one of the few properties that have a dedicated police department. Most transit properties rely on the local jurisdictions that they’re in to provide assistance whenever there is a safety or security issue. MARTA has a dedicated. They are MARTA police officers. They are certified in the state of Georgia and have the same arrest entitlements or powers, I should say, of police officers within the state of Georgia. So we have several different.

Donna De Jesus [00:41:53]:
And I may leave out. Let me think. We have patrol officers in our stations. We have undercover officers and you may not know. Correct. I see them quite frequently and maybe because I know who to look for. I know.

Ryan Doolittle [00:42:10]:
Well, for all I know, you’re undercover right now.

Donna De Jesus [00:42:13]:
You could never know. Right. But we have bicycle officers riding around checking our park and Ride facilities, our decks, making sure our cars are safe out there. We have K9 officers that are making sure that there isn’t that type of threat. We have SORT teams who, as you know, they go through extensive training and able to. We have to be vigilant about safety and security. And trans. It is as most com.

Donna De Jesus [00:42:43]:
Most companies, everywhere you go, you see that escalation in safety and security wherever you go. I’m just sad to say, but this is the world we live in. But I want to also point out we also have an app. It’s called cnc.

Ryan Doolittle [00:43:01]:
Say again?

Donna De Jesus [00:43:02]:
CNC Martyr. Cnc.

Ryan Doolittle [00:43:05]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:43:06]:
And so you see something, say something, and you could be anonymous. You could be sitting there on the train and somebody with nuisance behavior or panhandling or something that you see that you just don’t feel comfortable with. You can you. We encourage everybody to download that app and you could log on, you could discreetly take a picture, or you give a description and they know exactly what your location is is. And you will see within the next couple of stops, all of a sudden there’s a police officer. Depending on the circumstance and availability, of course, and what else they’re dealing because they’re covering all of our bus routes, bus stations. There will be a police presence.

Ryan Doolittle [00:43:52]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:43:52]:
And you have the option of doing it anonymously or you can self disclose who you are and you’ll get a text back. Definitely received it. And part of our police dispatch center, which runs Mason operation to see similar to like a 911 center, whereby they are looking at those texts and responding and dispatching them just as they’re dispatching police officers to. If there’s a medical situation on a train or some other suspicious behavior that we may see that just check out, you know, this car or this bag that’s been on the platform. So be assured that we have dedicated police officers to respond well.

Ryan Doolittle [00:44:38]:
And with Atlanta having such a booming film industry, I have an idea for you. It’s called. It’s a TV show called MARTA pd. And you and I run around town making the world safe for public transportation.

Donna De Jesus [00:44:50]:
You know, that probably has been because I’m an avid. I’m a law enforcement and I have law enforcement in my family.

Ryan Doolittle [00:44:57]:
Oh, you do?

Donna De Jesus [00:44:58]:
Very near and dear to me. So. And as we look at these shows, you know, on tv, to ride along shows that. That probably would be. That probably would be fun to see.

Ryan Doolittle [00:45:09]:
All right, I’ll write up the summary and then we can pitch it around. We’ll take MARTA around to the different areas to pitch it.

Donna De Jesus [00:45:19]:
And we also have. Aside from the sise and definitely police officers, you also have other martyr personnel in the stations, and you can easily identify them because they’re wearing a martyr uniform that would have a logo on it. And so they might have a radio, but would know immediately how to get assistance. On every rail car, there are buttons at the edge of each, on the ends of each rail car, of which, if you’re ever feeling a little uncertain, you can press that button and it’s in direct communication with the rail operator, the person operating that train who can get you assistance. Yes. Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:45:59]:
Oh, okay. Could I push that button just to see how the driver’s doing?

Donna De Jesus [00:46:03]:
Please don’t.

Ryan Doolittle [00:46:04]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:46:05]:
Please don’t. I don’t want to see a report coming through with your name on it, please.

Ryan Doolittle [00:46:12]:
If you see it, you can say, I know that guy.

Donna De Jesus [00:46:14]:
I know him. I may not say it. Ryan.

Ryan Doolittle [00:46:17]:
Yeah, yeah. Don’t tell anyone. Right. Okay. Is there a person named Marta that’s, like, in charge of all that? No, that’s not really my question.

Donna De Jesus [00:46:28]:
I did have an employee named Marta. Really? She retired? Yes.

Ryan Doolittle [00:46:33]:
Oh, okay. She retired. Maybe she can come on the show. All right, here’s a question for maybe an area that’s a little bit outside the central hub of. Of, you know, the Atlanta workforce. Say someone lived in Lawrenceville, and maybe they’re like a. They work on a podcast in Sandy Springs, and they. Is there a way for them to commute without a car?

Donna De Jesus [00:46:59]:
If you give me their destination, where they’re coming from, where they’re going to, I’d be able to email them or reach out to them or call them and tell them how to. Wow. Not only that, let me just say MARTA has a main number. 404-848-5000.

Ryan Doolittle [00:47:16]:
Okay.

Donna De Jesus [00:47:17]:
It is advertised on all our display boards, all our bus stops, rail cars. That’s the main modern number. And when you call that number, you’ll get the option of reaching police, our mobility area. You get to reach customer services. And within customer services, we have two call centers. I have a call center that’s dedicated. That’s primarily what they do seven days a week. Oh.

Donna De Jesus [00:47:46]:
They provide bus unreal schedules and trip itinerary planning. So you can very well say call and say, I am coming in on Saturday and I’m arriving at this time, and I would like to get to this location. Tell me how to travel there. We will be able to access the schedule for that day and time because it may be different on the weekend if we’re doing some rail work or if we’re traveling after 9pm and we’re sort of cutting back on our head ways, it’s, you know, and we would be able to tell you what train to take, where to get off, what connection you need to make, be it a rail or bus connection, where to get off and then how to walk you to your final destination.

Ryan Doolittle [00:48:35]:
Wow.

Donna De Jesus [00:48:36]:
So we do. We provide that. And. And we was about a thousand people a day that call every day who say, I don’t want to figure this out myself. I know I could go on the model website and use a trip planner. I know I could possibly use Google. I’m not endorsing that. Right.

Donna De Jesus [00:48:56]:
But I want you to walk me through and tell me that and give.

Ryan Doolittle [00:49:00]:
Us the number one more time.

Donna De Jesus [00:49:01]:
Sure. It’s 404-848-5000. Or you could email us sched info S c H e D I N f o@itsmarta.com or if you want to reach customer services, that’s custserved c u s t S e R v@itsmartyr.com. if you forgot that information on the MARTA website, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, the main page. It’ll say contact marta and you have all that information about the telephone numbers and the websites that you can contact us.

Ryan Doolittle [00:49:37]:
Well, Donna de Jesus, the queen of marta, thank you so much for coming on the Happiest Retirees podcast.

Donna De Jesus [00:49:46]:
Oh, I thank you so much. This has been great and I appreciate your interest and your listeners interest.

Ryan Doolittle [00:49:54]:
Well, maybe we can do this again down the road because my interest will still be there.

Donna De Jesus [00:49:58]:
Okay. And by all means, Kant, contact me. I’m here to serve.

Ryan Doolittle [00:50:02]:
And thanks for keeping us on the rails because I tend to take people off the rails with interviews, so. All right, well, you have a great day, Donna.

Donna De Jesus [00:50:09]:
Thank you so very much. Appreciate it.