Sometimes, nature just takes care of itself: an apparent premeditated gun attack at the West Lake MARTA station results in one dead, several others injured
Yeah, about that thought that maybe MARTA planned the destrucity of I-85 in order to spike its ridership… such may have been the case, but much like using a cheat code Battletoads, sometimes the royal they know that something is amiss, and actions are taken to bring light to it. MARTA destroys I-85 in order to increase their ridership, and then violence occurs on the trains to take the status quo back to zero; or at least that’s what the point of this whole post is about.
Surely, nothing is going to scare people back away from MARTA than good old fashioned gun violence. Completely negating the efforts by MARTA to increase their ridership by destroying I-85. But compared to the risk of getting hit by, stray bullets, I think commuters just might prefer setting in stand-still traffic for hours on end; at least in the confines of your own car, the chances of getting shot are less than being crammed shoulder to shoulder inside of a train car with no automotive skin to shield you from gunfire.
Plus, you don’t have to listen to anyone else’s lame rap mix blasting out of earbuds that aren’t actually in someone’s ears.
Never mind the fact that this incident took place in literally the one end of MARTA that people actively avoid – the west end. People like the north, because it’s Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Doraville, places where you can shop, act posh, or least yet find some good food. People go south, because the end of the line on the south is the airport. And people go east, because the end of that line is Decatur, and there’s plenty to see, do and eat out in Decatur. As for the west? There’s plenty of known crime, and this was a stark reminder of just how bad it can be sometimes out in the west end.
Regardless, a shooting incident that had fatalities is just what MARTA doesn’t need to undo the goodwill and the progress the company has enjoyed since the collapse of I-85, but sometimes you can’t control what’s been going on for years in particular regions. As much as the word “gentrification” is flung around as it pertains to the west end, there’s still a tremendous amount of distance to go before there’s any notable progress. Maybe even actual lifetimes.
Oh well, sucks to be MARTA. They can control demolitions and automotive traffic, but they can’t control peoples’ violent tendencies.
