MARTA riders say 'ghost buses' and cancellations making it tough to get around

What is a MARTA ghost bus?

MARTA riders say it is tough to rely on the bus service when the buses are unreliable.

ATLANTA - MARTA riders say it is tough to rely on the bus service when the buses are unreliable.

A new report from the transit advocacy organization Propel ATL finds unreliable buses is the top complaint from MARTA riders — constant cancellations and "ghost buses" which appear to be coming on the MARTA app, but never do. 

"You're left at a bus stop wondering, will this bus show up or not?" Jeremiah Jones, advocacy director at Propel ATL, said.

Riders also said they hope to see improvements on the frequency of buses, especially on nights, weekends and holidays. 

By the numbers:

Propel ATL surveyed more than 900 MARTA bus riders to zero in on what the system lacks.

"The biggest takeaway that we found from riders is that they just want a reliable bus," Jones said. "Everyone in the city benefits when buses run."

He said Propel ATL’s new report found that 77 percent of riders missed something important in the last month because of MARTA bus issues. 

The organization says the survey was conducted between March and July 2024, gathering responses in English and Spanish across the MARTA service area.

Publicly available data shows that on any given day, at least 100 MARTA buses are canceled.

Software developer Chad Etzel, who lives in Roswell, began compiling that data. "A lot of cancellations depending on the day," Etzel said.

Etzel built an app called Terminus, designed to make finding MARTA schedules and stations easier. He noted that some ghost buses were not included in his data because they were never officially canceled.

He said Routes 60 and 73 have the highest rate of cancellations, but the total trends downward since the summer.

Jones thinks MARTA should be more transparent with the data. 

"We shouldn't have used third-party developers to be able to see the numbers of how many bus tickets, because if you go to the MARTA website, sometimes it's there, sometimes not," Jones said.

The other side:

A MARTA spokesperson said they had not yet reviewed Propel ATL’s report. However, the agency is planning to overhaul its entire bus network next April, "with a focus on increased frequency and reliability." They also plan to roll out a new website and app with improved tracking.

The spokesperson said an outside firm is embedded in their daily operations to assess and recommend and implement strategic improvements, including service reliability and workforce retention.

What's next:

MARTA and Propel both say they plan to sit down together to review the findings and make improvements.

MARTA expects to implement the an overhaul of the bus system in April 2026. The spokesperson said it will also launch new digital tools in April 2026, including a new website and app with advanced trip planning and bus tracking.